Bluefin Robotics makes underwater robots that can map the ocean floor, search for shipwrecks, and protect military vessels from hidden mines. But before they can go out in the field, Bluefin’s autonomous robots are tested at the former Fore River Shipyard.

The MIT spinoff moved to Quincy in the fall of 2010, merging its Cambridge and East Boston operations into a 55,000ft² warehouse space at the shipyard. David Kelly, Bluefin’s CEO, said the move allowed the company to consolidate all aspects of its business in one place, including vehicle design, manufacturing and sea testing. Bluefin’s staff has grown from roughly 70 people to about 90 since the move.

Kelly, 51, came to the company in 2008 from Battelle, Bluefin’s nonprofit corporate parent. The Scituate resident had run Battelle’s external information technology business from its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters