ROPOS ("Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Science") is an ROV used primarily for scientific research. It was originally built in Vancouver by International Submarine Engineering[1] and purchased by the Canadian federal government. The same government program also operated the Pisces IV manned submersible, now in Hawaii being run by the Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL)[2] who found the long-lost two-man Japanese sub which heralded the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The funding for the Canadian submersible program eventually dried up, but by that time the user group had been established and long term experiments put in place on the sea floor. The Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) was formed and leased ROPOS from the government for several years before finally purchasing the ROV a few years ago. In 2005 the vehicle was extensively rebuilt and now boasts a 4,000-pound (1,800kg) thru-frame lift capability (see below).
The ROV is controlled and powered from a surface vessel. Electrical power is supplied through an umbilical, or tether, which also has an optical fibre for telemetry and data. Electrical power is used to power components such as lights and cameras, but most of the energy is used in an electric motor to drive a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic pump in turn powers the thrusters and hydraulic components of the ROV. This is referred to as an electro-hydraulic system.
ROPOS is unusual as it is routinely modified to work in three different ranges: 1000 m (540 fathoms); 4000m (2,187 fathoms); and (rarely) 5,000 m (2,700 fathoms).[3] Each set up is progressively larger. ROPOS also has "plug and play" equipment; A hot fluid sampler (HFS) at about 200 pounds (90kg) and requires 120 V AC and a data line to function, and a number of different hydraulic functions which are available for scientific equipment, similar to the Woods Hole vehicles Jason and Jason 2.
Thru-frame lift
ROPOS is capable of lifting 4,000 pounds (1,800kg) off the sea floor: the load is attached to the ROV and is lifted by the mid-depth system LARS (launch and recovery system), an enhanced crane modified to accommodate the ROV.
A submersible pump is a device which has a hermetically sealed motor close-coupled to the pump body. The whole assembly is submerged in the fluid to be pumped. The main advantage of this type of pump is that it prevents pump cavitation, a problem associated with a high elevation difference between the pump and the fluid surface. Submersible pumps push fluid to the surface, rather than jet pumps, which create a vacuum and rely upon atmospheric pressure. Submersibles use pressurized fluid from the surface to drive a hydraulic motor downhole, rather than an electric motor, and are used in heavy oil applications with heated water as the motive fluid.
A remotely operated underwater vehicle is a tethered underwater mobile device.
The underwater environment refers to the region below the surface of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature, such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the underwater environment are universal, but many depend on the local situation.
The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster was the first solid-propellant rocket to be used for primary propulsion on a vehicle used for human spaceflight and provided the majority of the Space Shuttle's thrust during the first two minutes of flight. After burnout, they were jettisoned and parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean where they were recovered, examined, refurbished, and reused.
A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is usually supported by a surface vessel, platform, shore team or sometimes a larger submarine. In common usage by the general public, however, the word submarine may be used to describe a craft that is by the technical definition actually a submersible. There are many types of submersibles, including both crewed and uncrewed craft, otherwise known as remotely operated vehicles or ROVs. Submersibles have many uses worldwide, such as oceanography, underwater archaeology, ocean exploration, adventure, equipment maintenance and recovery, and underwater videography.
Automobile accessory power can be transferred by several different means. However, it is always ultimately derived from the automobile's internal combustion engine, battery, or other "prime mover" source of energy. The advent of high-powered batteries in hybrid and all-electrical vehicles is shifting the balance of technologies even further in the direction of electrically powered accessories.
Hydraulic machines use liquid fluid power to perform work. Heavy construction vehicles are a common example. In this type of machine, hydraulic fluid is pumped to various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders throughout the machine and becomes pressurized according to the resistance present. The fluid is controlled directly or automatically by control valves and distributed through hoses, tubes, or pipes.
Kaikō was a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) built by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) for exploration of the deep sea. Kaikō was the second of only five vessels ever to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, as of 2019. Between 1995 and 2003, this 10.6 ton unmanned submersible conducted more than 250 dives, collecting 350 biological species, some of which could prove to be useful in medical and industrial applications. On 29 May 2003, Kaikō was lost at sea off the coast of Shikoku Island during Typhoon Chan-Hom, when a secondary cable connecting it to its launcher at the ocean surface broke.
The Scorpio is a brand of underwater submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) manufactured by Perry Tritech used by sub-sea industries such as the oil industry for general operations, and by the Royal Navy and the United States Navy for submarine rescue services. Originally developed by AMETEK Straza of El Cajon, United States, they were subsequently developed by Perry Tritech. Although the design of the original Scorpio is over several decades old, it forms the basis for a current generation of Scorpio-branded ROVs. Scorpio ROVs are named in a sequence following the order of manufacture, such as "Scorpio 17" or "Scorpio 45" which refer to specific ROVs.
The Deep Drone is a submersible remotely operated vehicle designed for mid-water salvage for the United States Navy. One vehicle is based in Largo, Maryland, under the command of The U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), it is maintained and operated by Phoenix International Inc.. The vehicle is capable of operating at a depth up to 8000 feet as reflected in its full name: "The Deep Drone 8000". The vehicle has a target locating sonar and two tool manipulators capable of working with tools and attaching rigging.
Mir is a self-propelled deep-submergence vehicle. The project was initially developed by the USSR Academy of Sciences along with Design Bureau Lazurith. Later two vehicles were ordered from Finland. The Mir 1 and Mir 2, delivered in 1987, were designed and built by the Finnish company Rauma-Repola's Oceanics subsidiary. The project was carried out under the supervision of constructors and engineers of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology.
An umbilical cable or umbilical is a cable and/or hose that supplies required consumables to an apparatus, like a rocket, or to a person, such as a diver or astronaut. It is named by analogy with an umbilical cord. An umbilical can, for example, supply air and power to a pressure suit or hydraulic power, electrical power and fiber optics to subsea equipment and divers.
Jason is a two-body remotely operated vehicle (ROV) designed, built, and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Construction of Jason was completed and first launched in 1988 by WHOI’s Deep Submergence Laboratory, and was redesigned in 2002 as the second iteration. The ROV allows scientists and explorers to have access to the seafloor without leaving the deck of a ship.
Artificial lift refers to the use of artificial means to increase the flow of liquids, such as crude oil or water, from a production well. Generally this is achieved by the use of a mechanical device inside the well or by decreasing the weight of the hydrostatic column by injecting gas into the liquid some distance down the well. A newer method called Continuous Belt Transportation (CBT) uses an oil absorbing belt to extract from marginal and idle wells. Artificial lift is needed in wells when there is insufficient pressure in the reservoir to lift the produced fluids to the surface, but often used in naturally flowing wells to increase the flow rate above what would flow naturally. The produced fluid can be oil, water or a mix of oil and water, typically mixed with some amount of gas.
The Logistics Vehicle System (LVS), nicknamed by U.S. Marines as "Dragon Wagon", is a modular assortment of eight-wheel drive all-terrain vehicle unit combinations used by the United States Marine Corps.
Manchester's Hydraulic Power system was a public hydraulic power network supplying energy across the city of Manchester via a system of high-pressure water pipes from three pumping stations from 1894 until 1972. The system, which provided a cleaner and more compact alternative to steam engines, was used to power workshop machinery, lifts, cranes and a large number of cotton baling presses in warehouses as it was particularly useful for processes that required intermittent power. It was used to wind Manchester Town Hall clock, pump the organ at Manchester Cathedral and raise the safety curtain at Manchester Opera House in Quay Street. A large number of the lifts and baling presses that used the system had hydraulic packings manufactured by John Talent and Co.Ltd. who had a factory at Ashworth Street, just off the Bury New Rd. close to the Salford boundary.
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Regional Scale Nodes (RSN) component is an electro-optically cabled underwater observatory that directly connects to the global Internet. It is the largest cable-linked seabed observatory in the world, and also the first of its kind in the United States.
Underwater work is work done underwater, generally by divers during diving operations, but includes work done underwater by remotely operated vehicles and crewed submersibles.
Diving support equipment is the equipment used to facilitate a diving operation. It is either not taken into the water during the dive, such as the gas panel and compressor, or is not integral to the actual diving, being there to make the dive easier or safer, such as a surface decompression chamber. Some equipment, like a diving stage, is not easily categorised as diving or support equipment, and may be considered as either.
DSV-5, ex-NEMO, was a submersible used by the United States Navy between 1970 and 1986 to oversee and observe undersea construction work. NEMO had a spherical transparent acrylic hull, which gave occupants panoramic vision. NEMO was the first submersible with a hull made entirely out of transparent acrylic (Plexiglass), and much of her career was spent testing this hull design. NEMO was found to be an effective observation platform, despite not being able to hover in place, and acrylic-hulled submersibles have continued to be built and operated in the United States. NEMO is considered part of the Alvin class of Deep Submergence Vehicles despite bearing little resemblance to the other subs of the class. NEMO was transferred to "other government agencies" in 1986 and retired from government service in 2011. It was then given to the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, where it remains on display.
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