Unmanned underwater vehicles: Design considerations and outcome of scientific expeditions

In India, scientific investigations of ocean basins have been in progress for more than five decades using indirect and direct measurement devices. These studies were aimed at resource identification, ecological, palaeo-oceanographic and palaeo-climatic research. To cater to the need of the ocean community, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) rated for 6000 m (ROSUB 6000) and 500 m (PROVe-500) operational depths have been developed at the National Institute of Ocean Technology, MoES, Chennai. This article reports the design considerations for unmanned remotely operated underwater vehicles and the outcome of scientific expeditions conducted for deep sea mineral exploration, ocean biodiversity and polar science.