Remotely operated vehicle

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Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) are mobile tools used in environments too dangerous for humans. Typical ROVs consist of a camera and a two way communications mechanism that allows the remote operator to control the vehicle. The vehicle is likely to carry other tools that are also remotely operated.

Common examples of remotely operated vehicles are :

Submersibles used underwater in professional diving instead of human divers
Remotely controlled bomb disabling vehicles such as the type used by the British Army
Unmanned aerial vehicles such as RQ-1 Predator
Space probes such as Spirit and Opportunity
Combat robots which are pitted against each other for sport

1 Submersible ROVs
- 1.1 Classification
2 See also
3 External links

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Submersible ROVs

See main article Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Submersible remotely operated vehicles tend to be highly specialized. Some are 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. They have been used to study the behavior and microdistribution of krill under the ice of Antarctica.

Image:Minenjagddrohne Pinguin.jpg Some modern minehunters use ROVs to identify and destroy detected naval mines from a safe distance.

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Classification

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 though one has been developed to go as deep as 7,000 m and was recently used to explore never before seen compartments of the RMS Titanic.

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

Workclass - typ. > 50 hp (propulsion) with an ability to carry at least two manipulators. Working depth up to 3000 m.

Cablelaying - typ. > 100 hp (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 done with a garage or tophat.

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