Remotely operated underwater vehicles, known simply as ROVs, are unmanned underwater vehicles. They are used by a wide number of industries and for various different purposes. The military uses ROVs for explosive ordnance disposal and port security, while the oil and gas industry have been helped by the ROV’s underwater exploration capabilities in the search for new deposits of crude oil.
Why Are The Benefits Provided By The ROV?
Before the advent of ROVs, people interested in exploring deep waters had to depend on human divers. The greatest advantage that ROVs have over human divers is endurance. Being a machine, it can withstand the tremendous pressure from deep-sea diving that a human being can’t. There is also the benefit of the ROV being able to work around hazardous materials such as oil, sewage, etc.
What Kinds of Possibilities Are Available For App Developers?
In a day and age when Smartphone are used to control remote-controlled helicopters and cars, an app which allows a person to control an ROV hardly seems out of the ordinary.
The Aquabotix Hydroview underwater vehicle is a toy-shaped device which can dive down to from seventy-five to a hundred-and-fifty feet is equipped with LED lights and an HD camera which transmits a live video feed to an iOS or Android enabled Smartphone or a tablet. The Aquabotix Hydroview can be used for a variety of purposes such as examining marine life or looking for any damage caused to a boat underwater.
ROVs are an especially indispensable tool for the petroleum industry as they are used extensively for searching and drilling wells. An app which controls an ROV can benefit other apps because the ROV is often the “point man”, that is, the first person in the field. If an ROV detects a new deposit of oil, this information could be sent back and used by the “Wellez Mobile” app to update its database to show the location of this new well.
Also, while conducting repair work, if there are hazardous materials nearby, the ROV can note down the information and send it along, whereupon it can be used by the “Observations” app to ensure the health and safety of the workers nearby in real-time.
The oil and gas industry has been steadily moving towards a sub sea ecosystem, and ROVs will be of great help in the drilling, repair and development work offshore. Therefore, app developers can look to use this move to their advantage and get creative! In fact, there are many companies offering ROVs today and app developers can do something creative by actually making apps that make controlling ROVs easier and provides important information. Being used by major industries, creating these paid apps can work in the long run as apps are still few in number in this niche.
