In late 2014, I automated my weaving slightly by adding a fly shuttle to one of my looms. This allows me to throw the shuttle with a rope system, rather than passing it back and forth between my hands. It’s much faster, and pleasantly athletic. It’s also very loud, so I now weave with hearing protection. The fly shuttle for my setup is this scary creature, heavy, with very sharp points:

You can see how the woven cloth is straining a little under its weight. The bobbin for this type of shuttle is an end-feed pirn, here all loaded up and ready to go.

The shuttle zooms between the boxes on either side of the beater. In the photo below, it’s on the right, with its weft end lined up over the one that ran out:

I’ll snug this up, then weave for several inches before the pirn will run out, and I’ll have to refill the shuttle.