Club History
The club began as a homeschool cooperative class that utilized a “hands on” approach to investigating physical principles governing a class project chosen by the students.
Since the county is situated on the north end of Puget Sound, it seemed natural to choose a project suited to marine exploration.
The original class formed into two competing teams, each applying what they had learned to their own design of a "remotely operated vehicle," more customarily known as an ROV.
History of ROVs
"Remotely Controlled Vehicles," (ROV's), have been in existance for over 30 years. Development of the ROV was born from the desire for safe access to underwater locations not easily accessible by divers or mini-subs. Originally the ROV was referred to as a remotely controlled camera and tooling platform. The French Navy was responsible for the initial development of the ROV, which began in the early 1950's, with the Rebikoff "Chien Plongeur" in 1954.Today, ROV's are employed by different organizations all over the world for commercial and research purposes such as; oil prospecting, oceanography, search and recovery, and fisheries surveying. They typically perform many tasks more economically than professional divers, primarily due to the added expense of diver safety considerations in hazardous environments. The main advantage of the ROV is that it is expendable.
Recent technical advances have improved their performance and reliability. These advances have also brought to market inexpensive versions, allowing personal ownership of an ROV. This trend has opened access to the undersea world to many individuals from the comfort of their pleasure boat.