‘‘Victor’’. For example, only two containers are needed on board the support ships
using the Canadian or German vehicles.
ROV and AUV are generally more manageable than the submersibles and
require a limited crew. About three to four people for 8–9 h performances and only
a total of six people are necessary for 24-hour operations. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) or Underwater Untethered Vehicle (UUV) are still at their
early stage of development. They are unmanned and unattached vehicles that are
free to move about in deep water thanks to a remote controlled navigating system.
Their power is supplied by on-board batteries.
Future advances in deep-sea exploration would be to develop an engine
capable of communicating data as well as transferring material to an underwater
platform that could serve as a storage area until the data and samples are
recovered. Another variant for such a data storage platform would be to enable
the transfer of equipment and data to underwater stations which could then relay
this information and/or material to the surface either mechanically, by means of a
cable, or electronically via a surface buoy equipped with a solar battery. Such an
Fig. 3.4 ROV (Remotely
Operated Vehicle) ‘‘Victor’’
has a 6000 m depth
capability. Dimensions
L = 3.1 m 9 1.8 9 2 m.
Mass in air = 4000 kg.
(Copyright IFREMER, V.
Renard)
Fig. 3.5 Canadian remotely
operated vehicle (ROV)
called Ropos (Photo courtesy
of S. Scott)
Unmanned Submersibles and Robots
67