Unmanned aerial vehicle management system

1. A system for fulfilling a request from a user, comprising:

a first computer server comprising a database storing a skymap, the skymap comprising a plurality of flight corridors from a first distribution center to a destination site;

a second computer server comprising an inventory management system associated with a second distribution center different than the first distribution center, the inventory management system configured to:

track an inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles at the second distribution center; and

send a request for additional unmanned aerial vehicles for the second distribution center when a number of unmanned aerial vehicles in the inventory falls below a threshold level; and

an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising a mission planner configured to:

receive the skymap and the destination site;

determine a route from a location of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the destination site and back to the first distribution center using a subset of the plurality of flight corridors;

navigate the unmanned aerial vehicle along the route;

while navigating the unmanned aerial vehicle along the route, receive the request for the additional unmanned aerial vehicles for the second distribution center; and

navigate to the second distribution center.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mission planner of the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to:

receive weather data from an information source; and

modify the route based on wind information in the weather data and a direction the unmanned aerial vehicle is flying.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first computer server is configured to:

receive terrain data for a geographic area;

generate a displayable representation of the geographic area;

send the displayable representation of the geographic area to a remote client device operated by a user; and

receive at least one route refinement selection from the remote client device operated by the user.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the mission planner of the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to:

receive route information based on the at least one route refinement selection; and

determine the route from the location of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the destination site based on the route information.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein:

the route refinement selection corresponds to a selection, by the user, of a point on the displayable representation of the geographic area; and

the mission planner of the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to refine a position of the destination site based on the route information.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein:

the route refinement selection comprises a trajectory; and

determining the route from the location to the destination site comprises incorporating the trajectory into a flight path.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first computer server is configured to validate the route refinement selection to ensure that an error will not be introduced into the route.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein validating the route refinement selection comprises checking the route refinement selection against the received terrain data.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein checking the route refinement selection against the received terrain data further comprises checking that a geometry of the route refinement selection does not intersect geometries of objects or terrain in the terrain data.

10. In an unmanned aerial vehicle, a method for determining a route, comprising:

receiving a skymap and a destination site, the skymap comprising a plurality of flight corridors;

determining a route from a location of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the destination site using a subset of the plurality of flight corridors;

manipulating flight control surfaces of the unmanned aerial vehicle during flight to navigate the unmanned aerial vehicle along the route;

while navigating the unmanned aerial vehicle along the route, receiving a request from a computer server to reroute to a distribution center determined to have a number of unmanned aerial vehicles below a threshold inventory level; and

navigating to the distribution center.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving weather data from an information source; and

modifying the route based on wind information in the weather data and a direction the unmanned aerial vehicle is flying.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving at least one route refinement selection that originated from a remote client device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the operation of determining the route comprises determining the route based on the route refinement selection.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the route refinement selection corresponds to a selection, by a user, of a point on a displayable representation of a geographic area; and

the operation of determining the route comprises refining a position of the destination site based on the route refinement selection.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the route refinement selection comprises a trajectory; and

the operation of determining the route comprises incorporating the trajectory into a flight path.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising validating the route refinement selection to ensure that an error will not be introduced into the route.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the operation of validating the route refinement selection comprises checking the route refinement selection against terrain data.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the operation of checking the route refinement selection against the received terrain data comprises checking that a geometry of the route refinement selection does not intersect geometries of objects or terrain in the terrain data.

19. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the computer server is a first computer server; and

the skymap and the destination site is sent from a second computer server different from the first computer server.

20. The method of claim 10 , wherein, when determining the route, the unmanned aerial vehicle excludes from the route any flight corridors determined to intersect a no-fly zone.