Underwater Robots: From Remotely Operated Vehicles to Intervention-Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) revolutionized the subsea industry when they were introduced in the 1960s. They were more powerful and inherently safer, and they could go deeper than divers. However, they require a tether and a support ship, which makes their use complex and expensive. Autonomous marine vehicles (AMVs) have long been seen as a game changer in the exploration and exploitation of the marine environment. Repeated access to remote and hazardous places for data gathering and intervention, enabled by their autonomy, is the key to their adoption. While historically the focus has been on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have recently been developed and adopted at an increasing rate. Interestingly, whereas AMVs (AUVs and USVs) have now been adopted in niche areas (bathymetric surveys and mine countermeasures), they have not yet hit the mainstream. In this article, we review the state of the art in unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), which include ROVs and AUVs; current obstacles to their adoption, both technical and commercial; and recent advances in technology. We also present an outlook on the future of these systems.