Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) are mobile tools used in environments too dangerous for humans. At a minimum, they consist of a camera and a two way communications mechanism allow the remote operator to control the vehicle. The vehicles is like to carry other tools.

Common examples of remotely operated vehicles are :

• submersibles used underwater instead of divers
• remotely controlled bomb disabling vehicles such as the type used by the British Army
• unmanned aerial vehicles such as Predator
• space probes such as Spirit

Submersible ROVs

Submersible remotely operated vehicles tend to be highly specialized, with some designed for scanning wide swaths of the ocean floor while others are designed for photography and recovery. A number of deep sea animals and plants have been discovered or studied in their natural environment only through the use of ROVs: examples include the jellyfish Bumpy and the eel-like halosaurs.

Submersible ROVs have been used to locate many shipwrecks, including that of the RMS Titanic, the Bismarck, USS Yorktown, and SS Central America. In some cases, such as the SS Central America and airline crashes such as Alaska Airlines Flight 261, ROVs have been used to recover material from the sea floor and bring it to the surface.

Submersible ROVs are normally classified into categories based on their size, weight, ability or power. Some common ratings are;

• Eyeball - typ. < 5 HP (propulsion) with no ability to carry any manipulators. May be able to carry a sonar unit. Usually used on light survey applications. Typically maximum working depth < 500 m.

• Light workclass - type < 50HP (propulsion). May be able to carry some manipulators. Chassis often made from polymers such as polyethylene. Typ. maximum working depth < 1000m.

• Workclass - typ. > 25HP (propulsion) with an ability to carry at least two manipulators. Working depth up to 3000m.

• Cablelaying - typ. > 100HP (propulsion) with an ability to carry a cable laying sled and work at depths up to 6000 m in some cases.

Submersible ROVs may be "free swimming" where they operate neutrally buoyant on a tether from the launch ship or platform or they maybe "garaged" where they operate from a submersible "garage" or "tophat" on a tether attached to the heavy garage or tophat that is lowered from the ship or platform. Both techniques have their pros and cons however very deep work is normally down with a garage or tophat.

Image taken by an ROV under the ice of Antarctica. In the spring krill can scrape off the green lawn of ice algae from the underside of the pack ice in Antarctica. In this image most krill swim in an upside down position directly under the ice. Only one animal (in the middle) is hovering in the open water.

External Links

A website with information on ROV's from the industry (http://www.rov.net)