What is an ROV?

What is an ROV?

An ROV (remotely operated vehicle) is an unoccupied underwater robot, and is connected to a ship or main control station by a series of cables. The cords that connect the controller to the vehicle are for sending power from the ship and data/video backup. Any bending or breakage to the line could damage the whole ROV and potentially end a dive. Features that many ROVs include can be: high def cameras, manipulator arms for grabbing items, and a variety of sampling equipment depending on the mission.

What parts are there to an ROV?
Generally, an ROV is split up into subsystems of the vehicle itself, tools and sensors, control and display consoles, electrical power distribution, umbilical and tether cables, and a handling system. These systems are interconnected in a spiral shape-- a minor “failure” on a lower end of the spiral can have catastrophic effects on the whole ROV and dive.

ROVs move via thrusters-- propellers attached to motors-- that can be placed on either side of the vehicle for horizontal movement or on the top to move up and down the water column. ROVs can be customized for different tasks thanks to the metal frames beneath the main body of the vehicle. This area allows the ability to house different arms, equipment, and tools temporarily depending on the type of dive-- and thus, vary what kinds of data is collected. ROVS can be outfitted with lights to aid the camera capture, so that operators on board the main ship can both direct the vehicle with ease and see what’s in the water. Some vehicles are outfitted with sonar and vacuum pumps to clear out debris. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGbVC6ldb8g

What are some examples of ROV’s?

The ROV VENTANA carries two manipulators, a sample drawer, and a quiver of 20-40 inch cores. It’s equipped with a Seabird 19plus V2 CTD package including a dissolved oxygen sensor and transmissometer. Once in midwater mode, the vehicle can carry up to eight detritus samplers. It’s got a hydraulic swing arm capable of deploying samplers, tool packages, safety apparatus or user-supplied equipment. The Rov Ventana was designed by three technicians named Craig Dawe, D.J Osborne, and Mike Burczynski.


The ROV DOC RICKETTS provides an unmanned submersible research platform with lots of powerful features that provide great sampling and precise data collection. A team of 5 pilots named Knute Brekke, Bryan Touryan Schaefer, Mark Talkovic, Ben Erwin, and Randy Prickett designed the Rov Doc Ricketts.