A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is an unmanned robotic vehicle that operates under the sea or on the sea floor and is controlled from the surface by a ‘pilot’. The vehicle is connected to the surface by an umbilical or tether. This link transfers power from the surface to the vehicle and also allows the transfer of data in both directions. In this way the vehicle responds to commands relayed to the vehicle by the operator and sends signals back to the operator for display at the operator’s console. These include such items as video or still photographic images, sonar imaging, Cathodic Potential (CP) measurements and other various forms of testing.

There are  five main classifications of ROV's

• Class 1:  Pure observations vehicles.
• Class 2:  Observation vehicles with payload capability.
• Class 3:  Work class vehicles
• Class 4:  Towed or bottom crawling vehicles
• Class 5:  Specialised prototype or development vehicles.

As you can see, the machines vary from relatively simple camera platforms to very large complex machines capable of performing a variety of specialised tasks.

A typical ROV system will comprise the following:

• The ROV itself;
• A Launch and Recovery System (LARS);
• A power supply pack;
• An operators console for control inputs;
• Various display monitors; &
• Most importantly - the human operator - the ‘pilot’.

Since the introduction of the ROV, the offshore oil and gas industry universally embraced this technology, and has been largely responsible for the rapid evolution of these versatile machines.

ROV technology and reliability has now advanced to a point where they are considered to be an indispensable tool. While they will never totally replace the need for divers, the ROV is now used extensively to aid diving operations and, in many instances, are replacing divers in performing certain critical operations.

All ROV’s have one thing in common – they require a pilot to control and operate the functions that the machine is capable of performing.