what is an underwater ROV?

The ROV is the perfect example of teleoperation being the right answer rather than a trick: underwater there is no alternative, which is why this is the one robot category where nobody fakes autonomy. Work-class ROVs inspect platforms, repair subsea cables and explore wrecks at depths no diver can reach, with the pilot sitting on a ship seeing through their cameras.

The scale of it is better told by a story than a spec sheet: the $815 million research vessel being built by Valve's founder will carry a winch with 12,000 meters of cable to operate ROVs at the bottom of the ocean trenches. It is in the story of the billionaire who wants to give away the seafloor. Its cable-free sibling, which swims alone and blind, is the AUV.