Underwater robotics: out of the research laboratory and into the field

Abstract

The development of two new classes of commercial underwater robotic vehicles-deep diving work-class remotely operated vehicles and survey-class autonomous vehicles-is being driven by the needs of deep water oil production and deep ocean telecommunication cable operations. The paper presents a survey of the present state and future directions of commercial underwater robotics, examines principal technical challenges, and outlines new enabling technologies for commercial underwater robotic vehicles.