There was a day that the operator was glad just to get his ROV back, regardless of what it was able to do. But those days are long gone and ROVs today have become a highly reliable part of both offshore and inshore operations by commercial, government, military and academic users. Far from the early "flying eyeballs" such as the RCV 225, modern ROVs cover tasks from inspecting the hazardous inside of nuclear power plants to repairing complex deepwater production systems offshore in the oil and gas industry. In general, ROVs are used to perform the following:

• Diver Observation–act as a dive buddy to ensure diver safety and provide assistance.
• Platform Inspection–from visual inspection to using instruments to monitor the effects of corrosion, fouling, locating cracks, estimating biologic fouling, etc.
• Pipeline Inspection–follow underwater pipelines to check for leaks, determine overall health of the pipeline and insure the installation is acceptable.
• Surveys–both visual and acoustic surveys are necessary prior to installing pipelines, cables and most offshore installations.
• Drilling Support–everything from visual inspection, monitoring installation, operational support and repair when necessary using multiple manipulators.
• Construction Support–a natural follow-on to drilling support. The tasks here can become more complex with the use of manipulators and powered tools and cutters.
• Debris Removal–offshore platforms can become a "trash dump" underwater. ROVs provide a cost effective method of keeping the area clean and safe.
• Call Out Work–support in many of the previous areas, however, the tasks are usually for one or several days for systems not permanently assigned to offshore platforms or drill ships.
• Platform Cleaning–one of the most sophisticated tasks using manipulators and suction cups for positioning and 100-horsepower systems driving brushes, water jets and other abrasive devices.
• Subsea Installations–as capability has increased, vehicles have begun to support the construction, operation, inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea installations, especially in deep water.
• Telecommunications Support — Inspection, Burial or Repair–from towed plows that bury cables for protection from trawlers and anchors to sophisticated vehicles that can locate, follow, retrieve and rebury subsea telecommunication cables.
• Object Location and Recovery–ROVs may have received their highest level of recognition from tragedies such as passenger jet crashes and the space shuttle disaster. Search, location, and recovery of lost objects has become routine.

These tasks only touch the surface. Military applications such as mine countermeasures are critical to the Navy. Inshore operations use smaller ROVs for many tasks from inspection to body recovery. And, the use of ROVs by academia is increasing rapidly, including the development and application of autonomous systems.