The Syros Open-Sea Autonomy Testbed is a test area in the central Aegean for autonomous surface and underwater systems, operated by SmartMove Lab, University of the Aegean, serving as a testing and experimentation facility for physical AI at sea.
It combines open water with real traffic, a fleet of autonomous vessels, a regional AIS/ADS-B network and a waterfront workshop, so that a system can move from bench to sea on the same day. Research teams and companies use it to validate autonomy, perception and maritime AI under real sea states, at TRL 5–9.
Infrastructure
| Component | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Test area | Syros, open water and port approach with live ferry and leisure traffic |
| Autonomous fleet | AeroSEA 1 (2.5 m ASV, 130 kg payload, 6–8 h), USV swarm (1 m, 4 h, mesh network), BlueROV2 Heavy ROV, C.U.A.K. ASV |
| Sensors | Navtech RS6 and Furuno DRS4DL radars, Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR, Cerulean Omniscan 450 side-scan sonar, Furuno DFF3D sonar |
| AegeaNET | 10 AIS and 2 ADS-B receiving stations; live traffic picture and an archive since January 2025 as ground truth for every trial |
| Shore station | Ground control / remote-operation station |
| Communications | Telemetry radios, 4G/5G coverage, mesh network |
| Waterfront workshop | Just outside Ermoupoli: integration, repair, launch and recovery; small vessels are hand-launched at the door, with a slipway nearby for AeroSEA 1 |
| Department facilities | In Ermoupoli: prototyping, 3D printing and fabrication |
| Support | Support RHIB, certified USV pilots, launch and recovery |
| Simulation | Software-in-the-loop (SITL) environment for mission rehearsal before sea trials |
Explore the infrastructure
Surface and underwater vehicles
Autonomous surface vessels, a USV swarm and a remotely operated underwater vehicle, for cooperative operations and maritime robotics research.
Waterfront workshop
Integration, launch and recovery on the waterfront just outside Ermoupoli, with prototyping and 3D printing at the Department facilities in town.
Sensors & data
Onboard sensing systems and regional tracking infrastructure for maritime data collection.
Field operations
Support vessels, deployment equipment, and real-time monitoring systems for sea trial operations.
Past trials
A selection of the sea-trial campaigns run on the testbed since 2023.
| Date | Campaign | Platforms | Project | Data / video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | Summer school sea trials, about 45 participants | Swarm USVs, BlueROV2 | 28DIGITAL / EIT summer school | Recap video |
| Oct 2025 | Live demonstration for the Merchant Marine Academy of Syros | Swarm USVs | CREXDATA | News |
| Sep 2025 | CREXDATA sea trials | Swarm USVs | CREXDATA | Video |
| Jun 2025 | Summer school sea trials, 45 participants | Swarm USVs | 28DIGITAL / EIT summer school | Recap video |
| Jun 2025 | RoBoat Race showcase at the IEEE Maritime Informatics & Robotics Symposium | Student-built USVs | — | News |
| Jul 2023 | 1st Aegean RoBoat Race, 3 missions, teams from Greece, Portugal, Latvia | Competitor ASVs | — | Race video Dataset (Zenodo) |
Highlights: prototyping and fabrication, and the swarm fleet at sea.
Using the testbed
- Joint research: SmartMove joins EU and national projects as testbed and validation partner, including hosted pilots.
- Test campaigns: bring your own vessel, sensor or software for a 1–10 day campaign; we provide area, support crew, logging and AegeaNET data.
- Training: courses and summer schools on our platforms.
- Trustworthy AI evidence: logged, repeatable sea trials that support safety and AI Act documentation.
Naming the testbed in a proposal
To name the testbed in a project proposal, use these details:
- Facility: Syros Open-Sea Autonomy Testbed
- Operated by: SmartMove, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab, Department of Product & Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean, Syros, Greece
- Legal entity: University of the Aegean (PANEPISTIMIO AIGAIOU), PIC 999840693
- Contact: ; write before submission to agree the testbed’s role and dates
Request a test campaign
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