A micro wireless remotely-operated vehicle

For decades remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) have been designed and implemented in various size and shape. Among them, very small-sized ROV which is called micro ROV has the working range with tens of meters and takes the place of divers. In this paper, we develop a micro ROV operating not by umbilical cable which is troublesome for movements but by wireless acoustic communication. The micro wireless ROV is designed to conduct the commands of movement and measurement from a remote user and to report the result. Experiments in water tanks have verified functional operations of the vehicle and shown the feasibility for applications.