It was only in the 1980 s that small electric vehicles became available from American companies like Deep Sea Systems International and Deep Ocean Engineering . Many of these smaller vehicles are limited to depths of less than 1,000 feet and operate in ocean and limnological regions with little or no current. Their big brothers however, such as the vehicles built by Oceaneering and Perry can work in much deeper water and accomplish tasks using hydraulically powered manipulators, cutter and samplers. Both kinds of vehicles support imaging sonar and optical systems while only the bigger vehicles support multifunction manipulators for heavy work tasks. The primary advantage to the use of an ROV is that the underwater worker now can have a remote presence for observation, work or intervention in underwater tasks.
Work can proceed for far longer times than before without risk to human life.
The subsystems on ROV s make up the total work package and determines the precise capabilities of the vehicle. Limited work packages are important to the underwater worker who need to tag or sample portions of the underwater environment. Heavy work packages allow the accomplishment of complex tasks such as oil field work on rigs and risers, extrication of flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders from aircraft wreckage and other tasks requiring complex tool manipulation underwater. Benthos Incorporated in Massachusetts, USA is a major American producer of remotely operated vehicles and optical imaging systems, including digital underwater cameras, for use in the deep ocean. Incandescent Underwater Lighting Underwater lighting has emerged into a science that faces the challenge of placing enough light in the attenuating submerged environment for today's high altitude electronic, film and video cameras.