Press Release
Cape Town, South Africa, 9 May 2022: Dwyka Mining Services, authorised reseller of Maestro Digital Mine, is a specialized manufacturer of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices to give mining teams up-to-the-minute information about worker safety underground.
Hazardous gasses underground are an invisible threat to mining teams, who often don’t know they are in danger until it’s too late. This gas buildup can be created through the exposed strata, blasting, daily “mucking” and even runaway battery fires on critical machinery. Traditionally, the gas levels are measured by the ventilation system at the return air raises or wearable sensors donned by miners. While this fixed infrastructure has saved countless lives, mobile autonomous inspection on aerial and ground robots of strategic areas before re-entry or in emergency situations are the next step to complete real-time coverage.
In a new development being showcased for the first time at Mining Indaba, Boston Dynamics Spot Enterprise robot, equipped with Maestro’s IIoT gas sensor which can be operated on mine-site, to detect hazardous gasses like Carbon Monoxide, without putting mining and ventilation teams in danger. Ventilation and mining teams will easily be able to add different gas sensors onto the connected Zephyr Air Quality Station, capturing critical environmental data to proactively identify gas or temperature challenges.
“The established client base of Maestro Digital Mine environmental sensors will allow us to make the technology mobile for broader applications. We’re very excited about this integration with Maestro Digital Mine as a future partner payload for Boston Dynamics Spot Enterprise solution and look forward to continually improving worker safety for whole-of-mine deployment with our new best friend Spot.” says van Schoor.
Boston Dynamics Spot Enterprise, is an agile mobile robot designed to navigate all types of terrain, allowing organisations to automate routine inspection tasks, capture data securely and safely, and allow for streamlined operations in complex and dangerous environments.
Using the Spot Enterprise on-board processing the data is shared wirelessly over WiFi and gas and temperature sensor readings are captured while the robot is in operation and displayed in real-time via the MaestroLink™ Server application. With the addition of a SLAM scanning unit sensor, like the Emesent Hovermap, readings can be saved with precise coordinates in a high-fidelity point cloud that can be exported and examined in a variety of mining software packages.
“Collaborating with our mud-in-boots partner, Dwyka Mining Services who are always pushing the envelope with technology integration with pioneering brands like Boston Dynamics, is in turn pushing us to innovate and collaborate with our core purpose of enhancing lives by the pursuit of productivity and safety excellence,” says Michael Gribbons, CEO and Co-Founder of Maestro Digital Mine. “This relationship will open up immediate opportunities to Dwyka Mining Services and Maestro in Africa and extend mobile environmental monitoring to our current installations at over 170 mines in 38 countries globally using our patented edge based IIoT sensor technologies once the solution is fully embedded.”
As the doors open to this year’s Mining Indaba on Monday, delegates will be able to see Spot ‘in the metal’ with a Zephyr AQS™ at booth 908 at Dwyka Mining Services Technology Co. in its custom see-through kennel, ready to deploy and dock back onto its charging station ahead of its next mission.
“We are excited to share our new best friend Spot and its amazing capabilities with the delegates of Mining Indaba and the global mining industry. In the spirit of technology collaboration, we have assembled the world’s best mining technologies to be on the stand with us to share and conceptualise end-to-end solutions for maximum impact for our mining clients,” states van Schoor.
“Spot is an amazing platform with almost unlimited applications. The ability to get live environmental monitoring data ‘on the go’ by extending our remote sensing capability to ‘smell’ for hazardous gas detection from our new robot dog is very exciting,” says Rethabile Letlala Operations Director Dwyka Mining Services.
The adoption of underground mining technology is linked closely with the extent of mine-wide wireless connectivity available up to the working face. Generally referred to as the ‘last-mile’, the underground section from a level access to the blast face, this area is complex to deliver robust wireless coverage. Dwyka Mining Services has delivered a range of successful projects fully deploying WiFi coverage (see Case Studies) and Spot’s capability to connect over WiFi extends mines opportunity to control Spot from surface for remote gas inspection.
About Dwyka Mining Services
Dwyka Mining Services is a pan-African mining technology platform that assists underground mining clients to adopt, and adapt to, evolving technologies with a focus on supporting efforts to improve safety, health and environmental conditions in the collaborative pursuit of the digital mine of the future.
About Dwyka Mining Services Technology Co.
As the mining industry plans and begins executing on their digital adoption roadmaps, Dwyka Mining Services will be showcasing leading global technologies at booth 908 as part of our Dwyka Technology Showcase Co. collaboration.
About Maestro Digital Mine
Maestro Digital Mine manufactures Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) measurement and control instrumentation for the optimization of underground mine ventilation and underground digital networks for last mile communication. Maestro products are made exclusively for the underground mine automation, IT, and ventilation sectors, delivering energy savings and productivity improvements while meeting the highest health and safety standards. Learn more about Maestro’s digital solutions at www.maestrodigitalmine.com.
Maestro Contact:
Nataly Argüello
Marketing Manager
Nataly.arguello@maestrodigitalmine.com
Office: 1-705-805-6918, x218
Read the press release at Dwyka’s website.
Media Coverage:
Dwyka and Maestro showcase robotic mobile gas sensing solution at Indaba
International Mining
Dwyka Mining Services, an authorised reseller of Maestro Digital Mine, has used the 2022 Investing in African Mining Indaba, in Cape Town, South Africa, to premier a new robotic solution that is fitted with Maestro’s IIoT gas sensor. Read more here.
Dwyka Mining Services and Maestro Digital Mine showcase connected worker and robotic dog solutions
Global Mining Review
In a new development being showcased for the first time at Mining Indaba, Boston Dynamics Spot Enterprise robot, equipped with Maestro’s IIoT gas sensor, can be operated on site at mines to detect hazardous gasses such carbon monoxide, without putting mining and ventilation teams in danger. Read more here.
‘Spot’ in the spotlight at Mining Indaba
Mining Review Africa
Hazardous gasses underground are an invisible threat to mining teams, who often don’t know they are in danger until it’s too late. This gas buildup can be created through the exposed strata, blasting, daily “mucking” and even runaway battery fires on critical machinery. Read more here.
Dwyka Mining Services and Maestro Digital Mine unlocking value in the last mile
Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal
Sudbury mining supplier pairing up with South African firm on miner safety. Dwyka Mining Services, authorized reseller of Maestro Digital Mine, is a specialized manufacturer of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices to give mining teams up-to-the-minute information about worker safety underground. Read more here.
Dwyka to make tech tangible at Mining Indaba, conduct live virtual walkabouts
Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly
Pan-African mining technology platform Dwyka Mining Services plans to have key technology partners join its team at the upcoming Investing in African Mining Indaba 2022 to offer their view on mining technology in an effort to “make tech tangible” for Dwyka customers. Read more here.
Robodog to sniff out gas hazards
Mining Magazine
Pan-African mining technology platform Dwyka Mining Services plans to showcase a Boston Dynamics Spot Enterprise robot equipped with Maestro's IIoT gas sensor at an upcoming trade show. Dwyka Mining Services said the robot, often referred to as a "robodog", can be operated on a mine-site to detect hazardous gasses, like carbon monoxide. Read more here.
Spot the robotic dog makes its debut at this year's Mining Indaba
News 24
The Boston Dynamics Spot Enterprise robot was showcased for the first time at the 2022 Mining Indaba on Wednesday at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The robotic dog named Spot is an agile mobile robot designed to navigate all types of terrain, allowing organisations to automate routine inspection tasks, capture data securely and safely, and allow for streamlined operations in complex and dangerous environments. Read more here.
Dwyka Mining Services, authorised reseller of Maestro Digital Mine, is a specialized manufacturer of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices to give mining teams up-to-the-minute information about worker safety underground. Hazardous gasses underground are an invisible threat to mining teams, who often don’t know they are in danger until it’s too late. Read more here.
Spot the robotic dog gets tails wagging at mine industry conference in Cape Town
Daily Maverick
The advanced technology of the mining sector has been on full display in recent days. Last week, it was a monster hydrogen-powered truck with a 290-tonne payload. This week, at the Cape Town Mining Indaba, Spot, a robotic dog with a payload of 14kg, made a fetching appearance. On Wednesday morning, the third day of the Mining Indaba, a robotic dog named Spot walked 1.5km from the V&A Waterfront to the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Simply because he can, of course. Read more here.
