Page 16 - The ROV Manual - A User Guide for Remotely Operated Vehicles 2nd edition

4 CHAPTER 1 The ROV Business
Underwater vehicles
Manned vehicles
Unmanned vehicles
AUVs (non-tethered)
ROVs (tethered)
Work class
Mid-sized
FIGURE 1.1
Underwater vehicles to ROVs.
According to the US Navy’s UUV Master Plan (2004 edition, section 1.3), an “unmanned undersea vehicle” is defined as a:
Self-propelled submersible whose operation is either fully autonomous (preprogrammed or real- time adaptive mission control) or under minimal supervisory control and is untethered except, possibly, for data links such as a fiber-optic cable.
The civilian moniker for an untethered underwater vehicle is the AUV, which is free from a tether and can run either a preprogrammed or logic-driven course. The difference between the AUV and the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is the presence (or absence) of a direct hardwire (for communication and/or power) between the vehicle and the surface. However, AUVs can also be (figuratively) linked to the surface for direct communication through an acoustic modem, or (while on the surface) via an RF (radio frequency) and/or an optical link. But in this book, we are concerned with the surface-directed, hard-wired (tethered) ROV.
The ROV falls within a broad range of mobile robotic vehicles generally termed “remotely con- trolled mobile robots.” The motion of the vehicle can be via autonomous logic direction or remote operator control depending upon the vehicle’s capability and the operator’s degree of input. The
Observation class
Special use