ROV – Swimming Socket Wrench
Atomic Energy Commission robot inspired offshore petroleum industry’s remotely operated vehicles.
Shell Oil and Hughes Aircraft companies in 1960 began modifying an advanced but landlocked “Manipulator Operated Robot” — known as MOBOT — into one that could operate underwater. The result would lead to revolutionary offshore swimming machines for petroleum exploration and production.
Much of the 21st century’s offshore oil and natural gas industry relies on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that can trace their roots back to Howard Hughes, Jr. In the late 1950s, Hughes Aircraft Company developed its Manipulator Operated Robot – MOBOT – for the Atomic Energy Commission. (more…)
