Boxfish Robotics
Auckland maker of stabilised 4K/8K ROVs (Boxfish ROV, Alpha, Luna) and tetherless hovering AUVs, incl. the ARV-i subsea-resident vehicle with dock.
Boxfish Robotics Limited is a New Zealand manufacturer of compact remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and hovering autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), headquartered at 234A Orakei Road, Remuera, Auckland. The company started after three engineers who were each testing home-built ROVs met at the same location in Auckland; over about five years, first part time and then full time, they developed their own vehicle, and Boxfish began shipping its patented ROVs in September 2018. Autonomous development followed in 2021. The company traded as Boxfish Research until 6 September 2023, when it renamed itself Boxfish Robotics to reflect a product range that had grown from 360-degree cameras and custom systems into tethered and untethered robots. Co-founder Craig Anderson leads control systems, software and electronics, and the published team also covers R&D, autonomy, machine learning, production and training. The company cites US patents US11912386B2, US11603176B2 and US11131812B2 plus a registered design.
The ROV range has three models built on a common actively stabilised platform with 2.7 mm fibre-optic tethers. The Boxfish Alpha is an inspection-class ROV adapted for commercial diving work, rated to 300 m with 3 to 12 hours of endurance, five free accessory ports and a 100 m tether. The Boxfish ROV is an expedition-class vehicle rated to 500 m (optionally 1,000 m) with 4 to 15 hours of endurance, seven free ports, uncompressed 4K live video, a 20 MP photo mode and support for tethers beyond 3,000 m. The Boxfish Luna is a cinematography vehicle carrying an integrated Sony full-frame camera (A7S III or Alpha 1) that records up to 8K video internally and ProRes RAW at the surface, aimed at natural-history filmmakers and research filming. Optional sensors include imaging sonar, USBL and DVL navigation, and a photogrammetry accessory for building 3D models from the uncompressed video stream.
The autonomous line consists of the Boxfish AUV, the LUNA AUV and the ARV-i. The Boxfish AUV, announced in Southampton, UK, in April 2025, is a tetherless hovering AUV with six degrees of freedom and eight vectored thrusters, rated to 300 m with 500 m or 1,000 m options. It measures 730 x 435 x 351 mm, weighs 25 kg, carries a 600 Wh battery for up to 10 hours of diving and a range of up to 6 km, and navigates with stereo cameras, USBL, an IMU and DVL. Missions are planned in the SafePath Planner software and monitored in Boxfish Commander, and an SDK/API is offered for custom integration. The LUNA AUV pairs the same hovering platform with the Sony full-frame imaging system for 50 MP RAW stills and 4K video, for coral reef monitoring, fish surveys and photogrammetry. The ARV-i is a resident AUV developed with Krona Subsea (Transmark Subsea in earlier Boxfish announcements). It lives on a subsea dock linked by fibre-optic and power cable to shore or to a solar communications buoy, leaves the dock on missions set from the mainland, then returns to recharge wirelessly and offload data, so it can stay submerged for months. ARV-i was launched at Ocean Business 2021.
Published deployments include Ports of Auckland, which used the Boxfish ROV for a 15-dive deep-water habitat survey reaching 710 m with up to 550 m of horizontal offset, and later ran autonomous seabed transects in the Rangitoto Channel with the Boxfish AUV. Mocean Energy installed the ARV-i dock at 50 m depth, 20 km offshore Orkney, on its subsea battery pack; the vehicle left the dock, inspected the installation and returned. Boxfish also documents a deep-sea record dive in 2020 and an Antarctic research expedition. Customer testimonials come from Leaf Global Environmental Services, the University of Auckland and the filmmakers Inspired Planet Productions. Boxfish sells directly from New Zealand and through resellers in Australia, Malta, Taiwan, Japan, Bahrain, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Korea and Malaysia, and provides online and in-person operator training. Target markets listed by the company are marine science, environmental monitoring, cinematography, commercial diving and offshore wind, along with submerged asset inspection, aquaculture and biosecurity.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
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Contact Boxfish Robotics
WEBSITE
https://www.boxfishrobotics.com/PHONE
+64 9 600 1910HEADQUARTERS
New Zealand
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Manufacturer
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Oceania
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Keywords
- Boxfish Robotics
- Boxfish ROV
- Boxfish Alpha
- Boxfish Luna
- Boxfish AUV
- ARV-i resident AUV
- hovering AUV
- subsea docking station
- underwater cinematography
- coral reef monitoring
- photogrammetry
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- Unmanned Marine Vehicle
- ROV
- AUV
- Education & Research
- Oil
- Gas & Energy
- Retail & Hospitality
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