Kristaps Brass's Posts (62)

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3689696739?profile=original
Last week we revealed the newest addition to UgCS family of ground control software - UgCS Drone Dance Controller. UgCS DDC allows the simultaneous and synchronized control of up to dozens of drones. It can be used to create spectacular shows using drones. Together with that we published a video showing the operation of 20 drones with UgCS DDC where the drones were simulated using SITL.

A few of you asked about real-world flight, so here it is. For this flight we took the five Pixhawk drones we had in our fleet and went out into the field. Both of the IRIS drones were using 3DR telemetry radios for communication while the other three used Wi-Fi modules. Here is the result:


For more information about and downloads of UgCS ground control software please visit www.ugcs.com

For inquiries regarding UgCS DDC please contact us at ugcs@ugcs.com

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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3689696507?profile=original

As the popularity and availability of drones increases so do the ideas for applications. One such application is the use of drones for entertainment shows. While flying a pack of drones with synchronized moves in the air is no easy task, it can produce a truly stunning view, especially if the drones are equipped with LED lights or other show elements.

For this purpose we have created UgCS DDC - UgCS Drone Dance Controller. UgCS DDC is a version of UgCS ground control software for drones that is custom-built for use in drone shows. It is capable of handling the simultaneous and synchronized control of dozens of drones.

In addition to the standard UgCS client and Service manager, it also features a DDC client. Through the DDC client it is possible to view the status of all your drones and send commands to them simultaneously. It is also possible to group the drones and send commands to a certain group of drones or even a specific drone.

UgCS DDC is currently the only commercially available software for drone shows to plan routes and execute them. It is offered as an additional paid option to our Enterprise version.

To find out more about UgCS ground control software for drones visit: www.ugcs.com

For inquiries regarding UgCS DDC please contact us at ugcs@ugcs.com

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3689695548?profile=original
Lately we have been experimenting a lot with drones equipped with RTK GNSS receivers.

In our setup we used North Surveying RTKite receivers together with Pixhawk flight controllers.

This is a short video with fully automatic flight of 2 drones using RTK GPS. Initial distance between drones was 2 meters, vertical separation 2 meters:

We also conducted a lot of flights to test real-life precision of RTK-equipped drones.

Our test scenario was pretty simple - in take-off in automatic mode, horizontal movement of 10 meters, return to home and land.

We have compiled a table of measurements which can be found below.

It is pretty clear that in RTK Lock mode drones have very high precision. The precision can be even better – we didn’t tune PIDs and the wind was quite high, so the drones had a little drift just before touchdown.

With the RTK base station switched off, drones had precision similar to usual GNSS receivers, perhaps a little bit better because RTKite is  L1/L2 receiver.

Test

Ublox GPS receiver

RTK Copter 1 w/o base

RTK Copter 1

RTK Copter 2

RTK Copter 3

1

1.20

2.00

0.15

0.3

0.3

2

4.00

0.80

0.15

0.3

0.4

3

3.50

1.50

0.10

0.4

0.05

4

2.40

1.00

0.05

0.3

0.4

5

2.90

0.90

0.15

0.3

0.3

6

0.90

1.50

0.10

0.25

0.3

7

1.50

1.70

0.10

0.4

0.35

8

2.40

1.40

0.60

0.3

0.15

9

2.10

1.70

0.20

0.7

0.2

10

2.00

1.00

0.20

0.2

0.15

11

0.50

1.20

0.00

0.3

0.25

12

1.00

1.40

0.05

0.4

0.4

13

0.50

1.50

0.15

0.4

0.3

14

0.40

1.80

0.20

0.45

0.4

15

1.50

1.30

0.15

0.4

0.2

16

0.70

2.10

0.30

0.5

0.15

17

2.00

1.70

0.15

0.45

0.15

18

1.80

1.70

0.20

0.25

0.1

19

1.30

2.40

0.05

0.35

0.25

20

1.45

1.80

0.30

0.4

0.15

Max deviation

4.00

2.40

0.60

0.70

0.40

Avg deviation

1.70

1.52

0.17

0.37

0.25

A word of caution for everyone eager to use RTK receiver as the main one connected to the autopilot and used for navigation, not only for geotagging - we found that in situations when RTK receivers loose RTK lock, the autopilot can suddenly get very different coordinates. This may cause the autopilot can send the drone in an unpredictable direction. This is especially dangerous when flying at low altitudes.   

We are currently working on this issue together with North Surveying support to assure smooth transitions between different RTK receiver modes.


For any inquiries regarding the RTK system, feel free to drop us a PM or e-mail us at ugcs@ugcs.com

More information on our ground station software UgCS can be found at www.ugcs.com

Good luck and safe flights,
UgCS Team

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UgCS 2.9 Is Now Live

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It’s been long in the making, but it’s finally here. UgCS has released a new version of its ground station software - UgCS 2.9 which features a ton of improvements and new features.

A feature often requested by the users - possibility of planning area scan missions by manually entering the altitude - is finally here. One of the biggest changes you'll notice is that the Area Scan tool is now divided into two separate tools - Area Scan and Photogrammetry tool. The Photogrammetry tool allows to plan area scan missions with a specific GSD. Meanwhile the Area Scan tool now allows scanning an area with either using AMSL or AGL altitudes.

Battery capacity is the main limiting factor for drones. UgCS has taken a step around this issue. Now it is possible to fly longer missions with UgCS by exchanging the battery. This is now possible because now you can restart the mission from any specific waypoint. This new features makes aerial mapping of large areas easier and more convenient than ever.

Another notable change is that the support for two new drones has been added. DJI Phantom 4 and Matrice 100 are now supported in UgCS. Furthermore, experimental support for GeoTiff file import as map overlays and joystick control for Ardupilot and DJI has been added.

Take a look at what`s inside UgCS 2.9:

Get UgCS 2.9 here: www.ugcs.com

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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3689693160?profile=original

In 2015 DJI announced the DJI Matrice 100 – their version of a drone for developers and hardware enthusiasts. In early 2016 they released the new Phantom – DJI Phantom 4. Both of these drones feature intelligent maneuvering systems capable of seeing obstacles and are also capable of being equipped with state-of-the-art cameras.

We are pleased to announce that UgCS ground station software for drones will be supporting both – DJI Phantom 4 and Matrice 100. This support will be available in the upcoming version of UgCS - 2.9 which will be released in late June. UgCS is an easy-to-use ground station software which gives you the power to control your drones and send them on automated missions. It runs on Windows and Mac OS X. Phantom 4 and Matrice 100 will be able to connect to UgCS running on a laptop through the Android app UgCS for DJI.

 

Take a sneak-peek into the features of UgCS 2.9 here:


Phantom 4 and Matrice 100 will be added to the existing list of drones supported in UgCS ground station software. Currently from DJI UgCS supports the following drones:


Phantom 2, Phantom 2 Vision+, Phantom 3, Inspire 1, Ace One, Naza-M V2, A2 and Wookong-M

 

UgCS also supports drones from other manufacturers such as 3D Robotics, Microdrones, MicroPilot, MikroKopter and even Lockheed Martin.

Get UgCS here: www.ugcs.com

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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MicroPilot support in UgCS

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UgCS by SPH Engineering is now compatible with autopilots made by MicroPilot Inc., including helicopter and multirotor autopilots.

 

April 5, 2016 – SPH Engineering and MicroPilot Inc. are pleased to announce that the UgCS ground control station software is now compatible with MicroPilot’s line of helicopter and multirotor autopilots. Fixed wing support will be coming soon.

 

UgCS supports Click-and-Go functionality, waypoint actions, live video streaming and recording; replaying the flight in telemetry player, and importing 3D buildings and terrain profiles. All of these features of UgCS are available for users of MicroPilot autopilots. Furthermore, UgCS supports joystick payload control with MicroPilot-equipped drones.

 

MicroPilot autopilots are compact, ultra light-weight autopilots that can fly anything from multirotors, to helicopters to fixed wing aircraft. The autopilot models range from the entry level MP1028g2 autopilot, to the triple redundant MP21283X autopilot.

 

Both MicroPilot Inc. and SPH Engineering are pleased to be working together. President of MicroPilot, Howard Loewen, said: “We are pleased that UgCS is now available for use with MicroPilot autopilots. UgCS gives MicroPilot’s customers more choice for GCS software, allowing them to better serve their end users.” Out of the box, the current version of UgCS is, with the Pro license, compatible with MicroPilot autopilots. As Janis Kuze, the sales director of SPH Engineering said “We are always excited to forge partnerships with other companies working in the UAV field. Working with Micropilot and their advanced autopilots has helped us bring UgCS to the next level by making it available for use with more sophisticated systems.”

 

For more information please contact SPH Engineering or MicroPilot.

UgCS can be downloaded here: www.ugcs.com

About MicroPilot

Started in 1994, with 850 clients in over 70 countries, MicroPilot is the world leader in professional autopilots for UAVs and MAVs. MicroPilot is an ISO 9001 autopilot manufacturer to bring to market an ISO 9001 sub 30 gram autopilot, triple redundant autopilot, and full-function general purpose autopilot. MicroPilot offers a family of lightweight UAV autopilots that can fly fixed-wing, transitional, helicopter, and Multi Rotor UAVs. MicroPilot also provides complementary products such as the XTENDERmp SDK, trueHWIL2.

 

About UgCS

SPH Engineering creates easy-to-use software for mission planning and execution for all types of unmanned aerial and land vehicles. SPH Engineering is a hard driven team of flight enthusiasts and adventurers. Some can actually make high quality robots and 3D printers. There is no such thing as too good! SPH Engineering continuously follows the latest industry news, learns more about its clients needs and develops its products. SPH Engineering is doing its best to bring you the best. Everyone at SPH Engineering loves, what they do and there is a reason - their technology is not just a product… It's their passion.

 

SPH Enginnering is proud to inform you that it is continuously improving their cooperation and creating new partnerships. Their mission is not just providing you with their products, but also genuinely sharing their knowledge and experience.

 

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3689685798?profile=original

After receiving an interesting request for drone usage from Japan, we decided to share it with you.

Oftentimes even before starting the construction of a building, the company needs to make the idea gain interest and acquire orders from potential customers. While the inside view of the apartments can be rendered in CAD, to illustrate the view from windows it makes a lot more sense to actually take the pictures instead of rendering them.

To take photos of the view from windows / balcony of apartments of buildings which are yet to be built, a drone with an automatic camera trigger can be used. 

The first image of the post is the sketch of the idea by Keitaro Sugiyama.

This idea can be easily brought to life by using UgCS ground station for flight planning. This is how the flight plan would look in UgCS:

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The creation of this route took only about 30 minutes using the distance measurement tool in UgCS and calculating all the exact locations and placing the waypoints along with camera trigger actions. However, after a 5 minute flight you will get excellent and accurate marketing material for potential clients.

Get UgCS here: www.ugcs.com


Safe flights,
UgCS Team

 

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3689685678?profile=original
It's always rewarding to see our users using UgCS and being satisfied with the product we offer.

Our user Chani from Sweden shared this video with us of him using UgCS together with Pix4D to scan an area with DJI Naza-M V2. After the images taken during the flight were geotagged in UgCS, they were used to create a 3D model of the area in Pix4D and do volume calculations.

Here's the video: 



You can download the newest version of UgCS here: www.ugcs.com

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UgCS 2.8.1 has been released!

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We want to announce the release of UgCS 2.8.1 - an update to UgCS 2.8.

In the new version we have improved DJI vehicle detection algorithm as well as improved the DJI Datalink connectivity and stability. Hold & Continue commands have now been added to all DJI vehicles.

We have improved the performance of UgCS on Mac computers, Mac users should notice a significant increase in performance as the map loading time has been decreased.

Geotagging feature has been improved as it now writes the AMSL altitude into the EXIF record of the image.

Automatic calculation of camera trigger by time / distance has been enabled for Area Scan mission. This means that now to achieve full area coverage you have to enable “Action in every point” checkbox.

Please note that now by default in the installer only Pixhawk/APM and DJI vehicle specific modules are selected. If needed, the ones for other autopilots need to be selected manually. This reduces the load on the computer, making UgCS run smoother and more efficiently.

Get UgCS here: www.ugcs.com

Full public release notes regarding all features and fixes can be found here: http://www.ugcs.com/en/page/version-2-8

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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UgCS - A Safe Platform For Unmanned Flights

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It is well known that drones, along with other aircraft, possess a certain safety risk when operated. This potential safety hazard of drones has been highlighted in the media many times. Oftentimes this serves as bad publicity for companies and individuals seeking to use drones to benefit the public. When it comes to automated mission planning for drones, there are steps one can take to ensure that there are as many safeguards in place as possible. Not only does this make it safer for the operator, but it also increases the feeling of safety for the public.

 

UgCS has been developed with flight safety in mind. UgCS comes with several in-built safeguards. These are some of them.


In-built no-fly zones

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UgCS comes out of the box with in-built no-fly zones around all major airports as well as the ability to create your own custom no-fly zones. This allows the operator to be sure that the flights are within legal distances from airports. Furthermore, if a part of the route intersects the no-fly zone, the route is calculated in a way so that the waypoints are placed around the no-fly zone.

 

Return home action

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In addition to the return home switch on your remote, UgCS offers return home command through an action button on the screen. Moreover, the home location can be configured to either be in a specific point or in the first waypoint in the mission.

Fail-safe actions

In UgCS you are able to configure fail-safes on what your drone should do in case of GPS loss, radio communication loss or low battery level.


Configurable drone parameters

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When each mission is calculated in UgCS, the approximated flight time of the mission is shown. Each drone has a configurable maximum flight time. In case the approximated flight time exceeds the maximum flight time for the drone, the mission is not processed.

In a similar fashion each drone type has adjustable battery voltage levels, GPS satellite levels and telemetry levels, meaning that once it gets below the threshold, a warning is displayed in the flight data window.

ADS-B

UgCS supports ADS-B receivers. These can be plugged into the USB port of the computer and will then be recognized. We can recommend microADSB-USB devices. In case your drone gets too close to a flying aircraft with ADS-B transponder, you will get a proximity warning in UgCS.

 

In addition to that, UgCS supports drones which are equipped with onboard ADS-B transponders. setup, through UgCS you are able to set ICAO ID, Flight ID and SQUAWK Code.

Terrain and building import

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In UgCS you can import your own 3D models of buildings and terrain elevation profiles for places where the default Google terrain elevation is not precise enough. You can use these models to make your flight plans more precise.

To find out more about these features yourself, download the latest version of UgCS.

Get it here: www.ugcs.com

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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UgCS 2.8 Is Now Live!

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We're very excited to announce the release of UgCS 2.8.

Visually the first thing you will notice is that the new version features an improved user interface – you are now able to change the visual theme yourself. By default it now comes with a new black/green theme and you are able to select either the previous blue theme or two other new ones.

Another major improvement is that UgCS windows are now manually resizable! UgCS can now be resized as any ordinary application. This allows for more intuitive control of the UgCS application window and makes UgCS easier to use alongside other programs.

One more visual improvement we have made is that the position of home location of your drone is now displayed on the map in UgCS.

Click & Go functionality is now available for all DJI autopilots through UgCS, including A2, Wookong-M, Naza-M V2 and Ace One in addition to already being available for DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1.

 

We have also made UgCS easier to integrate with ADS-B transponders. Commands can now be sent to the ADS-B transponder through UgCS interface. ICAO ID, Flight ID and SQUAWK Code parameters can be set through UgCS. This feature is available for UgCS Pro users.


Also various bug fixes have been made to make UgCS run better.

See UgCS 2.8 in action here:
Get UgCS here: www.ugcs.com
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3689679656?profile=original

Worried about losing possibility of flight planning for DJI on PC? At the beginning of this year DJI will discontinue their PC mission planning software Ground Station due to Google discontinuing their Google Earth API. Along with that, there has been a recall of DJI 900 MHz radio links.

 

UgCS does not rely on Google Earth API, we have our own map engine and you will still be able to use desktop mission planning for your DJI drone using UgCS in the comfort of office prior to the trip to a field. That’s right, with UgCS the drone does not need to be connected and turned on to plan the route. Just turn your drone on, upload the flight plan you have created and take off.

Both – 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz datalinks work just fine with UgCS, no worries about your equipment becoming obsolete.

Currently the following DJI drones are supported in UgCS – Phantom 2, Phantom 2 Vision+, Naza-M V2, A2, Wookong-M. By using our Android app “UgCS for DJI”, available on Google Play, you are able to use desktop mission planning for DJI Inspire 1 and Phantom 3 as well. 

With UgCS you are able to control multiple drones simultaneously and even save your pre-set missions for later use. UgCS features a 3D map, user-friendly interface, waypoint actions, area scan and circle mission types and click & go functionality as well.

For map making and surveying there are many camera presets, which can be selected, and then the camera parameters are automatically used for calculating area scan missions. UgCS also comes with an in-built image geotagging tool. To help with map precision feel free to use your own map sources in UgCS or cache maps to go out where there is no connection.

 

UgCS allows the import of custom 3D buildings and terrain elevation models. It has in-built no-fly zones and the possibility of adding your own custom no-fly zones. UgCS works on Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu.

 

UgCS covers most of functionality of DJI PC Ground Control Station and adds a lot of useful functionality on top of that making it a wise choice once Google Earth API stops functioning.

 

Download UgCS here: www.ugcs.com

For a quick overview you can check out the video of UgCS features:

Safe flights,

UgCS Team

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3689678768?profile=original
The UgCS team has accomplished what we believe is a first – integrating a Mode S/ADS-B out transponder with a small drone, enabling radar visibility throughout the drone’s flight.  A BeagleBone Black computer with CAN bus shield was used to integrate a Sagetech XPS-TR, the world’s smallest transponder, with the A2’s flight controller.  The flight controller continuously sent the drone’s location and commands through the CAN bus shield to the BeagleBone, which passed that information to the Sagetech transponder.  The transponder was powered by the 6S onboard battery, which also powered the drone itself.  The BeagleBone was powered by a separate 2S battery, but with a converter the same 6S battery could have been used for all 3 devices.

With an antenna located about 3m below the drone, the mission was a complete success, with the drone appearing and remaining visible on the website www.flightradar24.com throughout the flight.

Video footage of the flight can be found here: 

UgCS 2.8 will feature a communications interface with the Sagetech ADS-B transponder, enabling configuration of ICAO ID, Flight ID and Squawk Code parameters through the UgCS system.

For more information visit www.ugcs.com, www.sph-engineering.com, and www.sagetechcorp.com.

For inquiries please contact us: ugcs@ugcs.com.

Safe flights,

UgCS Team

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Click & Go Mode in UgCS

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One of the recently implemented features of UgCS is the Click and Go mode. This makes flying drones with waypoints more intuitive and easier than ever. All you need to do is click on the map, place a point and the drone will automatically fly to it without the need to calculate and upload the route. For DJI drones this works even if the drone is on the ground. Using the Click & Go mode the drone can automatically arm itself, take off and fly to the location specified.

 

The click and go functionality increases the speed at which the drone can be operated using UgCS route planning software. This can potentially be used not only by hobbyists, but also by security companies, for instance, allowing drones to be deployed quickly and efficiently.

 

Currently click and go mode works with 3DR Pixhawk, APM as well as DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1. Click and go mode will be available for more drones in future releases.

Check out this video of it in action:


Get UgCS here: www.ugcs.com

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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UgCS Image Geotagging and Map Overlays

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UgCS has two very important features when it comes to mapping. The first is that UgCS supports geotagging. This means that UgCS is able to sync the telemetry data from a flight to pictures taken during the fligh


This information can then be used in software such as Pix4D to stitch the pictures together to create a map overlay. This map overlay can then be fed back into UgCS as a custom map layer using Mapbox.

The steps for this procedure are the following:

1. Fly a mission using UgCS to scan an area and take pictures. This is best done using our Area Scan tool. Select it and draw an area on the map. UgCS supports different cameras, with the most popular cameras having pre-set profiles so that the area scan is automatically calculated according to the desired overlaps and ground resolution. Furthermore you are able to select a desired angle of the area scan. To set a desired starting point, insert a waypoint before the area scan.

You are also able to set various actions for the drone to do while flying the area scan mission, the most useful for mapping being the “Set camera by distance / time”. In case the camera trigger is not set up on the drone, you can simply set the camera to take the pictures each X seconds. However, before doing this, check that the time set in the camera corresponds to the time in UgCS.

Keep in mind that, if you are flying your drone in manual mode instead of a mission with UgCS, you need to set a take-off point altitude for the geotagging to work correctly afterwards.

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2. Geotag the images using our in-built geotagging tool. The telemetry recording of each flight is saved by UgCS. To access and replay your flights, go to the Telemetry player. In the Telemetry player add your drone, then go to the drone tooltip and click on Geotagging. A window will open asking you to select the images from your computer to be geotagged according to the telemetry data.

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3. After the images have been geotagged, they need to be stitched together. For this purpose we suggest using the software Pix4D.

If you are doing this in Pix4D, after the images have been selected, go to Process → Options → DSM and Orthomosaic and make sure that Google Maps Tiles and KML and Mapbox Tiles are checked.

From Pix4D you need to export the file with the extension .mbtiles

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4. Add the .mbtiles file to UgCS as a new Map provider. To do this, in UgCS enter Menu → Configuration and under Map providers click “Add” and select the type “MBTiles”. Then just click Browse, find the file and click save.

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5. Add the newly created layer as a map overlay in UgCS. In the main menu of UgCS go to layers and add it as an overlay. The resulting overlay should look similar to this.

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UgCS can be downloaded from our site here: www.ugcs.com

More detailed steps on Pix4D rendering as well as the option of using the online service mapbox.com for hosting the map layers can be found here: 

http://www.ugcs.com/files/PDFs/Tutorials/creating-map-and-using-it-as-custom-mapbox.com-layer.pdf


In case you have any questions, feel free to either send us a PM or e-mail us at ugcs@ugcs.com


Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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UgCS 2.7 has just been released

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We are glad to announce the release of UgCS 2.7. This version features many improvements and changes over the previous version. 

Mapping with UgCS is now easier than ever, the Area scan now a flag called “additional waypoints” which helps to reduce the number of generated waypoints. This is very useful for DJI autopilots in which the number of waypoints per mission is limited. Futhermore, we have made the geotagging tool easier to use since now it has added progress bars and a photo preview. Also the new DJI X5 camera has been added to payloads in UgCS.

UgCS 2.7 now supports the newest ArduCopter firmware – 3.3.1, available for APM and Pixhawk autopilots.

We have also improved the way fixed wing aircraft work with UgCS by adding new landing parameters and changing the default waypoint acceptance radius to 10 meters for fixed wing aircraft.

UgCS 2.7 can be downloaded from our site here: www.ugcs.com

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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The Architecture of UgCS

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UgCS As a Platform

Right from the beginning UgCS was designed not only as an out of the box ground station software for end users, but also as a platform for custom and integration projects.

By now a number of  different custom projects have been implemented using UgCS as the basis for them - integration with perimeter security systems, object surveillance systems, ATC, C&C center integration, UI customizations and others. Moreover, one of our partners has even created custom ground control software for their drone using our SDK.

Below is an under-the-hood diagram of UgCS and the architecture, which makes it all possible:

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UgCS has 3 main layers:

-        UCS – universal control server

-        HCI – human control interface – interface for the user of UgCS

-        VSMs – vehicle specific modules

In addition to the aforementioned layers UgCS also has the following components – video server, geoserver, ADS-B receiver module and vehicle emulator.

All components are implemented as separate processes (.exe in case of Windows, etc.) and communicate to each other using TCP protocol. This allows the components to be deployed on separate machines in distributed configuration.

HCI - Human Control Interface

UgCS has a standard client application, which is already well known to the industry. If you have not seen UgCS client before you can see it here -

UgCS can have different client applications with different user interfaces. For example, for one of our integration projects we implemented very simple UI for security officers.

Now we are developing a special version of UgCS UI for tethered drones. It will be a separate application that connects to UCS server and will only have the basic controls for the drone and the camera (drone up/down, camera direction, start/stop recording).

Interesting is the fact that UgCS can serve multiple operators with different clients simultaneously. For example – an operator of a tethered drone can use the simplified UI. If he sees something interesting using the tethered drone camera, he can set a landmark on the map in UgCS. This landmark will be available for the second operator of a “traditional” drone in a standard UgCS client which will be connected to the same server. The second operator can then send the drone for close surveillance of the landmark. Tethered drone operator will see the second drone on the map along with the video stream from the second drone and will be able to provide directions for the operator of the second drone.

Standard UgCS client is written in C# on top of Unity 3D platform. We are working on .Net UCS Interaction SDK and will write a separate article about it soon.

UCS - Universal Control Server

This is the core of UgCS. UCS is responsible for all communications inside of UgCS and core functions such as data storage, route calculation, telemetry processing and event generation, access management etc.

UCS (in Pro version) can serve multiple clients, allowing for multi-operator deployment. UCS also allows user access control based on user roles.

UCS is written in Java.

Furthermore UCS plays the most significant role for integration projects. We have published our server API with samples here - https://github.com/UgCS/ucs-java-client. It is possible to use this API in almost any integration because inside of UgCS the same API is used. We are happy that one of our partners has completed an integration project with video surveillance system without the need for any significant help from our engineers. 

VSM - Vehicle Specific Module

Simply put, VSM is the driver for a particular autopilot and their communication channel(s).

For example Ardupilot VSM can serve APM/Pixhawk compatible autopilots and communicate to them using 3DR compatible radios, WiFi or XBee modems.

Out of the box we provide VSMs for the most popular autopilots. But in case one needs to use UgCS with custom autopilot it’s possible to use our VSM SDK and samples (https://github.com/UgCS) and create a VSM for any autopilot. For instance one of our partners created their VSM for their highly customized Ardupilot firmware.

VSMs are written in C++ language.

It is an important goal of ours to make UgCS a convenient platform for custom ground control software developments. We will be glad to address your questions about the architecture of UgCS, existing and planned SDKs.

This is all for the first post about UgCS internals. In future posts we will describe in details different components and functions. We hope that this was an interesting read for you.


You can find more information about UgCS on our site: www.ugcs.com


Safe flights,

UgCS Team

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We are glad to announce that DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1 are now supported in UgCS desktop mission planning software. This works through our Android app UgCS for DJI available now on Google Play. The app connects to DJI Phantom 3 or Inspire 1 remote the same way DJI native app does. What is different is that, once your laptop and Android device are connected to the same network, your drone is automatically recognized in UgCS desktop mission planning software.

This enables you to use UgCS desktop mission planning functionality to its full extent on your Phantom 3 or Inspire 1.

This allows you to pre-plan automated missions from the comfort of your office without the need to even turn the vehicle on. Then, once you are out in the field, simply turn on the vehicle, upload the pre-made mission and fly. This saves you battery time and the hassle of setting everything up in the field.

UgCS works on Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu.

For more information and downloads visit www.ugcs.com

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We are proud to announce the release of a new major version of UgCS – 2.6.

The new version features many important improvements over previous versions. The main highlights are:

- You can now plan and execute missions in UgCS with DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1 by using UgCS desktop version together with our Android app “UgCS for DJI” available on Google Play

- Geotagging feature is now available in UgCS! Select your pictures and the telemetry data will automatically be added.

- Click and go function is now implemented. This works for the newest DJI vehicles – Phantom 3, Inspire 1, Phantom 2 Vision+ as well as 3DR vehicles using APM or Pixhawk autopilots.

- UgCS Pro now supports two new professional autopilots – Kestrel and Micropilot

Another important change we have made is that all UgCS One versions are now combined. This means that you no longer need to buy a One version for a specific autopilot. UgCS One now works with all autopilots with the exception of professional autopilots – Kestrel, Micropilot and Microdrones, which are exclusive to UgCS Pro.


Important to note is that UgCS is not using Google Earth API. As you may have heard, in December DJI will discontinue support for their PC ground station software due to it being reliant on Google Earth API. This means that UgCS will become almost the only desktop mission planning solution for DJI drones.

For more information and downloads visit our site: www.ugcs.com

Safe flights,

UgCS Team

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UgCS server API

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We've been asked many times to offer an API for UgCS server to open integration with additional devices and systems such as antenna trackers, security systems and ATC.
Finally it's done and published.
You can find it here:
https://github.com/UgCS/ucs-java-client

You will also find 2 examples, the first one showing how to get telemetry, the other one demonstrating the creation of a flight path, uploading it and executing it.

The usefulness of UgCS comes from the fact that your code will be working with all types of drones and autopilots supported in UgCS. And there are quite a few of them already:

- 3DR APM

- 3DR Pixhawk

- Mikrokopter

- Parrot ArDrone

- Parrot Bebop (will be available in UgCS 2.7)

- DJI Phantom 2

- DJI Phantom 2 Vision+

- DJI Wookong-M

- DJI A2

- DJI Naza-M V2

- DJI Phantom 3 (will be available in UgCS 2.6 very soon)

- DJI Inspire 1 (in UgCS 2.6)

- Microdrones (including the "new" flight controller version)

- LM Kestrel (will be available in UgCS 2.7)

- Micropilot (will be available in UgCS 2.7)

The API will work starting from UgCS 2.6. Early adopters can request UgCS 2.6 beta.
Have a good time coding and don't forget to test the code on an emulator before flying a real vehicle.

Safe flights,
UgCS Team

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