The goal of the ANTARES R&D project (Astronomy with a Neutrino Telescope and Abyss environmental RESearch) is to study the feasibility of the deployment and operation of a very large deep sea high energy cosmic neutrino detector. This program has begun in 1996 in the Mediterranean sea along the French coast at depth down to 2500 m. Several lines have been deployed repeatedly for site parameter measurements such as optical background, bacteria and sediment fouling, undersea currents. These lines include a small autonomous intelligent controller which performs the acquisition and the storage of environment parameters, the interfacing with photomultiplier tubes and the control of some specific devices (acoustic modem, current meter, compass, motor). This paper presents these tests and the different configurations of the controller used to drive them. The controller has to work autonomously with limited resources and with high reliability. The technical options chosen to meet these stringent requirements are described. The next step of the program is presented. It will consist in the deployment of a complex mooring line including 8 photo-multiplier tubes and several instrumentation subsystems. This line will be connected to the shore by a 40 km electro-optical cable which will bring the power and allow data acquisition and supervision. The same controller as above will be used for slow control data concentration in a WorldFIP fieldbus architecture.
