DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — University of Minnesota Duluth researchers are installing technology more often used in oceans on the bottom of Lake Superior this week.

Researcher Jay Austin says the “moored proofing platforms” will gather data year-round, which hasn’t been possible before due to the difficulty of getting out on the lake during the winter.

The robot-like platforms will detect things like temperature, depth, currents, light intensity and amount of oxygen, the Duluth News Tribune reports. Austin says that’s data not being gathered right now.

The platforms are funded by a nearly half-million-dollar federal grant.

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