UgCS mission planning
UgCS is SPH Engineering's flight planning software for survey work — terrain following, LiDAR and photogrammetry missions, and fleet operations. Hobitech supplies the licences in India, with training and support from the same team.
What it actually does
Most flight apps fly the aircraft. UgCS plans the survey — you give it an area and a sensor, and it works out the route that covers it properly.
It follows the ground, not the altimeter
Routes are planned against elevation data, so the aircraft holds a constant height above terrain rather than a constant height above the take-off point. On a slope, that is the difference between usable data and a wasted flight.
It plans for the sensor you are carrying
A photogrammetry grid, a LiDAR run with its calibration patterns, a magnetometer line with smoothed turns and a facade scan are different problems. UgCS plans each one rather than making you fake it with a camera grid.
It works offline
Maps, elevation data and routes can be loaded before you leave. Survey sites rarely have a signal, and a plan that needs one is a plan that fails in the field.
It is not tied to one manufacturer
UgCS drives a wide range of airframes rather than a single brand's app, which matters if your fleet is mixed or if the payload dictates the aircraft.
The three main editions
The split is by what you fly, not by how much you fly. Moving up a tier buys capability, not volume.
The base edition. Everything needed to plan and fly an RGB camera survey properly.
- Terrain following
- Circlegrammetry and corridor inspection
- Vertical flight planning for facades and structures
- Offline operation
- KML and CSV route import and export
- Custom maps with DEM and DSM support
Everything in PRO, plus the tools that a LiDAR or magnetometer survey genuinely needs.
- Smart AGL — terrain following with forward-looking obstacle detection
- LiDAR tool with automatic IMU calibration patterns (L1, L2, figure-of-eight, u-shape)
- Large Projects — splits a survey polygon into sections with tie lines
- Trajectory smoothing for magnetometer and LiDAR missions
Everything in EXPERT, plus everything that stops being optional once more than one person is flying.
- Up to ten simultaneous drone connections
- Centralised mission sharing via cloud or server deployment
- Geotagged live video streaming
- SDK access for custom development and integration
Side by side
| Capability | PRO | EXPERT | ENTERPRISE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terrain following | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Circlegrammetry and corridor inspection | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Vertical flight planning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline operation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DEM and DSM custom maps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Smart AGL with obstacle detection | — | Yes | Yes |
| LiDAR tool and IMU calibration patterns | — | Yes | Yes |
| Large Projects with tie lines | — | Yes | Yes |
| Trajectory smoothing | — | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-drone operation (up to 10) | — | — | Yes |
| Centralised mission sharing | — | — | Yes |
| Geotagged live video streaming | — | — | Yes |
| SDK access | — | — | Yes |
Two more in the family
UgCS Mapper
A processing tool rather than a planner. It stitches imagery into a map and produces elevation profiles in the field, so a crew can check coverage before packing up instead of discovering a gap back at the office. Sold separately from the planning editions.
UgCS Commander
Built for operations run from a control room rather than a field laptop — monitoring and directing flights across sites. Specifications vary by deployment, so ask us and we will get the current scope from SPH Engineering for your setup.
How the licences are sold
The edition decides what the software can do. The licence form decides how you pay for it and how long it lasts.
Perpetual
Bought once, per user, and yours permanently. Includes the first year of support and updates.
Monthly subscription
Available on every tier, cancellable at any time with no fee. Sensible for project work rather than continuous survey operations.
Yearly subscription
The middle option — a year at a time, without the upfront cost of a perpetual licence.
Annual support & updates
Renews support and version updates on a perpetual licence after the first year. Sold separately.
Additional device
Adds a second machine to an existing perpetual licence, for a pilot who plans on a desktop and flies from a field laptop.
Upgrades
Move an existing licence up a tier — PRO to EXPERT, PRO to ENTERPRISE or EXPERT to ENTERPRISE — without buying again from scratch.
Which one do you need
You fly an RGB camera for mapping, volumetrics or inspection, you work alone or hand data to someone else afterwards, and the terrain is manageable. PRO covers this completely — the higher tiers add nothing you would use.
You carry LiDAR, a magnetometer or another geophysical sensor. Smart AGL, the IMU calibration patterns and trajectory smoothing are not conveniences here; they are what makes the data usable. This is the edition most Hobitech survey customers end up on.
More than one aircraft in the air, or more than one person involved in a mission. Once planning and flying are done by different people, centralised mission sharing stops being a luxury.
Tell us the payload and how the team is organised and we will say which tier fits — including when the cheaper one is the right answer. Upgrade paths exist between all three, so starting lower is not a trap.
Buying UgCS in India
Hobitech is SPH Engineering's authorised partner in India, which changes a few practical things.
Licensing and invoicing in India
Quoted and invoiced locally, in rupees, with a GST invoice — rather than a card payment to an overseas vendor and a procurement conversation about it afterwards.
Training from the same people
We run SPH-certified UgCS training, so the licence and the people who teach your team to use it come from one place. See the training and certification options.
The payload side as well
UgCS plans the flight; the sensor does the work. We supply the SPH integrated systems too — GPR, magnetometers, echo sounders, methane detection and the SkyHub onboard computer. See the full SPH range.
Support in your timezone
First-line questions come to us in Bengaluru, and go to SPH Engineering only when they need to.
Common questions
Does UgCS work with my drone?
UgCS supports a wide range of airframes across manufacturers, which is one of the main reasons survey teams use it instead of a manufacturer's own app. Tell us what you fly and we will confirm before you buy.
What is the difference between terrain following and Smart AGL?
Terrain following, in PRO, plans the route against elevation data loaded beforehand. Smart AGL, from EXPERT upwards, adds forward-looking obstacle detection during the flight — so it reacts to what is actually there rather than only to what the map said.
Can I start on PRO and move up later?
Yes. Upgrade licences exist for PRO to EXPERT, PRO to ENTERPRISE and EXPERT to ENTERPRISE, so a tier bought now is not money wasted if the work changes.
Is a perpetual licence really permanent?
The software stays yours indefinitely. What lapses after the first year is support and version updates, which are renewed with an annual support pack — so an unrenewed licence keeps working, it just stops getting new versions.
How many machines does one licence cover?
Perpetual licences are per user. If the same person needs it on a second machine, an additional-device licence covers that rather than a second full licence.
What does it cost?
Pricing depends on the edition, the licence form and how many seats you need, so we quote it rather than list it. Tell us the payload and team size and we will come back with a figure and a recommendation.
Tell us what you fly and what you carry
We will tell you which edition fits, what it costs in rupees, and whether your team needs training with it.