UgCS Drone Flight Planning and Control Software

SPH Engineering was founded in 2013 in Latvia and builds drone software and integrated payload systems, serving a customer and partner network in more than 150 countries. Its portfolio includes UgCS flight planning software, the SkyHub onboard computer with sensors such as ground-penetrating radar, magnetometers and echo sounders, drone light show technology, and data processing tools.

UgCS (Universal ground Control Software) is desktop software for planning research-grade drone missions, used by more than 5,000 drone teams. It offers 3D mission preview, terrain following with built-in or custom elevation models, LiDAR calibration patterns, corridor, facade and photogrammetry missions, offline maps, and automatic resume after battery swaps. UgCS Cloud syncs projects from office to field, and UgCS Commander supports multi-drone fleet operations. It works with DJI, Autel, Freefly, Inspired Flight and ArduPilot or PX4 aircraft.

• 3D mission planning: elevation profiles, multi-segment routes and KML or CSV import.
• Smart AGL terrain following: built-in elevation data or custom DEM, DSM and DTM import.
• LiDAR toolkit: IMU calibration legs, loop turns, scan pattern control and cross lines.
• Mission types: area, corridor, facade, vertical scans, photogrammetry and circlegrammetry.
• Large projects: continuous grids across sub-areas, tie lines, infill surveys and UgCS Cloud sync.
• UgCS Commander: multi-drone fleet operations, also used for counter-UAS testing.

• Surveying firms planning terrain-following LiDAR flights over mountainous road and power line corridors.
• Mining and coal companies running drone magnetic or bathymetry surveys of pits and tailings ponds.
• Universities and research institutes standardising drone data collection for geophysics and environmental studies.

• Terrain-following and automated LiDAR patterns give consistent data quality on hilly mine sites, corridors and coastlines.
• One planning tool works across many drone brands and sensors, reducing lock-in to a single hardware vendor.
• Large-area splitting, tie lines and cloud sync let survey teams run big geophysical and mapping projects efficiently.
• A free UgCS Open edition lets teams test the workflow before buying a licence.

Survey, mining and energy companies are replacing manned and ground surveys with drone LiDAR, magnetometry and bathymetry, which needs precise terrain-aware flight planning across mixed fleets. In Southeast Asia, SPH Engineering already reports drone bathymetry tests at Indonesian mines, and Vietnamese mapping, hydropower and mining firms face similar needs on rugged terrain.

Founded in 2013 in Latvia (EU); global customer and partner network in over 150 countries. Released UgCS 6.0 to 6.2 in 2026 and partners with resellers such as MicroGeo (Italy), Measur (Canada) and Romvesen (Norway); case studies in Indonesia and Mongolia and a live demonstration in Japan in 2026.