# US 11,441,916 B1 · Autonomous vehicle trip routing > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,441,916 B1 - Document ID: US11441916B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/703,269 - Filed: 2019-12-04 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2016-01-22 - Assignees: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company - Applicants: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company - Inventors: Blake Konrardy; Scott T. Christensen; Gregory Hayward; Scott Farris - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11441916B1 ## CPC - G01C 21/3461: {Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types or segments such as motorways, toll roads or ferries} - H04W 4/024: Guidance services - G01C 21/3415: {Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents} - G01C 21/343: {Calculating itineraries (travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047)} - G01C 21/3617: {using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement} - G01C 21/362: {received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application} - G05D 1/0088: {characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours (using knowledge based models G06N5/00)} - H04W 4/40: for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] - H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Methods and systems for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle routing are disclosed. Roadway suitability for autonomous operation is scored to facilitate use in route determination. Maps of roadways suitable for various levels of autonomous operation may be generated. Such map data may be used by autonomous vehicles or other computer devices in determining routes based upon criteria for vehicle trips. Such routes may be automatically updated based upon changes in road conditions, vehicle conditions, operator conditions, or environmental conditions. Emergency routing using such map data is described, such as automatic routing and travel when a passenger is experiencing a medical emergency. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method for automatically routing a vehicle capable of autonomous operation, comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an indication of a starting location from which to begin an autonomous vehicle trip; receiving, at the one or more processors, an indication of a target location to which to route the vehicle during the autonomous vehicle trip; determining, by the one or more processors, an autonomous route from the starting location to the target location, wherein the autonomous route includes only road segments suitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel; causing, by the one or more processors, a vehicle control system of the vehicle to operate the vehicle autonomously along the autonomous route from the starting location to the target location; and causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle control system of the vehicle to stop at the target location to allow one or more passengers to exit the vehicle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the road segments suitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel are road segments associated with risk levels for fully autonomous operation of the vehicle below a risk threshold. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the starting location is automatically generated as a current location of the vehicle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the starting location is received from a mobile device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle control system to operate the vehicle autonomously from a current location of the vehicle to the starting location; and causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle to stop at the starting location to allow one or more passengers to board the vehicle. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an indication of a departure time or an arrival time; and causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle to be at the starting location at the departure time or to be at the target location at the arrival time. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, a plurality of likely target locations based upon prior vehicle trips associated with a user; presenting, by a display associated with the one or more processors, indications of the plurality of likely target locations to the user for selection; wherein the indication of the target location is selected by the user from the presented indications of the plurality of likely target locations. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, a plurality of likely starting locations based upon prior vehicle trips associated with a user; presenting, by a display associated with the one or more processors, indications of the plurality of likely starting locations to the user for selection; wherein the indication of the starting location is selected by the user from the presented indications of the plurality of likely starting locations. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is selected from a plurality of autonomous vehicles based upon distance of each of the plurality of vehicles to the starting location. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the indication of the starting location identifies a first location inaccessible by the vehicle through fully autonomous operation within a range of risk levels below a risk threshold, and the starting location is a second location accessible by the vehicle through fully autonomous operation below the risk threshold that is in proximity to the first location. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein: the indication of the target location identifies a first location inaccessible by the vehicle through fully autonomous operation within a range of risk levels below a risk threshold, and the target location is a second location accessible by the vehicle through fully autonomous operation below the risk threshold that is in proximity to the first location. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, an indication of an interim target location; adjusting, by the one or more processors, the autonomous route to include the interim target location; causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle control system of the vehicle to operate the vehicle autonomously along the adjusted autonomous route to the interim target location; and causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle control system of the vehicle to stop at the interim target location to allow the one or more passengers to enter or exit the vehicle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, a command to resume travel along the autonomous route, wherein the command is received while the vehicle is at the interim target location; and causing, by the one or more processors, the vehicle control system of the vehicle to resume operating the vehicle autonomously along the adjusted autonomous route to the target location. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring, by the one or more processors, environmental conditions along the autonomous route while the vehicle is traveling between the starting location and the target location; determining, by the one or more processors, that one or more of the road segments included in the autonomous route have become unsuitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel based upon the monitored environmental conditions; and adjusting, by the one or more processors, the autonomous route to exclude the one or more road segments determined to have become unsuitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the environmental conditions along the autonomous route are monitored using communication data received from one or more other autonomous vehicles, one or more mobile devices associated with other vehicles, or one or more infrastructure communication components via a communication network. ### Claim 16 A computer system for automatically routing a vehicle capable of autonomous operation, comprising: one or more processors; a map database communicatively connected to the one or more processors and storing map data including one or more suitability scores for each of a plurality of road segments indicating the road segment's suitability for autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle operation; and a program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: receive an indication of a starting location from which to begin an autonomous vehicle trip; receive an indication of a target location to which to route the vehicle during the autonomous vehicle trip; determine an autonomous route from the starting location to the target location using the map data of the map database, wherein the autonomous route includes only road segments suitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel; cause a vehicle control system of the vehicle to operate the vehicle autonomously along the autonomous route from the starting location to the target location; and cause the vehicle control system of the vehicle to stop at the target location to allow one or more passengers to exit the vehicle. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The computer system of claim 16, wherein the program memory further stores executable instructions that cause the computer system to: receive an indication of a departure time or an arrival time; cause the vehicle control system to operate the vehicle autonomously from a current location of the vehicle to the starting location at a time such that the vehicle is predicted to be at the starting location at the departure time or to be at the target location at the arrival time; and cause the vehicle to stop at the starting location to allow one or more passengers to board the vehicle. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The computer system of claim 16, wherein the program memory further stores executable instructions that cause the computer system to: monitor environmental conditions along the autonomous route while the vehicle is traveling between the starting location and the target location; determine that one or more of the road segments included in the autonomous route have become unsuitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel based upon the monitored environmental conditions; and adjust the autonomous route to exclude the one or more road segments determined to have become unsuitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel. ### Claim 19 A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for automatically routing a vehicle capable of autonomous operation that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to: receive an indication of a starting location from which to begin an autonomous vehicle trip; receive an indication of a target location to which to route the vehicle during the autonomous vehicle trip; determine an autonomous route from the starting location to the target location, wherein the autonomous route includes only road segments suitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel; cause a vehicle control system of the vehicle to operate the vehicle autonomously along the autonomous route from the starting location to the target location; and cause the vehicle control system of the vehicle to stop at the target location to allow one or more passengers to exit the vehicle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, further storing executable instructions that cause the computer system to: monitor environmental conditions along the autonomous route while the vehicle is traveling between the starting location and the target location; determine that one or more of the road segments included in the autonomous route have become unsuitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel based upon the monitored environmental conditions; and adjust the autonomous route to exclude the one or more road segments determined to have become unsuitable for fully autonomous vehicle travel.