Large sites, thin night shifts
Distribution centres, industrial estates and campuses often run few officers overnight, so parts of the site can go unchecked for hours between rounds.
Robotics for security operations in New Zealand
Robotx supplies and deploys non-weaponised patrol and inspection robots for large sites in New Zealand. They add routine after-hours patrols and consistent footage, while licensed security officers and your control room make the decisions.
The pressures we hear about
Repetitive rounds and fatigue
Walking the same route all night dulls attention, and that is when a propped door or a gate left open gets missed.
Proof of patrol and condition
Clients and insurers want time-stamped evidence of site condition, and a guard tour reader only shows that someone passed a point.
Lone officer first response
Sending one officer into a dark yard to check an alarm is a risk both the site and the security provider must manage under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Seeing the scene first helps.
Where robotics fits
Scheduled and randomised patrols
Legged or wheeled robots patrol on varied schedules and flag unexpected people or vehicles to the control room for a licensed officer to assess.
Inspection & PatrolPerimeter and fence line checks
Robots photograph fence lines, gates and yards from the same positions each round, so a cut fence or moved container stands out.
Inspection & PatrolFacility condition rounds
Robots check doors, lights, fire exits and plant rooms, and facilities teams can share the data and the cost with security.
Inspection & PatrolAlarm verification
The control room can send a robot to look at an alarm before dispatching a patrol officer or calling Police.
Inspection & PatrolLobby and gatehouse reception
A reception robot handles visitor sign-in and host notifications, so the gatehouse officer can keep watching the site.
Reception & WayfindingPlatforms at work
More detailHow we scope a deployment in securityOperations, lifts and access, what we assess on site, and further reading
What patrol robots do, and what they don’t
A patrol robot is a mobile set of cameras and sensors that follows a route reliably, night after night. It walks the fence line at 2am as carefully as at 10pm, records what it sees from the same positions each time, and sends alerts to the control room when something looks out of place: a person in a closed area, a vehicle in the wrong yard, a gate standing open.
The robot makes no decisions. It cannot tell whether a person is a contractor who stayed late or an intruder, and it does not approach, challenge or restrain anyone. Robotx supplies non-weaponised robots only. The robot’s job is to extend what your officers and control room can see, so people spend their time on response and judgement rather than on repeated laps.
That makes robots best suited to large, repetitive patrol areas: distribution centres, port-side yards, industrial estates, utility compounds, campuses and car parks. Small sites with a single entry point often get more from better fixed cameras.
Licensing, privacy and New Zealand law
The Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010 licenses businesses that guard property for others, monitor cameras or alarms in real time, or respond to activations, and requires their responsible employees to hold a certificate of approval. A robot changes none of that. Monitoring and response stay with licensed people, and robot alerts are written into their procedures.
A patrol robot is also, in privacy terms, a moving camera. The Privacy Act 2020 applies: collect footage for a clear purpose, tell people through signage, store it securely, keep it no longer than needed, and respond to requests from people who want to see footage of themselves. If facial recognition is on the table, the Biometric Processing Privacy Code 2025 adds further rules. We raise these points during scoping and recommend you take your own legal advice.
Planning a security deployment
Each engagement starts with a consultation and a site assessment, ideally including a walk of the routes after dark. A written proposal follows, setting out the platform, routes and control room arrangements. Deployment covers mapping, patrol route and checkpoint configuration, alert set-up with your control room, and training for officers and supervisors, followed by ongoing technical support, servicing, parts and warranty administration.
Robotics in security: common questions
Have a question about your site? Talk to a specialist.
Can security robots replace security guards?
No. Patrol robots supplement security officers, who keep the judgement, the licence and the physical response. In New Zealand, guarding, real-time monitoring and alarm response for clients are licensed activities, and individual officers need a certificate of approval. A robot can cover routine patrol loops, capture consistent footage and raise alerts, so officers spend more time on response and on areas that need a person.
Are security patrol robots armed or able to restrain people?
No. Robotx supplies non-weaponised robots only and does not supply weaponised or restricted defence equipment. Patrol robots observe, record and alert. They do not physically intervene, detain or restrain anyone. Any response to an incident is handled by your security officers or Police under your site procedures, with the robot providing information to support that response.
What privacy rules apply to security robot cameras in New Zealand?
The Privacy Act 2020 and its information privacy principles, the same rules that apply to CCTV. The Privacy Commissioner's CCTV guidance covers purpose, signage naming who runs the cameras, switching off audio that is not needed, retention and people's right to request footage of themselves. Facial recognition brings in the Biometric Processing Privacy Code 2025. Seek your own legal advice for your site.
Do patrol robots work outdoors and at night?
Many patrol platforms are built for outdoor use and low light, but performance depends on your ground, weather and lighting. Legged robots handle kerbs, stairs and rough ground better than wheeled ones, while wheeled robots can cover long, sealed routes efficiently. We assess routes in the conditions the robot will actually work in and confirm what the platform can manage before recommending it.
Who buys security robots, the site owner or the security company?
Either, depending on how security is contracted. Some site owners buy robots and make them part of the brief to their licensed security provider; some security companies buy robots to strengthen their service. Robots are purchased outright. After a consultation and site assessment we provide a written proposal covering equipment, mapping, configuration, training and ongoing support, set out for whichever party is buying.
Tell us where your operation loses time.
A Robotx consultation starts with your sites, tasks and constraints. We’ll tell you where robotics fits and where it doesn’t, and what a sensible first deployment would look like.