Bottom crawler

Short description: Vehicle for underwater exploration and work

thumb A bottom crawler is an underwater exploration, research and work vehicle.[1] It is designed to sink to the bottom of a body of water, where it uses the traction of its wheels or tracks against the bottom and can move a load.[1] It can be manned or unmanned.[1] It can tethered to a surface ship by a cable or cables providing power, control, video, and lifting capabilities, but this is not essential.

## Contents

* 1 Applications
* 2 Limitations
* 3 Remote Underwater Manipulator
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Applications

Such devices have been proposed for use in deep sea mining.[2]

It was considered as a platform for nuclear missiles, but was rejected because it is restricted to essentially two dimensions, unlike a ballistic missile submarine.[3]

## Limitations

Its use is limited by the composition of the bottom; unless it is firm, the crawler can become immobilized by sinking into sediment.[1] Another serious problem is that the tracks or wheels can stir up the sediment, causing it to seriously degrade vision.[1]

Its power source can be internal (batteries) or external (cable), but each presents problems.[1] Batteries are heavy and have limited capacity for sizable loads, while power cables can impede mobility.[1]

## Remote Underwater Manipulator

In 1958, Victor Anderson began constructing the 10-ton, unmanned Remote Underwater Manipulator (RUM) for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography which was based on a United States Marine Corps self-propelled rifle carrier.[4] He attached a boom and claw which enabled it to manipulate objects up to 5 metres (16 ft) away.[4] RUM was initially powered by a gasoline engine, but it was replaced by two electric motors.[4] It is paired with the Ocean Research Buoy (ORB), a barge with a center well.[4] RUM is lowered by crane, then a coaxial cable is attached for power and sensor signals.[4]

RUM has taken core samples at depths down to 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) and has recovered equipment from 1,260 metres (4,130 ft).[4]

## See also

* Benthic lander, an autonomous observational platform that sits on the seabed

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Davis, D. A.; Wolfe, M. J. (December 1969). "Feasibility Study and Comparative Analysis of Deep Ocean Load Handling Systems". Naval Facilities Engineering Command. pp. 54-60. https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Technical_Report/2oEiAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="bottom+crawler"&pg=PA54&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
2. ↑ Watanabe, Keisuke (2023). "Tank Experiment of a Seabed Walking Platform Model for Subsea Mining Exploration". Journal of Robotics, Networking and Artificial Life 9 (4): 326–330. doi:10.57417/jrnal.9.4_326. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jrnal/9/4/9_4/_article.
3. ↑ DA PAM (Department of the Army Pamphlet) issue 27, 1977, p. 177. Accessed 16 July 2025.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Scripps Institution of Oceanography: Platforms and Vehicles". University of California Press. https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt109nc2cj&chunk.id=d2_5_ch04&toc.id=ch04&brand=eschol. Retrieved 16 July 2025.

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