3. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) from the Top-Down and the Bottom-Up

When we take a top-down approach to understanding issues surrounding ROV implementation, we can employ the metaphor either literally or as a form of abstraction hierarchy (Rasmussen, 1986). Literally, the military's necessity for moment-to-moment information mandates a suite of context-specific technological capabilities for sensor and effector systems. This suite includes but is not limited to systems in outer space (such as geo-synchronized orbiting platforms), high altitude atmospheric systems (such as Global Hawk) and other craft which operate less than hundreds of feet from earth down to almost ground level itself.