POSEIDON rov

Marine biofouling increases hull drag, fuel consumption, and greenhouse-gas emissions, and current underwater cleaning approaches — mechanical brushing, high-pressure water jets, and emerging laser or cavitation methods — either damage antifouling coatings, consume excessive power, or release biocide-laden debris into open water. This paper presents POSEIDON (Protective Oceanic System for Electrochemical Inspection, Decontamination and Optimized Navigation), a modular remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that combines continuous low-impact brushing with a retractable Deployable Treatment Module (DTM) triggered only when a force/current-draw sensor detects hard fouling. Within a sealed contact zone, the DTM applies a two-stage acid–enzyme treatment and recovers all spent solution and debris on board, so no chemical or particulate matter is discharged to the marine environment. We present the operating principle, mechanical design, and first-pass engineering calculations for buoyancy, drag, thrust, and power, together with a component-level cost budget targeting a student/prototype build.