Routing of an autonomous vehicle to arrive at a target time of arrival

A method for routing an autonomous vehicle from a start location to a target destination location via a set of road segments, the method comprising:

• obtaining for each respective road segment in the set of road segments, a travel duration time and a travel deviation time indicating a possible time adjustment in the travel duration, when adjusting a speed of the autonomous vehicle in the respective road segment, wherein the travel deviation time relates to a time difference associated with adjusting the speed of the autonomous vehicle to a maximum speed or a minimum speed for the respective road segment,
• obtaining a target time of arrival at the target destination location, and
• using the travel duration time, determining at least two candidate routes comprising a respective subset of the set of road segments, wherein each of the at least two candidate routes indicates how the autonomous vehicle shall travel from the start location, via the respective subset of the set of road segments, to arrive at the target destination location within a time interval of the target time of arrival,
• determining a flexibility metric for each of the at least two candidate routes, the flexibility metric being determined based on the travel deviation time of each of the respective road segments in the respective candidate route, wherein the flexibility metric is a total or average of the travel deviation times of the road segments in the respective at least two candidate routes,
• based on the determined flexibility metrics, selecting a route from the at least two candidate routes to be used by the autonomous vehicle to travel to the target destination location, wherein selecting comprises selecting, from the at least two candidate routes, the route which has the highest possible travel deviation times of its road segments as indicated by the flexibility metrics, and
• controlling the autonomous vehicle to travel the selected route.