Polar applications of Romeo ROV

This paper outlines the Polar exploitations of Romeo, the testbed ROV of CNR-Robotlab. The Romeo System consists of an underwater robotic prototype for scientific research, characterized by a networked and modular architecture and by a networked and modular Development Virtual Environment, linked by an Ethernet network. The robot's Control Station can be connected to the system through the Internet, carrying out experiments of remote tele-robotics. Romeo has been exploited in Marine Science applications in several campaigns in the Mediterranean Sea, in Antarctica and in the Arctic Sea, carrying modular and interchangeable sub-systems for specific operative missions. A number of missions have been performed under the control of some teams of Marine scientists from different European countries, demonstrating the effectiveness of the remote control of the robots employed in extreme environment for tele-science applications.