While Australian miners work the Earth’s surface, Aptella is working to support them with an eye in the sky.
Gathering detailed data regularly and at scale isn’t easy in the middle of outback Australia, especially in challenging terrain and hazardous mining operations.
But that’s exactly what technology solutions provider Aptella is doing.
Thanks to a partnership with full-stack technology and drone services developer Sphere Drones, Aptella offers a platform capable of autonomously scanning and mapping mines in even the most remote reaches of Australia.
The technology is called HubX, a solution designed for drone-in-a-box or terrestrial scanning tasks, easily deployable with a self-sustained, mobile form-factor.
What is drone-in-a-box? Often used in remote or hard-to-access operations, it consists of a drone operating out of a docking station.
When set up with a power source and an internet connection, HubX charges and operates drones autonomously, allowing operations to run 24–7 and reducing reliance on human presence.
“It’s not an understatement to say this is a drone infrastructure revolution,” Aptella drone market development manager Gavin Docherty told Australian Mining. “It’s the start of a new way of scanning and mapping, with permanent and mobile nodes offering miners flexibility in how they get their critical data.”
Image: Aptella
By using a solar power system and 5G/satellite internet, HubX is backed by built-in redundancies, giving miners peace of mind that they can rely on consistent data no matter the conditions.
“It’s been designed around maximising solar capture, so in bad weather or periods of no sun, HubX can run itself on its power storage systems for a month or more without recharging,” Docherty said.
“The trailer also has high-quality insulation with an exterior cooling system, meaning it doesn’t generate its own heat, preventing overheating.”
The platform uses sensors for ground, air and situational awareness, with a specialised server connecting back to a remote centre.
“Traditionally, this data would need to be collected by sending a worker into a remote, hazardous environment, often taking up a day of precious time,” Docherty said. “With HubX, miners deploy the platform in a set location and leave it for 12 months, from which it takes off in less than 40 seconds and collects all the data you need.”
Gaining certification to operate drones manually from a remote operations centre can be complex and time-consuming.
The HubX solution expedites the process by enabling customers to deploy the platform immediately and gain their own certification to operate it manually if they wish.
With locations throughout Australia, south-east Asia and New Zealand, Aptella supports the civil construction, building, mining and geospatial industries with world-leading technology solutions.
Under the partnership between Aptella and Sphere Drones, HubX demonstrations and initial deployment will be on offer Australia-wide, with tiered technical support readily available.
“Adding HubX to our drone technology offering gives customers ultimate choice when selecting the best fit for their application and business needs,” Docherty said.
“Sphere Drones did a fantastic job getting the product into the market and they’ve partnered with Aptella for our unmatched field services capability.
“Our experience with large-scale mining equipment will be highly beneficial to them and we’re excited to see where this new era of drones in mining will lead.”
The large configurable payload bay on HubX provides miners the flexibility to mix and match various drones on the platform to suit their unique business needs and scale remote data collection.
This means miners can plug-and-play any third-party drones they already have on-site, reducing costs and seamlessly transitioning the technology into a mine’s operations.
“Our team is committed to sourcing and deploying the latest innovations from around the world for our customers,” Docherty said.
“It’s an honour to partner with an Australian-based development team and collaborate with Sphere Drones to bring this unique, full-service HubX solution to our customers.”
This feature appeared in the February 2025 issue of Australian Mining.