Abstract: A method for coordinating deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within a designated region involves obtaining constraint data that specifies the operational limitations under which the UAVs are allowed to operate. A cost function is defined, having a set of cost terms corresponding to these constraints, including a term for the energy consumption of each UAV. This energy consumption is the power required by each UAV to travel from a source to a destination along a prescribed flight path. The method includes executing a UAV-capacity maximization function that generates flight paths for the UAVs based on the cost function, which adjusts the flight paths to minimize the total energy consumed while ensuring that the UAVs do not breach the operational constraints.