Industrial drones have become far more than flying cameras. Today, they’re carrying sophisticated sensors capable of mapping underground utilities, detecting methane leaks, measuring underwater terrain, and even identifying mineral deposits. But getting those specialized payloads, and the technical support needed to use them effectively, has often been a challenge. That’s what SPH Engineering hopes to change.
The Latvia-based drone software and sensor solutions company has expanded its partnership with Canadian geospatial technology provider Measur, appointing the company as its Master Distributor for a portfolio of specialized drone sensor solutions across Canada.
The move is designed to make advanced drone technologies more accessible to Canadian organizations operating in mining, oil and gas, hydrography, geophysics, utilities, surveying, and environmental monitoring.
Rather than simply shipping hardware, the partnership focuses on providing local expertise alongside the equipment. As Master Distributor, Measur will help customers choose the right sensor configurations, conduct product demonstrations, provide operator training, and offer first-line technical support. SPH Engineering will back those efforts with certification programs, technical resources, and product training.
That local support could prove especially valuable for industries where drones are replacing workers in hazardous or difficult-to-access environments.
The portfolio includes a wide range of highly specialized payloads designed for different industrial applications. Among them are EchoNIMBUS multibeam and side-scan sonar systems for underwater mapping, EchoLogger echo sounders for bathymetric surveys, MagNIMBUS and SENSYS MagDrone magnetometers for geophysical exploration, Zond Aero ground-penetrating radar systems for subsurface investigations, Falcon Plus methane detection sensors, and Medusa Radiometrics gamma-ray spectrometers used for radiometric surveying.
Together, these systems enable drones to perform tasks that traditionally required expensive ground crews, manned aircraft, or specialized marine vessels.
“Specialized drone operations are rarely about the drone alone,” says Janis Janums, partnership director at SPH Engineering. “The value comes from combining the right sensor, workflow, and application expertise for a specific industrial task.”
Janums says expanding the partnership allows that expertise to be brought much closer to Canadian customers, creating a stronger local support network for industries that depend on reliable field data.
The timing also reflects the continued growth of industrial drone adoption worldwide. While consumer drones often grab headlines, enterprise operators are increasingly investing in specialized payloads that collect actionable data for infrastructure inspections, environmental monitoring, mining exploration, and energy operations.
Canada is particularly well positioned for these applications. The country’s vast geography, extensive mining operations, remote energy infrastructure, forests, waterways, and critical utility networks make drones an attractive alternative to conventional surveying methods that can be slower, more expensive, or pose greater safety risks.
Aaron Dinich, national sales manager at Measur, says Canadian customers are increasingly looking to improve safety, accessibility, and data quality by using drones in challenging industrial environments.
He notes that SPH Engineering’s focus on innovation and customer support made expanding the relationship a natural next step, helping Canadian industries strengthen capabilities across environmental, energy, and critical infrastructure projects.
Justin Warren, chief executive officer of the Hoskin Group, echoes that sentiment, saying the expanded agreement reinforces the company’s commitment to bringing innovative drone sensor technologies to customers throughout Canada.
For SPH Engineering, the partnership also extends the reach of its broader ecosystem, which combines its UgCS flight planning software with advanced sensors and data processing tools for surveying, inspection, and mapping applications.
Ultimately, the announcement isn’t about a new drone model or flashy consumer feature. Instead, it’s about building the local infrastructure that industrial operators increasingly need as drone technology becomes a core tool for collecting accurate, scalable data in some of the world’s most demanding environments.
As more organizations shift from simply flying drones to deploying sophisticated airborne sensing platforms, having regional access to specialized hardware, training, and technical expertise could become just as important as the aircraft themselves.
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