Movability Study of a Small Crawler ROV Deployed From a Launching Station to Operate on the Seafloor

Abstract

A crawler system is an advanced function that can potentially allow remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to operate on the seafloor. A quasi-static theoretical motion model for a crawler ROV was established to facilitate evaluation and design that incorporate the characteristic parameters in water, including hydrodynamic forces and the effect of an underwater cable, that are expected to affect mobility. The results confirmed that these parameters considerably affect and decrease the mobility of crawler ROVs. The established motion model was applied to examine the mobility of a sample small-size crawler ROV deployed from a launching station.