DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
In light of applicant’s remarks and amendments, the rejection of claims 1, 13, and 19 user 35 U.S.C 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. As such, the 35 U.S.C 112(b) rejection of claims 1, 13, and 19 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 2, 4, 6, 8-12, and 19-22 under 35 U.S.C 102 and claims 3, 5, 13, 14, and 16-18 under 35 U.S.C 103 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6, 8-12, and 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fairgrieve Andrew et al. (US2015081189A1), hereinafter referred to as Andrew in view of Lu Ning et al. (WO20190242718A1), hereinafter referred to as Ning.
Regarding claim 1, Andrew discloses:
A vehicular driving assist system (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0011], [0110] discloses a conventional autonomous cruise control system), the vehicular driving assist system comprising:
a sensor disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driving assist system and having a field of sensing at least forward of the vehicle, the sensor capturing sensor data (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0048], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0120] discloses a vehicle control unit to implement a vehicle speed control function)
wherein the electronic circuitry of the ECU comprises a data processor for processing sensor data captured by the sensor to detect presence of at least one other vehicle in the field of sensing of the sensor (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0120], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
wherein, with the equipped vehicle traveling in and along a traffic lane of a road, the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the data processor of sensor data captured by the sensor determines a leading vehicle traveling in and along the traffic lane ahead of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074], [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; additionally the determination of directional change along a lane of the road and distance of a leading vehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle)
wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the data processor of sensor data captured by the sensor, determines pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at a plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road while the leading vehicle and the equipped vehicle are traveling in and along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0042]-[0045], [0074] discloses the determination of pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route, for example measuring a distance between the lead and following vehicle, or a deviation of the leading vehicle from a substantially straight path)
wherein the pose information comprises:
(i) position of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at each location of the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074] discloses the determination of a pose information such as position/distance of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at a plurality of locations along a route)
(ii) heading of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at each location of a plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074], [0082] discloses the determination of a pose information such as position/distance and deviation of heading of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route)
wherein, while the equipped vehicle travels in and along the traffic lane and approaches a location that corresponds with one of the plurality of locations at which pose information is determined, the vehicular driving assist system controls lateral movement of the equipped vehicle so that: (i) a pose of the equipped vehicle at the location is based upon the pose information from the location (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0020]-[0027] discloses pose information such as measured longitudinal and lateral deviation of the leading vehicle via detection from the equipped vehicle; the cruise control method control the equipped vehicle such that it follows the leading vehicle in a corresponding manner to the deviations measured and prevents automatic acceleration of the following vehicle when traversing along a route, [0044]-[0045] discloses the determination of directional change of a leading vehicle along a substantially vertical and horizontal plane; [0057]-[0058], [0082], [0093])
Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Ning teaches:
wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines a fitted curve based at least in part on pose information at the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Ning, pg.51, “Step 212” which discloses determining a fitted curve based at least in part on lateral position as a vehicle travels along a road iteratively (at each time) through a plurality of locations; pg.52 which discloses executing the control algorithm for the vehicle to follow a heading based on the cubic fitted curve calculated in Step 212)
the equipped vehicle follows a trajectory based on the fitted curve in and along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Ning, pg.51, “Step 212” which discloses determining a fitted curve based at least in part on lateral position as a vehicle travels along a road iteratively (at each time) through a plurality of locations; pg.52 which discloses executing the control algorithm for the vehicle to follow a heading based on the cubic fitted curve calculated in Step 212)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Andrew to include wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines a fitted curve based at least in part on pose information at the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road and the equipped vehicle follows a trajectory based on the fitted curve in and along the traffic lane of the road as taught by Ning. Incorporating the teachings of Ning would allow for an improvement of the base invention of Andrew that further advances the control system’s judgement and planning through high precision control.
Regarding claim 2, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a forward viewing camera disposed at an in-cabin side of a windshield of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0153] discloses a measuring apparatus that may comprise a camera to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
Regarding claim 4, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a forward sensing radar sensor (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0110] discloses a forward sensing radar; Fig.1, Item 12, “radar beam”)
Regarding claim 6, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system selects a set of pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle for determining a trajectory for the equipped vehicle to follow along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0011] discloses determining by means of deviation detection means a deviation of the leading vehicle from a substantially straight path (leading vehicle trajectory) and an instant location of the deviation for the following vehicle, [0082], [0093], [0135]-[0137] discloses the decision criteria to match the behavior of the leading vehicle, such as steering angle or rate of change of steering angle)
Regarding claim 8, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 6, wherein the selected set of pose information includes locations spaced apart by an equal selected distance along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, [0011] discloses determining by means of measuring means the separation distance of the leading vehicle and following vehicle and maintaining the pre-determined separation distance from the leading vehicle along a route, [0135]-[0137] discloses the maintained prescribed distance behind the leading vehicle)
Regarding claim 9, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system operates to determine the pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle responsive to determination that lane markers for the traffic lane are not discernible by a lane marker detection system of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0049]-[0055] discloses an incident where the road/terrain the following vehicle is traversing potentially becoming invisible, thus the following vehicle subsequently detects a change in direction of the leading vehicle and matches the acceleration and gradient accordingly)
Regarding claim 10, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system, when controlling the lateral movement of the vehicle, calculates a steering angle command or a steering torque command (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0066]-[0067], [0119] discloses calculation of a steering angle and torque input command, [0135]-[0137] discloses the decision criteria to match the behavior of the leading vehicle, such as steering angle or rate of change of steering angle)
Regarding claim 11, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the data processor of sensor data captured by the sensor, determines a plurality of other vehicles ahead of the equipped vehicle, and wherein the vehicular driving assist system selects the leading vehicle from the plurality of other vehicles (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0032], [0049] discloses the criteria of selecting a leading vehicle depending if deviation of overtaking a previous leading vehicle is detected, the following vehicle may now follow a different leading vehicle closest in path ahead; in the event that the following vehicle has cornered, or overtake a former leading vehicle, [0058]-[0061])
Regarding claim 12, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 11, wherein the vehicular driving assist system selects the leading vehicle based on a closest-in-path analysis (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0032], [0049] discloses the criteria of selecting a leading vehicle depending if deviation of overtaking a previous leading vehicle is detected, the following vehicle may now follow a different leading vehicle closest in path ahead; in the event that the following vehicle has cornered, or overtake a former leading vehicle)
Regarding claim 19, Andrew discloses:
A vehicular driving assist system, the vehicular driving assist system (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0011], [0110] discloses a conventional autonomous cruise control system) comprising:
a radar sensor disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driving assist system and having a field of sensing at least forward of the vehicle, the radar sensor capturing sensor data (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0048], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0120] discloses a vehicle control unit to implement a vehicle speed control function)
wherein the electronic circuitry of the ECU comprises a data processor for processing sensor data captured by the radar sensor to detect presence of at least one other vehicle in the field of sensing of the radar sensor (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0120], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
wherein, with the equipped vehicle traveling in and along a traffic lane of a road, the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the data processor of sensor data captured by the radar sensor, determines, from a plurality of detected other vehicles, a leading vehicle traveling in and along the traffic lane ahead of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074], [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; additionally the determination of directional change along a lane of the road and distance of a leading vehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle)
wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the data processor of sensor data captured by the radar sensor, determines pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at a plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road while the leading vehicle and the equipped vehicle are traveling in and along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0042]-[0045], [0074] discloses the determination of pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route, for example measuring a distance between the lead and following vehicle, or a deviation of the leading vehicle from a substantially straight path)
wherein the pose information comprises:
(i) position of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at a plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074] discloses the determination of a pose information such as position/distance of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route)
(ii) heading of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at each location of the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road
Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Ning teaches:
wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines a fitted curve based at least in part on pose information at the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Ning, pg.51, “Step 212” which discloses determining a fitted curve based at least in part on lateral position as a vehicle travels along a road iteratively (at each time) through a plurality of locations; pg.52 which discloses executing the control algorithm for the vehicle to follow a heading based on the cubic fitted curve calculated in Step 212)
wherein, while the equipped vehicle travels in and along the traffic lane and approaches a location that corresponds with one of the plurality of locations at which pose information is determined, the vehicular driving assist system controls lateral movement of the equipped vehicle so that (i) a pose of the equipped vehicle at the location is based upon the pose information from the location and the equipped follows a trajectory based on the fitted curve in and along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Ning, pg.51, “Step 212” which discloses determining a fitted curve based at least in part on lateral position as a vehicle travels along a road iteratively (at each time) through a plurality of locations; pg.52 which discloses executing the control algorithm for the vehicle to follow a heading based on the cubic fitted curve calculated in Step 212)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Andrew to include wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines a fitted curve based at least in part on pose information at the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road and wherein, while the equipped vehicle travels in and along the traffic lane and approaches a location that corresponds with one of the plurality of locations at which pose information is determined, the vehicular driving assist system controls lateral movement of the equipped vehicle so that (i) a pose of the equipped vehicle at the location is based upon the pose information from the location and the equipped follows a trajectory based on the fitted curve in and along the traffic lane of the road as taught by Ning. Incorporating the teachings of Ning would allow for an improvement of the base invention of Andrew that further advances the control system’s judgement and planning through high precision control.
Regarding claim 20, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 19, wherein the vehicular driving assist system, when controlling the lateral movement of the vehicle, calculates a steering angle command or a steering torque command (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0066]-[0067], [0119] discloses calculation of a steering angle and torque input command, [0135]-[0137] discloses the decision criteria to match the behavior of the leading vehicle, such as steering angle or rate of change of steering angle)
Regarding claim 21, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 19, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines the leading vehicle from the plurality of detected other vehicles based on a closest-in-path analysis (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0032], [0049] discloses the criteria of selecting a leading vehicle depending if deviation of overtaking a previous leading vehicle is detected, the following vehicle may now follow a different leading vehicle closest in path ahead; in the event that the following vehicle has cornered, or overtake a former leading vehicle, [0058]-[0061])
Regarding claim 22, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 19, wherein the vehicular driving assist system operates to determine the pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle responsive to determination that lane markers for the traffic lane are not discernible by a lane marker detection system of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0049]-[0055] discloses an incident where the road/terrain the following vehicle is traversing potentially becoming invisible, thus the following vehicle subsequently detects a change in direction of the leading vehicle and matches the acceleration and gradient accordingly)
Claims 3, 5, 13-14, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Andrew in view of Kokaki Toru et al. (US2019080610A1), hereinafter referred to as Toru.
Regarding claim 3, modified Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Toru teaches:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 2, wherein the forward viewing camera comprises a CMOS imaging array, and wherein the CMOS imaging array comprises at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns (see at least Toru, ¶¶ [0019] discloses a CMOS imaging array sensor, Fig.2, Item 161, “camera, CMOS image sensor”)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Andrew to include the vehicular driving assist system of claim 2, wherein the forward viewing camera comprises a CMOS imaging array, and wherein the CMOS imaging array comprises at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns as taught by Toru. The examiner would like to note that the embodiment of Andrew already discloses a camera sensor used in the operations of its adaptative cruise control system. Incorporating the CMOS imaging array comprising the million photosensors arranged in rows and columns merely allows for each element, in this case, the camera of Andrew, to perform the same function of capturing data and converting it to digital signals read by the system as it does separate from Toru since both embodiments involve a forward-viewing camera meant to capture surrounding vehicle data.
Regarding claim 5, modified Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Toru teaches:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a forward sensing lidar sensor (see at least Toru, ¶¶ [0019]-[0020] discloses a lidar sensor for measuring distance arranged at various positions where peripheral information the vehicle can be detected, for example on the front viewing; Fig.2, Item 163, “LIDAR”)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Andrew to include the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a forward sensing lidar sensor as taught by Toru. The examiner would like to note that various sensors are capable of being implemented into the embodiment disclosed by Andrew, however, not all types of sensors are explicitly mentioned in the disclosure. However, incorporating a lidar sensor to the base device of Andrew would allow for a similar improvement to the embodiment. Instead of simply obtaining data of the leading vehicle’s pose and trajectory through the measurement of radar pulses, additionally, a LIDAR can be implemented to improve the overall accuracy of the obtained data from the various sensors on the equipped vehicle.
Regarding claim 13, modified Andrew discloses:
A vehicular driving assist system, the vehicular driving assist system comprising:
a camera disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driving assist system and having a field of view at least forward of the vehicle, the camera capturing image data (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0048], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0120], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
wherein the electronic circuitry of the ECU comprises:
an image processor for processing image data captured by the camera to detect presence of at least one other vehicle in the field of view of the camera (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0120], [0133] discloses the one or more sensors disposed at the vehicle to determine an angle of a vehicle path; [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; [0153] discloses an apparatus that may comprise a camera sensor to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
wherein, with the equipped vehicle traveling in and along a traffic lane of a road, the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the image processor of image data captured by the camera, determines a leading vehicle traveling in and along the traffic lane ahead of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074], [0082], [0093] discloses the receiver capable of detecting reflections of a leading vehicle forward of the following vehicle; additionally the determination of directional change along a lane of the road and distance of a leading vehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle)
wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing by the image processor of image data captured by the camera, determines pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at a plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road while the leading vehicle and the equipped vehicle are traveling in and along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0042]-[0045], [0074] discloses the determination of pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle along a route, for example measuring a distance between the lead and following vehicle, or a deviation of the leading vehicle from a substantially straight path)
wherein the pose information comprises:
(i) position of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at a plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074] discloses the determination of a pose information such as position/distance of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route)
(ii) heading of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at each location of the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074], [0082] discloses the determination of a pose information such as position/distance and deviation of heading of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route)
wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines a fitted curve based at least in part on pose information at the plurality of locations along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Ning, pg.51, “Step 212” which discloses determining a fitted curve based at least in part on lateral position as a vehicle travels along a road iteratively (at each time) through a plurality of locations; pg.52 which discloses executing the control algorithm for the vehicle to follow a heading based on the cubic fitted curve calculated in Step 212)
wherein, while the equipped vehicle travels in and along the traffic lane and approaches a location that corresponds with one of the plurality of locations at which pose information is determined, the vehicular driving assist system controls lateral movement of the equipped vehicle so that (i) a pose of the equipped vehicle at the location is based upon the pose information from the location and determines a trajectory to follow based on the fitted curve in and along the traffic lane of the road and (see at least Ning, pg.51, “Step 212” which discloses determining a fitted curve based at least in part on lateral position as a vehicle travels along a road iteratively (at each time) through a plurality of locations; pg.52 which discloses executing the control algorithm for the vehicle to follow a heading based on the cubic fitted curve calculated in Step 212)
wherein the vehicular driving assistant system controls the lateral movement of the equipped vehicle using the determined trajectory so that the equipped vehicle follows the leading vehicle in and long the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0074], [0082] discloses the determination of a pose information such as position/distance and deviation of heading of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle at an instant location along a route; [0020]-[0027] the cruise control method control the equipped vehicle such that it follows the leading vehicle in a corresponding manner to the deviations measured and prevents automatic acceleration of the following vehicle when traversing along a route, [0044]-[0045] discloses the determination of directional change of a leading vehicle along a substantially vertical and horizontal plane; [0057]-[0058], [0082], [0093], [0138]-[0137] discloses the decision criteria to match the behavior of the leading vehicle, such as steering angle or rate of change of steering angle)
Modified Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Toru teaches: wherein the camera comprises a CMOS imaging array, and wherein the CMOS imaging array comprises at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns (see at least Toru, ¶¶ [0019] discloses a CMOS imaging array sensor, Fig.2, Item 161, “camera, CMOS image sensor”)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Andrew to include wherein the camera comprises a CMOS imaging array, and wherein the CMOS imaging array comprises at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns as taught by Toru. The examiner would like to note that the embodiment of Andrew already discloses a camera sensor used in the operations of its adaptative cruise control system. Incorporating the CMOS imaging array comprising the million photosensors arranged in rows and columns merely allows for each element, in this case, the camera of Andrew, to perform the same function of capturing data and converting it to digital signals read by the system as it does separate from Toru since both embodiments involve a forward-viewing camera meant to capture surrounding vehicle data.
Regarding claim 14, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 13, wherein the camera is disposed at an in-cabin side of a windshield of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0153] discloses a measuring apparatus that may comprise a camera to project a beam of electromagnetic radiation ahead of the equipped vehicle and measure the reflected radiation)
Regarding claim 16, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 13, wherein the vehicular driving assist system selects a set of pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle to determine the trajectory for the equipped vehicle to follow along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0011] discloses determining by means of deviation detection means a deviation of the leading vehicle from a substantially straight path (leading vehicle trajectory) and an instant location of the deviation for the following vehicle, [0082], [0093])
Regarding claim 17, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 16, wherein the selected set of pose information includes locations spaced apart by an equal selected distance along the traffic lane of the road (see at least Andrew, [0011] discloses determining by means of measuring means the separation distance of the leading vehicle and following vehicle and maintaining the pre-determined separation distance from the leading vehicle along a route, [0135]-[0137] discloses the maintained prescribed distance behind the leading vehicle)
Regarding claim 18, Andrew discloses:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 13, wherein the vehicular driving assist system operates to determine the pose information of the leading vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle responsive to determination that lane markers for the traffic lane are not discernible by a lane marker detection system of the equipped vehicle (see at least Andrew, ¶¶ [0049]-[0055] discloses an incident where the road/terrain the following vehicle is traversing potentially becoming invisible, thus the following vehicle subsequently detects a change in direction of the leading vehicle and matches the acceleration and gradient accordingly)
Claims 7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over further modified Andrew in view of Kawai Akio et al. (JP2002248964A), hereinafter referred to as Akio.
Regarding claim 7, further modified Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Akio teaches:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 6, wherein the determined trajectory for the equipped vehicle to follow along the traffic lane of the road comprises a polynomial fitted to locations of the pose information (see at least Akio, ¶¶ [0068]-[0071] which discloses determined trajectory path in accordance to calculated object points of the equipped vehicle moving along a lane of the road; Fig. 2 and 4; ¶¶ [0072]-[0074] discloses locking onto a preceding vehicle (vehicle ahead) and calculating a curve radius of trajectory)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to further change modified Andrew to include The vehicular driving assist system of claim 6, wherein the determined trajectory for the equipped vehicle to follow along the traffic lane of the road comprises a polynomial fitted to locations of the pose information. The examiner would like to note that a similar system is disclosed in Andrew, however, a direct calculation involving a polynomial of the leading vehicle’s pose and trajectory is not explicitly stated, however incorporating the teachings of Akio would allow for an improvement to the base device of Andrew. It is understood that the method disclosed in Andrew accounts for matching a leading vehicle’s pose relative to detected deviations as both vehicles move along a route. Incorporating a polynomial fitted to the locations of pose information would allow for more accurate maintenance of separation distance of the leading and following vehicle and a further refined means of determining deviation detection of Andrew.
Regarding claim 15, further modified Andrew is silent on, however, in the same field of endeavor, Akio teaches:
The vehicular driving assist system of claim 13, wherein the determined trajectory for the equipped vehicle to follow along the traffic lane of the road comprises a polynomial fitted to locations of the pose information (see at least Akio, ¶¶ [0068]-[0071] which discloses determined trajectory path in accordance to calculated object points of the equipped vehicle moving along a lane of the road; Fig. 2 and 4; ¶¶ [0072]-[0074] discloses locking onto a preceding vehicle (vehicle ahead) and calculating a curve radius of trajectory)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to further change modified Andrew to include The vehicular driving assist system of claim 13, wherein the determined trajectory for the equipped vehicle to follow along the traffic lane of the road comprises a polynomial fitted to locations of the pose information. The examiner would like to note that a similar system is disclosed in Andrew, however, a direct calculation involving a polynomial of the leading vehicle’s pose and trajectory is not explicitly stated, however incorporating the teachings of Akio would allow for an improvement to the base device of Andrew. It is understood that the method disclosed in Andrew accounts for matching a leading vehicle’s pose relative to detected deviations as both vehicles move along a route. Incorporating a polynomial fitted to the locations of pose information would allow for more accurate maintenance of separation distance of the leading and following vehicle and a further refined means of determining deviation detection of Andrew.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIRSTEN JADE M SANTOS whose telephone number is (571)272-7442. The examiner can normally be reached Monday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, 6:00-8:00 pm (+ with flex).
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/KIRSTEN JADE M SANTOS/Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/RACHID BENDIDI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664