{"id":363,"date":"2018-01-12T13:24:52","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T13:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliantrobotics.com\/staging\/7213\/?page_id=363"},"modified":"2018-06-27T07:14:05","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T07:14:05","slug":"qa-with-joe","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reliantrobotics.com\/staging\/7213\/qa-with-joe\/","title":{"rendered":"They Asked Joe About Underwater Exploration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Q&A with Joe at Reliant Robotics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Into the Deep with Joe Caba<\/div>
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Originally published in Ocean Insider, here’s an article describing the life of a ROV pilot. It’s a question and answer session with Joe Caba, CEO of Reliant Robotics, LLC.<\/p>\n

In a previous life, Joe was a ROV pilot, before starting his own subsea inspection and consulting company.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here’s What Joe Had to Say<\/h2>\n\n\n
<\/span>OG: What is it like to be a deep sea ROV pilot?<\/div>
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Exciting Boring (only sometimes!) Technically challenging Hard being away from home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, being a deep sea ROV pilot is like being on another planet. The creatures under the sea move differently, live in very cold temperatures and never see sunlight. Some of them look like cartoon characters\u2014brightly colored and weirdly shaped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At other times, being the pilot is nerve-wracking because you have to pay very close attention for a long time, to make sure nothing goes wrong with your equipment. A lot could go wrong, for a lot of reasons. The ROV is like a very strong balloon, filled with air. Because it\u2019s used deep under water, the ocean is squeezing the outside of the balloon\u2014hard. The ROV holds a lot of electronic equipment to take scientific measurements, make videos and capture some of the sea creatures. The equipment works best when the air around it stays very still, the temperature is always the same, and the ROV isn\u2019t moving through water. So the pilot has to watch very, very carefully\u2014without starting to think about something else, like what\u2019s for dinner or watching a movie\u2014in case the vehicle breaks down or the equipment stops working. On top of all that, the pilot has to \u201cfly\u201d the ROV more than a mile down into the ocean with remote controls while watching the action on a video screen. If something does go wrong, you have to figure out how to fix it without pulling the vehicle back to the surface. That would waste a lot of time and could ruin the experiments. There\u2019s no way to send a human mechanic down to the ROV, either, so the pilot has to have a lot of imagination to solve problems with limited tools. That\u2019s a lot of responsibility! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most interesting things about working on a scientific expedition is there are so many experts on board from all around the world. Talking to them, the pilot gets to learn about different countries and different kinds of science and engineering. Plus many of these people can tell very funny or strange stories about their adventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hard thing about being on an expedition is you have to get used to living on a ship, and you don\u2019t get to see your family for a long time. That\u2019s hard for the pilot\u2019s family, too.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/span>OG:?Tell us what it takes to become a ROV pilot?<\/div>
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There are three skills needed: <\/p>\n\n\n\n