AquaCampus

The AquaCampus research area, which is unique in Europe, gives scientists and partner organizations from industry the opportunity to develop surface and underwater technologies under real conditions and to test them both in long-term trials and in short-term test scenarios.

Just a few nautical miles from Helgoland, eight yellow buoys in the North Sea mark the three-square-kilometer, 45-meter-deep research test site. In addition to testing capabilities for materials and coatings to protect surfaces in Helgoland’s southern harbor, new technologies for use in maritime environments are tested here – ranging from materials, construction methods and joining techniques to sensors and actuators to complete methods and procedures. The underwater robots and vehicles can also prove their performance and reliability under real conditions.

Until now, research on the open sea could only be carried out under costly conditions: If you wanted to examine large components or complete maritime systems, you had to hire a ship and hope for the right weather conditions. Long-term tests were hardly feasible before AquaCampus.