Beneath the horizon [Control Robotics]

The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon is a disaster for the personnel who were killed, for the environment, and for deep-water drilling. However, an array of underwater vehicle technology has benefited. The subsea activities being undertaken in response to the tragic incidents aboard the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible mobile drilling unit (MODU) have been performed by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). ROVs are underwater robots powered and controlled from a surface vessel or platform via an umbilical. The ROVs used are equipped with dual manipulators and are of a grouping known as ´work-class´ (WROV) as they perform the work that would have historically been undertaken by divers in shallow waters.