In a first for South Africa, Dwyka Mining Services will soon be introducing the Enterprise version of Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot to the local mining market as an authorised reseller of the device.

For those unfamiliar with the now famous robot, it is an agile mobile offering designed to navigate all types of terrain, specifically allowing for organisations to automate routine inspection tasks, capture data securely and safely, and allow for streamlined operations in complex and dangerous environments, according to Boston Dynamics.

In collaboration with Dwyka Mining Services and Deep Tech Solutions, the Spot robot will be available for purchase as of this month in South Africa.

“Spot is designed to ensure safer, more efficient and more predictable operations across different environments and requirements. We are excited about extracting value from ‘no-go’ and ‘fly low’ mining areas typical at the majority of narrow reef mining operations in Southern Africa where the use of enterprise drones are limited,” explains Jamie van Schoor, MD of Dwyka Mining Services and Deep Tech Solutions.

“This is great news for African industry and the mining sector and a first for the continent, bringing next-generation innovation and intelligent automation capabilities to local organisations, that will transform safety and remote data capture for improved mine design and planning,” he adds.

Unveiled at a media event at Gold Reef City earlier today, it remains to be seen how much one of these robots will cost to acquire locally. As such, it is unclear how many mining companies will look to get one. If it can indeed perform in those tough conditions as Boston Dynamics promises, potentially assisting in tasks that would otherwise be too dangerous for human miners, it may be of value.

For more information about Spot, you can contact Jamie van Schoor via email at sales[at]dwykamining[dot]africa or sales[at]deep-tech[dot]io.

You can watch Spot in action for yourself in a simulated Martian environment in the video below.