ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle)

A remotely operated vehicle is a tethered underwater robot flown by a pilot on the surface ship through an umbilical that carries power, control, and high-bandwidth video. The tether removes the energy and autonomy limits of an AUV, so an ROV can hover, manipulate, and stay on a worksite for hours. Work-class ROVs run hydraulic manipulators at 100 to 250 horsepower for subsea construction and intervention; science vehicles such as Jason and ROPOS dive to 6500 m carrying cameras, samplers, and sensors. ROVs do the close-up, dexterous tasks, sampling vents, servicing cabled-observatory nodes, that an untethered AUV cannot.