Today's typical 'work class' ROV for the offshore industry consists of a frame which supports the hydraulic pumps, the thrusters, all ancillary equipment (cameras, sonar, etc) and the electronic control equipment, the mass of which is distributed to achieve balance and whose submerged weight is compensate by syntactic foam buoyancy fitted to the upper part of the frame to achieve neutral buoyancy. It will be fitted with a five-function grabber arm, used to hold the ROV steadily in one position, and a seven-function manipulator which is used to perform robotic tasks. The manipulator will be a derivation of those found in various industrial applications ashore, having a number of joints, a rotating wrist, and a hand-like claw. For some applications, the ROV will be equipped with a special tooling skid designed to locate and lock on to a docking panel whence various valves and controls can be activated.

The ROV is now used for many tasks in the offshore theatre; drilling support, site survey, debris clearance, structure cleaning and inspection, flowline and umbilical tie in, pipeline inspection, route survey, or override of operational functions. However, the offshore industry is by no means the only place where work class ROV are to be found. They have a significant part to play in mine countermeasures, both for survey routes, and for locate and destroy missions when a suspicious object is identified. They are also used for civil engineering work, such as inspection and maintenance of dams, docks, hydro-electric installations and sewer outfalls, and cleaning the hulls for ships without dry-docking. While some of the ROVs are rather smaller, and another important sector is scientific exploration and marine archaeology (who can forget the amazing pictures from the Titanic).