UgCS Introduces the Automatic Vertical Scanning Tool for Drone Inspection Mission Planning

UgCS’s new automatic Facade Scan tool for drone inspection mission planning is a time and cost saver for construction, engineering and mining industries.

Tools for surveying horizontal surfaces — even uneven ones — are widely available on the market and have been for some time. However, inspecting vertical surfaces is a completely different story.  Previously, vertical surface inspection was a burden for professional drone users because it required a lot of manual work. But, thanks to the automatic Facade Scan tool from UgCS, that burden is no more.

Vertical Scan Tool

The new Facade Scan tool has many applications for construction, architecture and other industries. The tool creates accurate digital models of buildings or cultural heritage objects. Plus, it identifies heat leaks and damage to walls.

Facade Scan allows the drone operator to draw a vertical plane, specify the distance to the wall as well as side and forward overlap. Once complete, it automatically calculates the optimal flying path. UgCS also supports the import of 3D objects and custom DEM data using the terrain-following function.

Mining Applications

The tool makes it possible to examine open quarries for mining applications. These inspections via drone provide cost savings measures and keep humans from dangerous work.  Drones can survey even unstable pits from a safe distance; the data gathered is much more accurate compared to other methods that don’t involve workers climbing down the pit. As mines often change due to work and natural conditions, repeated drone inspections bring data up-to-date in a fast and convenient way.

“With its choice of automatic and manual tools, UgCS is extremely versatile and suitable even for the most specific needs,” says one mining professional. “We can use several different drones for the same mission, or a number of different drones with different kinds of sensors. If a drone runs out of battery, there is no need to start a new mission — it can be resumed where it was interrupted. We also appreciate the terrain following mode that allows drones to follow the surface accurately. We use it for both horizontal and vertical surveys.”

Facade scan is part of the UgCS 3.2 release. It joins the family of other automatic UgCS tools: the Photogrammetry tool, Search Pattern tool and Area scan. It is available under a lifetime license, or a subscription based license of 1 and 3 months. UgCS supports most DJI drones, as well as MAVLink compatible and other UAVs. SPH Engineering continues to support and update the Facade Scan tool and welcomes comments from professional drone users across all industries.

Find out more about UgCS Mission Planning Software at Unmanned Systems Source.