The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) of New Zealand has begun operating a new autonomous vessel that will be used for assessments of fish stocks.
The six-metre-long Nemesis is equipped with artificial intelligence and a selection of data-gathering sensors including a battery-powered echosounder that can estimate the size of fish populations.
Built by local robotics company X-Craft Enterprises, the vessel has just been on its first deep-water test run in the Cook Strait.
The vessel was designed to collect acoustic data in depths of at least 600 metres. It can be programmed to follow a specific track and is also equipped with collision avoidance technology.