AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING WAYPOINTS ALONG A ROUTE OF TRAVEL

1 . A system for automatically determining waypoints along a vehicle route of travel, the system comprising:

a user interface configured to present information to a driver of the vehicle and to accept input from the driver;

a vehicle interface configured to determine an amount of fuel remaining in the vehicle;

a navigation interface configured to (i) determine a route of travel and (ii) determine positioning coordinates of the vehicle; and

a processor in communication with the user interface, vehicle interface, and navigation interface, and configured to (i) determine at least one candidate waypoint to add to the route of travel based on the amount of fuel remaining in the vehicle and driver preference factors, and (ii) cause the user interface to present the at least one candidate waypoint.

2 . A system as in claim 1 wherein the vehicle interface is further configured to determine information regarding a drowsiness level of the driver, and the processor is further configured to determine at least one candidate waypoint based on the drowsiness level of the driver.

3 . A system as in claim 1 further comprising a waypoint information interface configured to determine information regarding candidate waypoints, and the processor is further configured to determine at least one candidate waypoint based on whether an establishment at a waypoint is open at an estimated time of arrival at the waypoint.

4 . A system as in claim 1 wherein the driver preference factors include a price factor or a convenience factor.

5 . A system as in claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to (i) determine scores for a plurality of candidate waypoints based on the driver preference factors, and (ii) cause the user interface to present a list of candidate waypoints having the highest scores.

6 . A system as in claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to update the driver preferences based on a selection, via the user interface, of a candidate waypoint by the driver.

7 . A system as in claim 1 wherein the user interface is a touch screen interface or voice interface.

8 . A method of automatically determining waypoints along a vehicle route of travel, the method comprising:

determining a set of candidate waypoints along the route of travel;

reducing the set of candidate waypoints based on information regarding the vehicle or driver of the vehicle;

determining scores for candidate waypoints remaining in the set of candidate waypoints based on driver preference factors; and

presenting at least one candidate waypoint to the driver based on the scores for the candidate waypoints.

9 . A method as in claim 8 wherein reducing the set of candidate waypoints includes removing a candidate waypoint from the set of candidate waypoints if the candidate waypoint is not reachable.

10 . A method as in claim 9 further comprising determining whether a candidate waypoint is reachable based on an amount of fuel remaining in the vehicle, level of driver drowsiness, or whether an establishment at the candidate waypoint is open at an estimated time of arrival at the candidate waypoint.

11 . A method as in claim 8 wherein determining scores for candidate waypoints includes determining a score for a candidate waypoint based on a price factor or a convenience factor.

12 . A method as in claim 8 wherein presenting the at least one candidate waypoint to the driver includes presenting a list of candidate waypoints having the highest scores.

13 . A method as in claim 8 further comprising updating the driver preferences based on a selection of a candidate waypoint by the driver.

14 . A vehicle comprising:

a user interface configured to present information to a driver of the vehicle and to accept input from the driver;

a fuel system interface configured to determine an amount of fuel remaining in the vehicle;

a navigation system configured to (i) determine a route of travel and (ii) determine positioning coordinates of the vehicle; and

a processor in communication with the user interface, fuel system interface, and navigation system, and configured to (i) determine at least one candidate waypoint to add to the route of travel based on the amount of fuel remaining in the vehicle and driver preference factors, and (ii) cause the user interface to present the at least one candidate waypoint.

15 . A vehicle as in claim 14 further including a driver drowsiness detector configured to determine information regarding a drowsiness level of the driver, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one candidate waypoint based on the drowsiness level of the driver.

16 . A vehicle as in claim 14 further comprising a computer network interface configured to determine information regarding candidate waypoints, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one candidate waypoint based on whether an establishment at a waypoint is open at an estimated time of arrival at the waypoint.

17 . A vehicle as in claim 14 wherein the driver preference factors include a price factor or a convenience factor.

18 . A vehicle as in claim 14 wherein the processor is further configured to (i) determine scores for a plurality of candidate waypoints based on the driver preference factors, and (ii) cause the user interface to present a list of candidate waypoints having the highest scores.

19 . A vehicle as in claim 14 wherein the processor is further configured to update the driver preferences based on a selection, via the user interface, of a candidate waypoint by the driver.

20 . A vehicle as in claim 14 wherein the user interface is a touch screen interface or voice interface.