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6.0 RECOMMENDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 



The preceeding chapters attempted to portray a field of marine technology 

 which is extremely dynamic and, in the main, reponsive to clients with ever- 

 changing, virtually unpredictable needs. Unlike other areas of marine tech- 

 nology which have, to varing degrees, a long-term performance record for analysis, 

 the Remotely Operated Vehicle field is virtually an overnight phenomenon. In 

 merely three years the number of vehicles has tripled. The growth and application 

 has been so dynamic that the operators - a traditional source for obtaining 

 future development requirements in related fields - are so totally involved in 

 day-to-day problems that they have little, if any, time to devote to future 

 market requirements. The growth of this field is inextricably bound to development 

 of offshore oil and natural gas resources - the ultimate client and source of 

 future vehicle capability requirements. But, this field is as dynamic as the 

 ROV field itself, and introduction of new exploration, development and production 

 techniques also introduces new and varied applications for ROVs. As a consequence 

 of these dynamics there are no clearly defined design goals or ROV capabilities 

 objectives which will serve to satisfy future requirements with 100 percent 

 assurance. 



A further consideration, in regards to recommending research and development 

 programs, is that present ROVs - in spite of their problems - are accomplishing 

 the work they have set out to do. Except in a few areas, such as cable rupture 

 and entanglement, there are no outstanding deficiencies in vehicle performance. 

 This situation is clouded, however, by the fact that ROVs are being used primarily 

 to conduct tasks which call upon their most fundamental capabilities - observation 

 and videotape/photographic documentation. Indeed, one major manufacturer of 

 ROVs stated that the vehicles have nowhere realized their full potential, and 

 that they have the potential for accomplishing an even wider variety of tasks 

 as now designed. A case in point is manipulative capabilities. The fact that 

 approximately only 5 percent of the tasks call for manipulative capabilities 

 is not necessarily because ROVs lack the capabilities required, it is simply 

 that there is no strong demand for this function at present. 



The foregoing summation is made to emphasize the point that it is difficult 

 to provide a clear-cut, well-defined research and development program in a 

 field as new and as dynamic as remotely operated vehicles. The problem is 

 further complicated if the program attempts to address itself accross the 

 board of the wide variety of ROV users. On the one hand is the comm.ercial and 

 military user who is entering an era of specialized vehicles, on the other 

 hand is the potential scientific user who hardly knows what an ROV is. For 

 these, and other reasons, the research and development program recommended is 

 addressed separately to: 1) the commercial/military segment and 2) to the 

 scientific/research community, although the latter will obviously benefit from 

 developmental improvements by the former. 



The recommended programs are presented in two categories: immediate and long 

 term. By "immediate", the objectives are to increase the performance of existing 

 vehicles. Many of these programs are not development programs as such, but 

 are projects aimed at improving present capabilities instead of developing 

 entirely new technology. "Long term" programs are those which require heavy 

 investment of funds and a more extensive research effort than those programs 

 identified as "immediate". 



