Companies Release Z-Boat 1800MX USV for Habitat Surveys

Photo courtesy The Oceanscience Group.

By Danielle Lucey



BioSonics Inc. and The Oceanscience Group have announced that they’ve released a remotely operated boat, the Z-Boat 1800MX, designed for habitat-mapping surveys. 



The system combines Oceanscience’s previous work making hydrography survey boats with BioSonics’ MX echosounder, allowing it to search for aquatic vegetation and substrate distribution.



The system displays data on the navigation software in real time and is guided along planned survey lines using an onboard GPS. The Z-Boat 1800MX also has BioSonics’ Visual Acquisition 6 software on board, providing the operator with bathymetry and vegetation data through a full water column echogram. 



"These remote platforms can provide our customers habitat data where previously it was costly or impossible to collect,” says BioSonics’ spokesman Eric Munday. "For hard-to-access shallow water surveys, the MX echosounder may be installed on the Z-Boat in just a few minutes and then easily removed for use on a manned boat as required, so this is another tool to maximize the value of our instruments to our customers.”



BioSonics has previously outfitted echosounders on unmanned surface vessels, including the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider in 2013.



"Generally, we are looking for survey applications that are made challenging by accessibility restrictions,” says Adrian McDonald, of Oceanscience. “With many habitat surveys conducted in tidally influenced shallow water, having a very low draft boat that can be launched practically anywhere seems to be a valuable proposition."