What the ROV allows us to do is
to go where the scientists can’t go.
So, it allows us to do a lot of research
that would not be able to be accomplished otherwise.
In the Arctic, you’re really subject to
the ice pack as far as orienting the boat
to be most accommodating for launch
and recovery and or daily operations.
But, subsea-wise, it doesn’t impact the
vehicle so much because a lot of the
oceans in the world are going to be cold
and high pressure and salt water environments
so that part of it’s not so much different.
The ROV consists of three main components:
the vehicle you see yourself behind me;
there’s an umbilical and a tether that
goes to the surface, that’s number two,
which consists of fiber for data and
copper for power; and then on the topside
there’s a control van, which has all of
the controls, the monitors, recorders,
and the scientists, and the ROV operators.
So, the vehicle itself, of course,
is propelled with thrusters on the back,
so that’s how it maneuvers around.
And then all of the assorted different
scientific equipment and or cameras
have pan and tilts on them.
So, there’s a lot of different tools on here
that are used to collect a ton of information
that I suspect will provide data
for analysis for a long time.