<p>An optical crossbar switch for optically coupling optic fibers comprising: at least one first fiber and a plurality of second fibers; a moveable fiber-end carriage coupled to an end of the at least one first fiber and having at least one latching hook and being constrained to move along a predetermined trajectory; at least one moveable slack-control carriage coupled to the body of the at least one first fiber and constrained to move along a predetermined trajectory; an array of sockets defined by walls, at least one of which walls of each sockets formed having a latch hole for receiving the latching hook; and at least one moving device controllable to move the carriages; wherein to optically couple a first fiber to a second fiber, the at least one moving device moves the fiber-end carriage of at least one of the first and second fibers to a socket and inserts the fiber's fiber end into the socket so that the at least one latching hook latches into the latch hole and secures the carriage to the socket array.</p>
