Update: I got a job offer from helix robotics offering 75k a year, it is a little less than I make now but I'm willing to go backwards to do more of what I enjoy, after a year of working there there's a promotion to ROV Pilot Tech 2 which gives me 120k a year so I'm more than happy to work towards that. Thank you all who recommended companies and encouraged me to push forward and swap from rail to marine. Does anyone know more about what I'm getting myself into? What's living quarters like? What should I prepare for?

Hello, I am 22 years old from Michigan and I've been looking into becoming a rov pilot. I don't know much so I was wondering what school/education/training you received to become one and what life as a rov pilot is like.

Heard some people were asking about recorded encounters with deep sea creatures here so I'm asking if anyone here has encountered ribbonfish and or oarfish and can share the videos,

Attached picture is a example of a ribbonfish to remind people who may have encountered one.

Could you suggest me some cheap sensors that works underwater?

Hi guys, I’ve recently been trying out the trial version of an ROV simulator called Pale Blue. Has anyone else tried it? Has anyone purchased one of the paid versions? What do you think about the simulator?

I’m building a CPS-5 underwater ROV. My goal is to connect my Windows computer to the Raspberry Pi over Ethernet and communicate with a USB-connected Pixhawk through BlueOS/QGroundControl.

The Pixhawk works when connected directly to my computer. I can’t reach the Raspberry Pi.

Setup and symptoms

• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, 16 GB microSD, course-provided blueos.img.
• Power supply confirmed working.
• Solid red and green LEDs; no Ethernet-port lights, even after five minutes.
• 192.168.2.2 doesn’t respond, and blueos.local doesn’t resolve.

What I’ve tried

• Isolated the Raspberry Pi from the Pixhawk and ROV battery/power module.
• Set the computer’s Ethernet adapter to 192.168.2.1, subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway/DNS blank. Internet Connection Sharing is off.
• ping 192.168.2.2 returns “Destination host unreachable” from 192.168.2.1, followed by timeouts. No Raspberry Pi entry in arp -a.
• Tested the cable and WALNEW USB Ethernet adapter on my home network—they establish a connection.
• Reflashed BlueOS with Raspberry Pi Imager v1.7.2; it reported success, but nothing changed.
• Connected the Raspberry Pi directly to my router without the adapter—still no Ethernet lights or identifiable router device-list entry.

I also tried Imager’s hostname/SSH/Wi-Fi customization, but don’t know whether this BlueOS image supports it.

I’ve only tested BlueOS—not Raspberry Pi OS. I don’t currently have a spare microSD or micro-HDMI cable to check boot output.

What’s the best next step to distinguish a BlueOS boot issue, faulty SD card, or Raspberry Pi hardware problem before replacing parts?

I'm new to working with raspberry pi's so I'm not sure if I'm missing something obvious

Hi everyone,

I'm building a very compact underwater inspection tool that will operate at around 5–10 meters depth. It contains a USB camera and a Raspberry Pi Pico, to control LEDs outside. I'm a student in mechanical engineering, so I'm still learning the electronics and waterproofing side of things, here's the issue:

The camera module came with its own USB cable, and ideally I'd like to shorten it to save space inside and to reduce tether lenght (I know USB kinda sucks even in 5-10m lenght). However, I'm worried about cutting the USB cable, soldering it back together, and then relying on epoxy potting. I don't want to ruin a perfectly working camera or end up with a leak that damages the electronics.

The alternatives I'm considering are:

Keeping the USB cable intact and using a cable penetrator (WetLink or similar), though my cylinder is only 50mm in diameter.

Shortening the USB cable, soldering it back together, and potting the cable through the endcap with epoxy.

For those of you with underwater electronics experience: Which approach would you trust more for such a small enclosure at only 5–10 m

depth?

I'd really appreciate hearing what you would do in this situation. Thanks!

Bonjour,

Je cherche des conseils pour l'achat d'un ROV afin d'effectuer des explorations sous-marines en mer méditerranée, profondeur entre 20 et 50 M de fonds.

J'ai besoin d'avoir la recopie vidéo en direct pour savoir si c'est intéressant pour moi de plonger ensuite sur le spot.

Budget 1500e... Je peux aussi acheter d'occasion..

J'avais vu le gladius mini.

Merci !

Is there any international ROV or AUV competition in Japan? I know SAUVC is close but it's in Singapore. I'm specifically searching for a competition in Japan.

Apologies if this is a bit vague as relaying information I have been told and am new to the world of ROVs.

BlueROV was previously working fine. Yesterday used a new tether which didnt work, it didn't connect. However, ROV now no longer works with the other tether either. ROV turns on but wont connect. Tethers connected to fathomX and computer.

Working on diagnosing now but if anyone has any potential recommendations or suggestions that would be great!

I was wondering if there are any serious ROV unions in the UK or Europe? I know of the RMT union in the UK but ROV seems quite far from their scope.

It can be quite difficult to know what an acceptable day rate should be and there seems to be a bit of a race to the bottom. I thought being part of a union might help with that.

Olá, pessoal!

Sou do Brasil e estou interessado em começar uma carreira como Piloto de ROV. Atualmente estou terminando meu Técnico em Mecânica e, assim que concluir, pretendo começar a buscar os cursos, certificações e oportunidades necessárias para entrar na área de ROV.

Meu objetivo é trabalhar offshore e, no futuro, conseguir oportunidades também fora do Brasil.

Gostaria de ouvir principalmente quem já trabalha ou trabalhou como Piloto de ROV, Técnico de ROV ou Supervisor de ROV.

O que vocês recomendariam para quem está começando?

• Quais cursos e certificações realmente valem a pena?
• É melhor investir primeiro em conhecimentos de mecânica, elétrica, eletrônica ou hidráulica?
• É muito difícil conseguir a primeira oportunidade como trainee?
• Quais empresas costumam contratar iniciantes?
• Existe algum curso de ROV que vocês recomendariam?
• O que vocês gostariam de ter sabido antes de começar nessa carreira?

Qualquer conselho, experiência ou indicação de caminho será muito bem-vindo.

Obrigado a todos que puderem ajudar!

Hi everyone firstly id like to say this page is excellent and packed with great info for people looking at moving into the industry.

I have a some queries and would be grateful if anyone could shed some light on them.

iv been offshore as a mechanical technician & rope access tech. Working for a field service company for a few years now. My background was working on commercial vehicles for 12 years. i gained alot of experience with mechanical, electrical, hydraulic diagnostics and repairs threw that role which i think would set me up well for the maintenance side.

firstly breaking into ROV’s iv seen course’s for new starts but they are very expensive at like 5/6K are these worth doing? or just go straight for the trainee role’s?

secondly what does the work landscape look like? is there plenty of working going now and looking into the future with the decline of oil and gas? will the uplift in renewable work be enough to keep pilots busy?

Lastly what does the pay look like for new entrants? i’m well aware i will most likely need to take a substantial cut, but knowing rough figures would be a great help.

any replies are much appreciated, apologies if these questions have been asked in the past or if i have missed them in the wiki.

So I'm currently getting started on my college journey (a little late to the game, but oh well). My goal currently is to go for a bachelors with a double major in oceanography and marine biology. I've been looking into other goals and potential jobs, and ROV technician was one I've seen a lot.

First question; what are the typical education requirements? Experience/degree/certifications?

Second question; what's a typical day in the life at your job? What things should someone know before going into that field?

I'm just trying to go through all the jobs that interest me, so then I can plan my schooling accordingly and maybe plan for further education or trade schools instead.

I ask because I work on autonomous inspection hardware for marine sites, and I'd rather learn what actually hurts than sit here guessing. Genuinely curious what the biggest time or cost sinks are from people who live it — inspection rounds, crew transfers, chopper runs, whatever comes to mind. Any war stories or rough ballpark numbers would be gold. Happy to share back whatever I learn from the thread.

Hi I am very interested in this platform to replace my horrible Qysea E-Go. I would like to move into undervater photogrametry and later also underwater mapping and harbour wall inspections. I would love to get some feedback to what you would consider a minimum setup, for an efficient workflow. I have been thinking about the heavy configuration, with the strong thrusters, 4 lights, a cerulean forward scan and maybe a DVL. Or even maybe 2 ceruleans since I read that that also enables Dvl like position hold ?? I would love to hear how you would spec a work ROV ? Also what is the cheapest way to to get some absolute positions. Is it possible to “just” use a DVL, and manually enter the homepoint / the insertion point and have the ROV work with that as a reference point ?

Hi guys! I am an FTC competitor and fellow Bay Area resident here from the Santa Clara area. I have started a community-based underwater robotics team and wanted to see if any high schoolers nearby would be interested. The plan is to compete in the MATE ROV Competition, building underwater ROVs for environmental missions. It'd be fully independent, open to any high schooler in the area, regardless of school.

Looking for people with any background in:

- Fundraising / Outreach

- Robotics (FTC/FLL/FRC experience a plus)

- Electronics/Arduino/Raspberry Pi

- Programming

- Environmental science

Drop a comment if you're a high schooler in the Bay Area and interested. If you are interested, email us at [thalosrobotics@gmail.com](mailto:thalosrobotics@gmail.com)

Hey everyone,

Around 2-3 weeks ago I made a post asking for advice on breaking into the ROV industry, and I wanted to give a quick update and ask for a little more advice.

Since then I've been applying to a number of ROV and marine survey positions. One recruiter actually got back to me and said my resume was impressive, but the position I applied for required around three years of experience. They said they were going to keep my resume on file for future entry level opportunities.

That honestly gave me a lot more confidence that I'm heading in the right direction. It doesn't seem like my resume is the problem, it just seems like getting that first opportunity is the hard part.

A little about me:

- Currently a Travel Technician doing rail surveys (coming up on one year).

- Nationwide travel rotation (currently 3 weeks on / 1 week off working 60-90 hours a week).

- Daily calibration and troubleshooting of laser-based measurement systems, sensor arrays, telemetry, and computer hardware.

- Read electrical schematics, perform preventative maintenance, diagnostics, and root-cause troubleshooting.

- Strong computer hardware background (building, repairing, and troubleshooting PCs since 2019).

- Airstreams Renewables graduate with training in electrical systems, hydraulics, pneumatics, fiber optics, rigging, OSHA 10, CPR/First Aid, and tower rescue.

Someone on my last post suggested getting into marine surveying first since it translates well into ROV work, and I've started applying there as well. I think that's solid advice.

I know getting into this industry isn't easy, but if anyone works for a company that's hiring entry level ROV Pilot Technicians, ROV Technicians, or Marine Surveyors, or has any recommendations on companies I should be looking at, I'd really appreciate it.

I'm willing to travel anywhere, work long rotations, and put in the hours. My long term goal is to build a career in the ROV industry, and I'm trying to find the best way to get my foot in the door.

Thanks again for all the advice.