US 12,332,649 B2
Reducing inconvenience to surrounding road users caused by stopped autonomous vehicles
John Wesley Dyer, Mountain View, CA (US); Michael Epstein, Danville, CA (US); and Ken Hu, Mountain View, CA (US)
Assigned to Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by Waymo LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/074,901.
Application 18/074,901 is a continuation of application No. 17/177,278, filed on Feb. 17, 2021, granted, now 11,543,823.
Application 17/177,278 is a continuation of application No. 16/141,467, filed on Sep. 25, 2018, granted, now 10,955,848, issued on Mar. 23, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0168677 A1, Jun. 1, 2023
Int. Cl. G05D 1/02 (2020.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G08G 1/01 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0212 (2013.01) [G08G 1/012 (2013.01); G08G 1/0133 (2013.01); G06Q 2240/00 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of reducing inconvenience to a road user caused by an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
generating, by one or more processors of the autonomous vehicle, an inconvenience value using a behavior prediction model and sensor data identifying the road user, the inconvenience value indicating how much the autonomous vehicle is inconveniencing the road user;
comparing, by the one or more processors, the inconvenience value to a threshold value; and
controlling, by the one or more processors, the autonomous vehicle to avoid blocking the road user when the inconvenience value is equal to or greater than the threshold value.