Enguia is still a conceptual prototype, it has never been built. The idea was conceived with the intention of creating a vessel to monitor sheltered water areas and be powered by solar energy.
Its name was chosen in honor of the electric eel, a fish that lives in rivers and has the ability to deliver high electric shocks as a form of defense. The requirement for the vessel in question was to be able to defend itself, therefore the mechanism of delivering high electric discharges was a bio-inspiration.
Its main mission is to collect samples and data on water quality. Such as: temperature, PH, conductivity, oxygen, turbidity, and microplastics. The depth of these measurements can be adjusted, as the probes are connected to a winch that measures the depth at which the equipment is being deployed.
The vehicle itself is a fiberglass catamaran, as it is capable of carrying a large area of solar panels without impacting its drag. It has three propulsion options: waterjet (which is safer in terms of run-over accidents), outboard motor, and long-tail motor.
Regarding the onboard equipment, apart from the probe, it has an Nvidia onboard computer for processing images captured by stereo cameras, surveillance camera, and Lidars. Its communication is primarily made via Starlink. For short-range communications, it is done via a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi router and telemetry devices used in drones.
Downloadable files:
Enguia blueprint