30th June 2026

Connecting the Underwater World: Delphis Acoustic Modem in Action at SMaRC Askö

At Sweden’s SMaRC Askö field station in the Stockholm archipelago, researchers are pushing the boundaries of autonomous marine systems. At the heart of that challenge lies one critical question: how do autonomous vehicles communicate underwater? The answer is increasingly being found in technologies such as the Delphis Acoustic Modem.

The Challenge Beneath the Waves

Developed by Succorfish in collaboration with Newcastle University’s School of Electronics, the Delphis Acoustic Modem provides a practical solution to this problem.

Instead of relying on radio waves, Delphis uses acoustic signalling to transmit data through water. Short-burst acoustic messages allow underwater assets to exchange information reliably, creating communication links where conventional wireless technologies simply cannot operate.

This capability opens the door to a new generation of underwater operations.

Autonomous underwater vehicles can share mission status. Sensor networks can transmit environmental observations. Surface vessels can communicate with subsea assets. Multiple systems can begin operating as coordinated teams rather than isolated platforms.

For researchers developing the future of maritime autonomy, this represents a significant step forward.

Evolo surface hydrofoil with Puffin auv payload

SMaRC-autonomous-hydrofoil-with-acoustic-modem-ready-for-demo

Delphis-acoustic-modem-mounted-on-long-range-auv-SMaRC-LoLo

SMaRC-LoLo-long-range-auv-with-Succorfish-acoustic-modem-scaled

out-on-boat-at-demo-day-at-Asko-sweden-scaled

SMaRC-underwater-robotics-demo-day-scaled

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SMaRC-underwater-robotics-demo-day-at-Asko-scaled

operating-drone-at-SMaRC-underwater-robotics-demo

drone-deploying-Delphis-acoustic-modem-scaled

SMaRC-puffin-auv-with-Delphis-acoustic-modem-scaled

Delphis Acoustic Modem at SMaRC Askö

During a visit to SMaRC’s Askö field station in June 2026, we saw first-hand how Delphis is being integrated across one of Europe’s leading marine robotics research environments.

Located within the Stockholm Archipelago, Askö provides a demanding real-world test environment where new technologies can be evaluated beyond the confines of the laboratory.

What was striking was not just a single integration, but an entire ecosystem of autonomous platforms — each connected by the Delphis modem.

Puffin Micro AUV

Puffin is SMaRC’s micro AUV — a compact, torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle weighing under 20kg, designed to be deployed and recovered by just one or two people. It features a thrust-vectoring propulsion system and internal variable buoyancy control, giving it the ability to hover and manoeuvre precisely underwater. Equipped with the Succorfish Delphis acoustic modem, Puffin can send and receive data while submerged and be acoustically ranged and commanded from the surface — solving the fundamental problem of how a small, affordable underwater robot stays connected during a mission.

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LoLo Long-range, Long-endurance AUV

LoLo is SMaRC’s flagship large AUV: a mid-size, modular vehicle built for extended missions in challenging open-water environments, with a flexible payload bay that can accommodate sensors, samplers, and experimental systems. LoLo now uses the Succorfish Delphis acoustic modem, enabling the team to monitor and communicate with the vehicle while it is underwater — a significant step beyond pre-planned autonomous missions with no in-mission contact. The Delphis enables real-time acoustic telemetry, ranging, localisation, and command uplinks, transforming LoLo from an isolated platform into a connected, commandable system operating at depth.

Evolo Hydrofoil

Evolo is an autonomous hydrofoiling unmanned surface vessel developed at KTH by Professor Jakob Kuttenkeuler, designed as a research platform with advanced sensors and an autonomous flight controller that regulates altitude, pitch, and roll once the craft reaches take-off speed. At the Askö demo, Evolo was demonstrated carrying a Puffin AUV as a payload, functioning as a high-speed surface delivery platform capable of transporting an AUV rapidly to a remote operational location — overcoming the time and range limitations of conventional vessel-based deployment. With the Succorfish Delphis mounted on the hydrofoil, Evolo also maintains an acoustic communication link to the submerged Puffin throughout the mission, acting as a live gateway between the surface and subsea layers.

Drone Deployed Acoustic Modem

A UAV drone can carry a Succorfish Delphis acoustic modem to any point on the water surface, where it is deployed into the water to establish an acoustic link with any submerged assets including AUVs, sensors or equipment. This makes the acoustic gateway fully mobile and rapidly repositionable, removing the dependency on a surface vessel or fixed buoy to bridge the communications gap between air and sea. Where underwater vehicles would otherwise be unreachable, the drone-Delphis combination creates an on-demand acoustic node anywhere it is needed — in minutes.

The capabilities demonstrated at Askö are perhaps best described by SMaRC’s own Centre Director:

SMaRC has been using Succorfish Delphis modems across several of our autonomous marine robotics platforms, including AUVs, surface vehicles, autonomous hydrofoiling vehicles, and autonomous drone-based AUV recovery systems. The modems have become an important part of how we communicate with, command, track, and recover underwater robots in field conditions. They enable capabilities such as acoustic telemetry, underwater ranging and localization, acoustic links to command our submerged AUVs, and range-based position estimation for submerged vehicles. Within SMaRC, this work brings together contributions from several researchers, including Jakob Kuttenkeuler, Ivan Stenius, Kaveh Najafian, Shekhar Devm Upadhyay, and David Iosifescu, together with collaborators at Newcastle University, including Professor Jeff Neasham and Benjamin Sherlock. Recent work has included the development and validation of one-way travel time acoustic ranging functionality using the Succorfish modems, and we are working towards a joint publication based on this work. We value the continued collaboration with Succorfish and Newcastle University, and look forward to further opportunities for integration, co-development, field testing, and publication.

Peter Sigray

Centre Director, SMaRC (Swedish Maritime Robotics Centre) KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm

Pushing the Boundaries of Marine Autonomy

What makes the collaboration especially exciting is the broader vision it supports.

The future of ocean operations will not be defined by individual autonomous vehicles working alone. Instead, it will be shaped by networks of intelligent systems working together.

Surface vessels, underwater robots, environmental sensors and fixed infrastructure will increasingly need to share information in real time. Communication will be as important as navigation or autonomy itself.

This is where technologies like Delphis become enabling technologies.

Without reliable underwater communication, coordination between autonomous assets remains limited. With it, entirely new operational concepts become possible.

The work taking place at Askö is helping researchers understand how these connected systems can operate in challenging real-world conditions, bringing the industry closer to fully integrated maritime autonomy.

The technology being demonstrated at SMaRC's field location in Askö is pushing the boundaries of Maritime Robotics. It is so exciting to see the Succorfish acoustic modem, the Delphis, in so many different ground-breaking applications that are truly connecting the seabed to space.

Mark Ward

Vp operations Succorfish

Innovation Through Collaboration

The Delphis story is also a powerful example of collaboration between academia and industry.

By combining the research expertise of Newcastle University with the practical engineering experience of Succorfish, Delphis has evolved into a technology capable of addressing one of the marine sector’s most persistent challenges. Its deployment within SMaRC’s research ecosystem demonstrates how partnerships across institutions and disciplines can accelerate innovation and move promising technologies from concept to operational reality. Alongside the operational deployment, SMaRC, Succorfish, and Newcastle University are working towards a joint publication on one-way travel time acoustic ranging using the Delphis modems — a further signal of the academic rigour underpinning this collaboration.

The People Behind the Technology

Technology alone does not drive innovation.

One of the highlights of the visit was meeting Shekhar Devm Upadhyay, whose enthusiasm for marine robotics reflected the excitement that emerging researchers bring to the field.

Equally inspiring was Professor Jakob Kuttenkeuler, whose passion for advancing maritime technology was evident throughout discussions on the future of autonomous systems.

The collaboration with Newcastle University is anchored by Professor Jeff Neasham, Chair in Acoustic Signal Processing and Head of the Intelligent Sensing and Communication Research Group at Newcastle University’s School of Engineering. Jeff and his team have been central to the development of the Delphis acoustic modem from the outset, bringing world-class expertise in underwater acoustics, signal processing, and communications, and combining academic excellence with practical engineering innovation that translates directly into the performance of the technology in the field.

Together they represent the combination of fresh ideas, academic expertise and practical experimentation that makes environments like Askö so valuable.

Succorfish are a valued commercial partner for our research activity. They have provided a trusted route to developing, productionising and marketing several of our acoustic technologies for diverse, demanding and cost sensitive applications worldwide.

Professor Jeff Neasham

Chair in Acoustic Signal Processing Head of Intelligent Sensing and Communication Research Group Newcastle University, School of Engineering

Building the Connected Ocean

As the maritime sector moves towards increasingly autonomous operations, connectivity will become a defining capability.

The ability for underwater vehicles, sensors and platforms to communicate reliably will underpin advances in ocean science, environmental monitoring, offshore energy, infrastructure inspection and maritime security.

The Delphis Acoustic Modem represents an important piece of that future.

At SMaRC Askö, researchers are demonstrating not only how underwater communication can be achieved, but how it can be integrated into broader autonomous ecosystems that push the boundaries of what marine technology can accomplish.

Against the backdrop of Sweden’s remarkable archipelago, Delphis is helping transform a long-standing communications challenge into an opportunity for innovation — bringing us one step closer to a truly connected underwater world.