Common
examples of ROVs are:
-- Submersibles used underwater instead
of divers
-- Remotely controlled bomb disabling vehicles
-- Unmanned aerial vehicles, such as RQ-1 Predator
-- Space probes, such as Spirit and Opportunity
The first underwater ROV was the Cable
Controlled Underwater Remote Vehicle (CURV), which recovered
the hydrogen bomb off Spain in the early 1970s. Underwater,
or submersible, ROVs tend to be highly specialized. They
have been used to locate many shipwrecks, including the
Titanic, the Bismark and SS Central America. In some cases
ROVs are used to recover materials from the sea floor and
bring them to the surface for further analysis, for example
the 'black box' from the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 disaster
was recovered using an ROV.
Submersible ROVs are also used for scienctific
investigations - they have enabled the discovery of a number
of deep sea animals and plants: including the jellyfish
Bumpy and the eel-like halosaurs. They are also used to
investigate the inhabitants of extreme habitats - for example
krill life under the Antartic ice sheets, and the life surrounding
deep ocean vents.
Submersible ROVs may be 'free-swimming'
where they operate neutrally buoyant on a tether from the
launch ship/platform, or for deeper work they may be 'garaged'
where they operate from a submersible garage or 'tophat'.
Working into current or at deeper depths
the performance of a free swimming ROV is aided by employing
a clump weight. The vertical portion of the ROV umbilical
is attached to a cable suspending a heavy clump weight (500-650
lbs) leaving a short unrestricted tether (100-150 ft) from
the clump weight to the vehicle. Gravity tends to keep the
weight in one place, leaving the ROV to deal with only the
drag of the short tether. This is the technique used by
MARE. |
