According to the Detroit News, Michigan Technological University is opening the Maritime Autonomy Research Site, which will give researchers a space to try out new technologies that would facilitate greater use of unmanned research and survey vessels.

Located on Lake Superior’s Portage Canal in the Upper Peninsula city, the Maritime Autonomy Research Site is the first freshwater testing spot of its kind in the world, according to officials.

A launch ceremony for the site was scheduled for Friday, August 10, and on the same day, a new organization called the Smart Ships Coalition was also scheduled to be announced.

Based in Michigan, the coalition will include a variety of parties, including scientists, policymakers, navigators and other entities interested in developing ways for research boats to operate unmanned.

These parties would perform tasks such as surveying lake bottoms, as well as scientific activities that would be “expensive, difficult or even dangerous for humans to do.”