The remotely operated cable laying system (ROCLS) is the ROPOS latest upgrade. ROCLS latches beneath ROPOS for deployment of extension cables for seafloor observatories. This unique system utilizes the ROPOS ROV with a specially designed cable laying spool and operating system and allows for the deployment of smaller diameter cables that cannot be laid by a cable ship. The benefits of an ROV capable of laying small cables, includes the ability to maneuver the cable route around obstacles on the seafloor and connect instruments arrays to the nodes. ROCLS underwent successful sea trials in August 2007 and laid an extension cable for the VENUS project in February 2008 that links an array of piezometers in the Fraser River delta.
For more details on ROCLS please read "Observatory Cable Laying System" written by Keith Shepherd, Keith Tamburri and Reuben Mills.
From February 10th to 17th, ROPOS was on-board the CCGS John P. Tully to assist the VENUS observatory team perform planned maintenance work and to help CHONe (Canadian Healthy Oceans Network) scientists investigate the exceptional marine biodiversity found in Saanich Inlet.
Canada’s national facility for deep-sea research, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS, has made it possible for ocean scientists to conduct research on the ecology of hydrothermal vents, sponge reefs and cold-water corals, and the geochemistry and economic potential of sulphide mineral and gas hydrate deposits, and to begin pioneering work on cabled deep-sea observatories. The Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) and university partners have operated ROPOS since 1996.
The Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility is a nationally registered not-for-profit corporation. Established to manage and operate the ROPOS system once the Department of Fisheries and Oceans could no longer fund underwater research vehicles, the CSSF successfully transferred the ROPOS operation from government to the private sector.
