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First Submarine Invented
In Saybrook Connecticut, David Bushnell invented the first underwater vehicle. The "Turtle" was hand and foot powered, and had an air supply of only 30 minutes. The "Turtle" was then involved in a battle in New York Harbor in 1776, also becoming the first submarine involved in a naval battle. -
First Torpedo Invented
Austrian company Luppis-Whitehead Automobile engineered the first torpedo, becomming the first self-propelled underwater vehicle. Although very basic in its design, served as a proof-of-concept of underwater vehicles. -
First ROV Invented
POODLE, the first tethered and controllable ROV, was invented by Frenchmen Dimitri Rebikoff. POODLE did not get much use, and had limited capabilities, but attracted the attention of engineers and navies world wide. -
US Navy Starts Research and Development on the CURV Project
The CURV(cable-controlled underwater recovery vehicle project) was an official project under control of the US Navy that revamped ROV technology. CURV was intended to aid in the recovery of sunken submersibles and lost nuclear bombs. CURV saved the lives of 2 British submersible pilots on September 1, 1973, gaining international intention for the importance of ROV technology. Pisces III had sank off the coast of Ireland at a depth of over 1500 feet. -
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First Arctic Underwater Exploration
The University of Washington APL designed two AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles). This was one of the first autonomous ROVs that controlled itself. They were released under the Arctic ice to explore. This tested the ROV industry and would determine its future, because this gave a lot of "freedom" to the ROV -
First Commercial ROV
American company HydroProducts produced the RCV 225 and shortly after the RCV 150. They were the first eyeballs in the sea, intended for use in the developing sea oil/gas industry. The RCV 225 and RCV 150 could spot failures and leaks in the pipes. -
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Communication between ROV's developed
Communication between ROV's made large leaps forward during this period. Although still not mastered, this allows a "community" of AUVs to stay underwater, and work together. Some even have specialties for repair or battery recharging. -
First Low-Cost ROV
LCROV's were much smaller than the orginal CURV or commercial ROV's, but could still reach similiar depths. With breakthroughs in multiple technologies used by ROV's, LCROV's became lighter, smaller, and cheaper. These were mostly only for observation, and any physical work performed was light. -
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Improvement of Power Supply
Power supply was initially lead-acid batteries. These are what are found in cars, and are extremely heavy, making them a very inefficient power source (more power required to move ROV). Advances in battery chemistry initially to Nickel Metal-Hydride (NiMH) and Aluminum Oxide, to eventually Lithium-based batteries (extremely light) have made power sources much more efficient. Solar panels have also been integrated into many designs for more permanent deployments. -
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Using GPS for Navigation
Previous to this time, ROV's used dead-reckoning to track movement and find location. This process was not highly developed, innaccurate, and processing intensive. With the use of GPS to check more developed dead-reckoning algorithms, ROVs can navigate themselves with much sufficient accuracy -
Bibliography
BBC Report<a href='http://ausi.org/publications/ICRA_01paper.pdf'>Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute</a><a href='http://www.rov.org/rov_history.cfm' >ROV.org</a><a href='http://www.mtsociety.org/pdf/club/clubnews_vol_1_no2.pdf' >Marine Tech Society</a><a href='http://www.seatrepid.com/files/UT_PAPER_FINALWERNLI.pdf' >Seatrepid</a>
