US 12,259,727 B2
Multiple destination trips for autonomous vehicles
Cristi Landy, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Julien Mercay, Redwood City, CA (US); Saksiri Tanphaichitr, Palo Alto, CA (US); Laurens Andreas Feenstra, San Francisco, CA (US); and Salil Pandit, Mountain View, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Jun. 14, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/209,600.
Application 18/209,600 is a continuation of application No. 17/101,279, filed on Nov. 23, 2020, granted, now 11,714,412.
Application 17/101,279 is a continuation of application No. 16/217,805, filed on Dec. 12, 2018, granted, now 10,877,479, issued on Dec. 29, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0393575 A1, Dec. 7, 2023
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2024.01); G08G 1/00 (2006.01); G08G 1/02 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0088 (2013.01) [G05D 1/0291 (2013.01); G08G 1/20 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of controlling an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
controlling, by one or more processors, the autonomous vehicle to drop off a passenger at an intermediate destination location during a trip to a final destination;
obtaining, by the one or more processors, information associated with traffic congestion in a vicinity of the intermediate destination location;
determining, by the one or more processors based on the information associated with the traffic congestion in the vicinity of the intermediate destination location, whether the autonomous vehicle should leave the intermediate destination location to perform a task;
in response to determining that the autonomous vehicle should leave the intermediate destination location to perform the task, controlling, by the one or more processors, the autonomous vehicle to leave the intermediate destination location to perform the task; and
in response to determining that the autonomous vehicle should not leave the intermediate destination location to perform the task, controlling, by the one or more processors, the autonomous vehicle to remain at the intermediate destination location to wait for the passenger to continue the trip.
 
13. A system for controlling an autonomous vehicle, the system comprising one or more processors configured to:
control the autonomous vehicle to drop off a passenger at an intermediate destination location during a trip to a final destination;
obtain information associated with traffic congestion in a vicinity of the intermediate destination location;
determine, based on the information associated with the traffic congestion in the vicinity of the intermediate destination location, whether the autonomous vehicle should leave the intermediate destination location to perform a task;
in response to determining that the autonomous vehicle should leave the intermediate destination location to perform the task, control the autonomous vehicle to leave the intermediate destination location to perform the task; and
in response to determining that the autonomous vehicle should not leave the intermediate destination location to perform the task, control the autonomous vehicle to remain at the intermediate destination location to wait for the passenger to continue the trip.