Remotely Operated Vehicles: A History

Early models of the ROV were first made by the British Royal Navy in the early 1950s to collect practice torpedoes from the ocean floor. The U.S. Navy adopted the idea in the 1960s for deep sea rescue and recovery missions. Over the years, military forces have continued to use the technology, but the oil and gas industry has taken it to a whole new level.
In the 1980s, the unmanned ROV was used instead of human divers for energy explorations. Now a primary source for discovering excavation sites, the ROV can stay below surface much longer than any person could imagine.
The most important feature of the ROV is to act as a gatherer of information. While video feeds are crucial, many vehicles are also equipped with instruments to measure light density and water pressure, clarity and temperature, which are crucial to excavation operations. Sonar may be used to detect underwater activity and drilling safety factors in the area.
Deepsea robot mechanisms are attached to perform simple actions, like testing water. Automated arms control wrenches and cutting tools used to create underwater structures and to assemble pipelines. They are also fitted to make repairs and adjustments after initial construction. These advancements have eliminated the safety problems associated with underwater harvesting of oil and natural gas deposits beneath the ocean floor.
The use of deep sea ROVs has revolutionized the exploration and excavation efforts in the energy industry. This has opened new doors and created options for oil and gas resources that never before existed, resulting in the discovery of new energy deposits below the earth's underwater surface. With more than 50% of the ocean floor below 9,000 feet, the ROV can function at depths between 3,300 and 23,000 feet, an impossibility for human operations.
The deeper an ROV is made to submerge, the more power it requires and slower it moves. Rather than powering them to the surface daily, most operations will provide an underwater protective storage area, similar to a garage. This lowers exposure to turbulence and corrosion while the transport is not in use so it will last longer.

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