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| NURC-NA&GL
Mini Rover MKII |
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are the most widely used underwater vehicle serving a range of
military, commercial, and scientific needs. Power and control data are sent to the vehicle, and
video and sensor data are returned. An umbilical cable connects the ship to the vehicle. ROVs
provide virtually unlimited bottom time and have high bandwidth for high-resolution video and data
transmission. These systems have precise navigational control and tracking which makes them ideal
tools for conducting underwater research.
The National Undersea Research Center for the North Atlantic & Great Lakes (NURC-NA&GL) conducted
its first ROV operations using inspection class systems in 1985. The task was relatively simple;
visually map the extent of herring egg beds in an area of the northern Gulf of Maine. The rationale
was to use an ROV platform in an area where tidal current velocities precluded efficient use of an
occupied submersible as well as the fact that the timing of herring spawning (i.e., fall) was beyond
the time frame of other submersible operations (i.e., summer). The operations were highly successful
and NURC-NA&GL obtained its first inspection-class ROV from NOAA in 1987. Two additional ROVs were acquired
in 1988. Owning rather than leasing these systems allowed us the time to develop methods and test
various sampling devices at relatively low cost. These off the shelf ROVs were primarily video
cameras with controllable thrusters. We experimented with many modifications to these systems
in order to make them more effective science tools and move them beyond the "flying eyeball" stage,
which was the initial impression of the capabilities of these systems by the science community.
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Splash-down of the Kraken ROV
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We have either contracted or procured 8 ROV systems over the past two
decades. In the early years (1984-1987), we contracted multiple
MiniRover vehicles (e.g., from Eastern Oceanics) and the Recon
IV (owned and operated by International Underwater Contractors).
In 1987, we acquired two ROVs from NURP Headquarters: the MiniRover
MKII (from Deep Sea Systems) and the Phantom S (from Deep
Ocean Engineering). A full time pilot was hired to operate these
systems and the creativity of NURC scientists and the people
in the UConn Marine Sciences fabrication shop, turned these
flying video cameras into formidable research tools. These systems
were immediately put to use for various scientific projects
throughout the world. In 1989, we boosted our fleet of ROVs
with the purchase of a Phantom 300 (from Deep Ocean Engineering).
In these early years, these three systems functioned were used
to conduct research off the coast of New England; in the Great
Lakes; off Alaska; in Lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika
in the East African Rift Lake Valley; in Lake Baikal in the
Russian far east; in the Caribbean Sea; and in the Hawaiian
Islands. While these systems had low-payload capacities, they
were used to conduct quantitative video and still photography
transects on the seafloor and in mid-water and collect sediment,
water, and faunal samples. Since then, we have developed various
sampling systems to accommodate the specific research needs
of supported scientists. In addition, the Center acquired the
Kraken, Phantom III S2+2 and Hela
ROVs.
Our group, as well as groups at other research institutions (e.g.,
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute,
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) and private
companies (e.g., Eastern Oceanics) have greatly expanded the capabilities of a wide range of ROV
systems over time. This expansion, using custom designed sampling systems and requiring unique
changes to system architecture, produced a growing body of literature demonstrating the efficacy of
ROV technology for conducting quantitative imaging and sampling tasks and education.
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