Remote operation of unmanned vehicle using hosted web server

A system for remote operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

• a control station used by an operator and having a communication link for operating the (UAV), the control station executing a web browser capable of (1) receiving web pages of a (UAV) control web application, (2) rendering the web pages on the control station, (3) receiving control input from the operator via rendered web pages, and (4) generating corresponding messages on the communication link based on the control input;
• and
• a hosted server system coupled to the control station via the communication link and to internal subsystems of the (UAV) for control, the hosted server system (1) executing a web server serving the web pages of the (UAV) control web application to the control station for the rendering, receiving and generating operations of the web browser, and (2) generating back-end controls to the internal subsystems of the UAV based on the control input from the operator via the UAV control web application, the hosted server system including a server device located in the UAV, the server device executing the web server and being coupled to the communication link to (i) transmit the web pages of the UAV control web application to the control station and (ii) receive the messages from the control station based on the control input, the server device also being coupled to the internal subsystems of the UAV by a local-area communication link of the UAV to generate the back-end controls and provide the back-end controls to the internal subsystems of the UAV based on the control input from the operator as reflected in the received messages;
• wherein the server device is constructed and arranged to receive vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) motor response signals from the internal subsystems through the local-area communication link in response to VTOL motor control signals and translate the VTOL motor response signals into VTOL motor status for delivery as web content to the control station.