ROPOS will be the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) used for the black smoker expedition. ROPOS is a 30/40 horsepower electro-hydraulic ROV. It can dive to depths up to 5,000 meters. The vehicle is equipped with two video cameras, two manipulators, sonar, a variety of custom sampling tools and several digital data channels. In deep water mode the vehicle is a component of a cage/vehicle system deployed as a unit to the dive's target depth. When the target depth is reached, the vehicle operates independently of the cage on up to 300 meters of flying tether. To date the vehicle has over 1,100 hours of operation during 320 dives in shallow and deep modes. The dimensions of ROPOS are 2.6m x 1.7m x 1.45m. Many of the operations of the black smoker expedition require manipulator functions or a hydraulic line on ROPOS.
