DETAILED ACTIONS
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/30/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to the amendments/arguments submitted by the Applicant(s) on 04/30/2025.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-17 are pending.
Claims 1, and 14 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Rejections under 35 USC §103:
Applicant's argument, see remarks pages 8-9, filed 04/30/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of Claims 1-17 under 35 U.S.C. §103 have been fully considered and are moot because the amendment necessitated a new ground of rejections. The rejections set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Millar et al., (US 2018/0359975 A1, hereinafter Miller, previously cited) and of Bongartz et al. (US 2019/0259108 A1, hereinafter Bongartz).
Regarding Claim 1, Miller teaches,
A system for estimating a harvesting time in a plant growing environment (Miller, Figures 2, and 4, [0002] Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methods for determining harvest tinting for plant matter within a grow pod, The assembly line grow pod 100), said system comprising:
at least one sensor interface (Miller, Figure 4, environmental sensors 313 and position sensors 315, in embodiments, weight sensors 310, etc); and
at least one processor configured to:-receive a light setting used by one or more light sources (Miller, Figure 2, lighting system 206) to illuminate a section of said plant growing environment with horticulture grow light that, in terms of light intensity and spectrum, is suitable for growing plants in said plant growing environment (Miller, Figure 2, [0023], The lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or more predetermined wavelengths that may facilitate plant growth. electromagnetic sources of the lighting system 206 may generally be positioned on the underside of the track 102 such that the electromagnetic sources can illuminate plant matter in the carts 104 on the track 102 below the electromagnetic sources),
said light setting comprising at least an intensity of a color component associated with said section of said plant growing environment, (Miller, Figure 4, [0038], The camera 340 may include a special filter that filters out artificial LED lights from lighting devices in the assembly line grow pod 100 such that the camera 340 may capture the natural colors of the plant),
Miller teaches lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or more predetermined wavelengths (known wave lengths) that may facilitate plant growth.
Miller is silent on -obtain, via said at least one sensor interface, light measurement information from one or more color sensors when said one or more color sensors are embedded in or attached to said one or more light sources,
wherein said light measurement information comprises how much light of said color component is reflected by at least a portion of said plant growing environment, and-estimate a harvesting time for said section of said plant growing environment based on
(i) said light measurement information including the light of said color component reflected,
(ii) said intensity of said color component in said light setting, wherein the processor is configured to receive, via a wired or wireless receiver, the light setting from the one or more light sources or from a controller of the one or more light sources and
(iii) a cultivation temperature protocol for said section of said plant growing environment, said cultivation temperature protocol comprising one or more assumed cultivation temperatures
However, Bongartz --obtain, via said at least one sensor interface, light measurement information from one or more color sensors when said one or more color sensors are embedded in or attached to said one or more light sources (Bongartz, [2307]. “Each growth zone 1200 is equipped with a light fixture 110, each of them having a plurality of LED light sources (not shown). Each of the light fixtures 110 is equipped with a sensor device 150, in this case a camera imaging the respective tray 1220”. [2392] “The sensor device 150 is configured to be able to detect the light reflected by the plants 102. The sensor device 150 may comprise camera or other sensor systems” [0078] 0078] RGB Camera (with removing the IR-filter, we also could increase the spectrum which is seen by the camera) NOTE: RGB camera is a color sensor).
wherein said light measurement information comprises how much light of said color component is reflected by at least a portion of said plant growing environment, (Bongartz, Figure [0547] “A controlled agricultural system, particularly for detection of plant diseases and various stages of ripening, comprising an
illumination device able to emit light, perform a spectral light scan, comprising Complementary Color Spectra, particularly with regard to discoloration of plants or plant parts, and illuminate plants a sensor device able to detect the light
reflected by the illuminated plants, a computing device, configured to control the illumination device for performing a spectral light scan, and further configured to analyze the data from the sensor device and detect dark areas on the
plants.”. NOTE: plant growth status is determined based on measuring the reflected lights from the plant and calculating reflectance, see “[0060] Healthy vegetation absorbs visible light and reflects large portion of NIR [0061] Unhealthy vegetation reflects more visible light and less NIR [0062] In case of bad vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to zero [0063] In case of good vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to 0.8” also see [004]-[0068]). And
-estimate a harvesting time for said section of said plant growing environment (Bongartz, see figure 32, predicting harvest time 250, [2430] Step 3250: Predicting the harvesting time by retrieving the average harvesting time for the respective
fruit (time schedule of ripening) from the data storage device 170 and comparing it with the current state of the ripeness by means of the computing device 140; the current state of the ripeness is identified by analyzing the data measured by the sensor device 150 with regard to, e.g, the development of the flowers, the withering of the flowers, the creation of the fruits, and the different state of its ripening” also see FIGS. 99-106 For forecasting harvest due date).
(i) said light measurement information including the light of said color component reflected, (ii) said intensity of said color component in said light setting (Bongartz, [0549] The detection of discoloration may be used for various tasks of cultivating plants. For instance, it may be used to track changes in plants or part of the plants, e.g. flowering, changing colors due to ripening etc. In this case,
the complementary color of the state of the plant is applied (either the previous state to see if it is still there or the expected state to see if it has been realized). For example, to verify if the color of the tomatoes have already changed
from green to red, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to green (i.e. reddish light (magenta)). If such illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is still green. Otherwise, they have already changed
their color to red and may be ready for harvesting. Alternatively, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to red (i.e. cyan). If the illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is already red. Otherwise,
their color is still green”,
wherein the processor is configured to receive, via a wired or wireless receiver, the light setting from the one or more light sources or from a controller of the one or more light sources (Bongartz, [1162], A computing device can be connected to the first light fixture, for instance directly or via a light control unit. The connection between
these components can be wireless or wire based, combinations are possible as well”). and
(iii) a cultivation temperature protocol for said section of said plant growing environment, said cultivation temperature protocol comprising one or more assumed cultivation temperatures (Bongartz, Figures,67, 99, 106 [1223] “a sensor device, comprising temperature measuring means able to measure the (local) temperature, in some embodiments/implementations at various locations, in the agricultural facility, [1225] a data storage device for storing growth settings for plants, the growth settings comprising temperature profiles (temporal and/or spatial), [1227] the computing device, further configured to adjust the temperature in the agricultural facility according to the temperature profile of the growth setting by means of the sensor device and the actuator device”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 2, combination of Miller, and Bongartz teaches the
The system as claimed in claim 1,
Miller further teaches wherein said at least one processor is configured to control an environmental parameter based on a difference between said estimated harvesting time and a target harvesting time. (Miller, Figures 5-7, [0007] “ an assembly line grow pod system includes(…), the controller including a processor and a computer readable and executable instruction set, which when executed, causes the processor to identify a type of the plant matter positioned within the cart, receive data indicative of at least one of a detected plant matter weight from the weight sensor and a detected plant matter height from the distance sensor, retrieve a harvest time recipe based on the identified type of plant matter, the harvest time recipe including a harvest time plant matter weight and a harvest time plant matter height, determine that the at least one of the detected plant matter weight and the detected plant matter height satisfies the harvest time plant matter weight and the harvest time plant matter height, and in response to determining that the at least one of the detected plant matter weight and the detected plant matter weight satisfies the harvest time plant matter weight and the harvest time plant matter height, move the actuator to an extended position to tilt at least a portion of the cart in a vertical direction”).
Regarding Claim 3, combination of Miller, and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 2,
Miller further teaches further comprising at least one output interface wherein said at least one processor (Miller, [0049] controller 106 determines a type of seeds being used (and/or other information, such as ambient conditions), the master controller 106 may communicate with the remote computing device 854 to retrieve a previously stored recipe (e.g., predetermined preferred growing conditions, such as water/ nutrient requirements, lighting requirements, temperature requirements, humidity requirements, or the like). is configured to:
Miller is silent on determine an adjusted temperature protocol for said section of said plant growing environment based on said cultivation temperature protocol and a difference between said estimated harvesting time and said target harvesting time, said adjusted temperature protocol comprising one or more adjusted cultivation temperatures, and output, via said at least one output interface, a temperature control signal based on said adjusted temperature protocol.
However, Bongartz teaches determine an adjusted temperature protocol for said section of said plant growing environment based on said cultivation temperature protocol and a difference between said estimated harvesting time and said target harvesting time, said adjusted temperature protocol comprising one or more adjusted cultivation temperatures, and output, via said at least one output interface, a temperature control signal based on said adjusted temperature protocol. (Bongartz, [1197] "Temperature Control" proposes a method of how temperature conditions can be changed or adjusted to counter-influence (negative), keep or enhance (positive) Plant Growth or plant Time-to-Harvest conditions affected by thelocal temperature (or integral local temperature) settings at the location of a plant. [1251] 9th aspect of" Temperature Control": A method for agricultural management, particularly for plant breeding, growing, cultivating and harvesting in an agricultural facility, comprising: [1261] In an embodiment/implementation for saving energy, the temperature profile and the light recipe are synchronized to influence the plants in the same way, for instance, to speed up plant growth or delay plant growth (see e.g. the element "Flexible Growth").”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’ s system with temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz,[0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 4, combination of Miller, Takahashi, and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 1,
Miller is silent on wherein said at least one processor is configured to determine a percentage of reflected light of said color component based on said light measurement information and said intensity of said color component in said light setting and estimate said harvesting time based on said percentage of reflected light.
However, Bongartz teaches wherein said at least one processor (is configured to determine a percentage of reflected light of said color component based on said light measurement information and said intensity of said color component in said light setting and estimate said harvesting time based on said percentage of reflected light. (Bongartz, Figure [0547] “A controlled agricultural system, particularly for detection of plant diseases and various stages of ripening, comprising an illumination device able to emit light, perform a spectral light scan, comprising Complementary Color Spectra, particularly with regard to discoloration of plants or plant parts, and illuminate plants a sensor device able to detect the light reflected by the illuminated plants, a computing device, configured to control the illumination device for performing a spectral light scan, and further configured to analyze the data from the sensor device and detect dark areas on the plants.”. NOTE: plant growth status is determined based on measuring the reflected lights from the plant and calculating reflectance, see “[0060] Healthy vegetation absorbs visible light and reflects large portion of NIR [0061] Unhealthy vegetation reflects more visible light and less NIR [0062] In case of bad vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to zero [0063] In case of good vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to 0.8. [0064] The CRI (Carotenoid reflectance Index) determines
the concentration of carotenoids in plants [0065] Weakened vegetation contains higher concentration of carotenoids, the index is thus a measure of stressed vegetation [0066] Higher CRil values mean greater carotenoid concentration relative to chlorophyll” NOTE: reflectance value reads on percentage of light reflected from the plant.)
a cultivation temperature protocol (Bongartz, [1197] "Temperature Control" proposes a method of how temperature conditions can be changed or adjusted to counter-influence (negative), keep or enhance (positive) Plant Growth or plant Time-to-Harvest conditions affected by the local temperature (or integral local temperature) settings at the location of a plant. [1251] 9th aspect of" Temperature Control": A method for agricultural management, particularly for plant breeding, growing, cultivating and harvesting in an agricultural facility, comprising: [1261] In an embodiment/implementation for saving energy, the temperature profile and the light recipe are synchronized to influence the plants in the same way, for instance, to speed up plant growth or delay plant growth (see e.g. the element "Flexible Growth").”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550]) [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 5, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 4,
Miller is silent on wherein said at least one processor is configured to estimate a potential current yield based on said percentage of reflected light and estimate said harvesting time based on a difference between said potential current yield and a desired yield and said cultivation temperature protocol
However, Bongartz teaches wherein said at least one processor is configured to estimate a potential current yield based on said percentage of reflected light and estimate said harvesting time based on a difference between said potential current yield and a desired yield (Bongartz, [0667] Furthermore, the controlled agricultural system comprises a computing device configured to identify the flowers ( or buds) from the data measured by the at least one sensor. it may also detect the flowers directly based on the color of the flower (e.g. yellow for tomatoes) and/or the typical size derived from the picture, either as an absolute value or relative to the size of other parts of the plant ( e.g. leaves). [0669] 6th aspect of "Yield Prediction": The controlled agricultural system according to the 5th aspect of "Yield Prediction", wherein typical time schedules of ripening of the fruits are stored in the data storage device, and wherein the computing device is configured to calculate a prediction for the harvesting time of the fruits based on the currently detected status of growth/ripening of the plants/fruits and the typical time left until ripeness of the fruits according to the time schedules”.. [0547] “A controlled agricultural system, particularly for detection of plant diseases and various stages of ripening, comprising an illumination device able to emit light, perform a spectral light scan, comprising Complementary Color Spectra, particularly with regard to discoloration of plants or plant parts, and illuminate plants a sensor device able to detect the light reflected by the illuminated plants, a computing device, configured to control the illumination device for performing a spectral light scan, and further configured to analyze the data from the sensor device and detect dark areas on the plants.”. NOTE: plant growth status is determined based on measuring the reflected lights from the plant and calculating reflectance and
a cultivation temperature protocol (Bongartz, (1225] a data storage device for storing growth settings for plants, the growth settings comprising temperature profiles (temporal and/or spatial), (1226] a computing device, configured to fetch a growth setting for a respective plant species from the data storage device,
(1227] the computing device, further configured to adjust the temperature in the agricultural facility according to the temperature profile of the growth setting by means of the sensor device and the actuator device”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 6, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 5,
Miller is silent on wherein said at least one processor is configured to estimate said potential current yield based on said percentage of reflected light and calibration information, said calibration information comprising a user- inputted yield associated with said percentage of reflected lighting.
However, Bongartz wherein said at least one processor is configured to estimate said potential current yield based on said percentage of reflected light and calibration information, said calibration information comprising a user- inputted yield associated with said percentage of reflected lighting. (Bongartz, [0044] “The element "LiDAR Plant Surveillance" of the disclosure describes using LiDAR for 3D plant surveillance, commissioning the system. [0045] For detecting plant diseases or pests, the sensing of relevant parameters is essential. The controlled agricultural system is configured to be able to analyze the measured parameters and infer a disease or pest. Furthermore, the controlled agricultural system may also be configured to be able to predict the yield based on measured parameters. Some of the parameters that can be measured (…) NOTE: plant growth status is determined based on measuring the reflected lights from the plant and calculating reflectance, see “[0060] Healthy vegetation absorbs visible light and reflects large portion of NIR [0061] Unhealthy vegetation reflects more visible light and less NIR [0062] In case of bad vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to zero [0063] In case of good vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to 0.8” also see [004]-[0068])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 7, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 6,
wherein said at least one processor values (Miller, [0050] FIG. 5 depicts the computing device 130 of the master controller 106, according to embodiments described herein. As illustrated, the computing device 130 includes a processor 930”), is configured to determine one or more parameter select calibration data from said calibration information based on said one or more parameter values (Miller, Figure 4-6, [0042]. In some embodiments, the master controller 106 may receive the harvest time recipes from an operator through the user computing device 852. For example, an operator may input a desired weight, height, chlorophyll level, and/or any other parameters related to the growth of plants for harvesting through the user computing device 852.”), and
Miller is silent on estimate said potential current yield based on said percentage of reflected light and said calibration data.
However, Bongartz estimate said potential current yield based on said percentage of reflected light and said calibration data ([0064] “The CRI (Carotenoid reflectance Index) determines the concentration of carotenoids in plants [0065] Weakened vegetation contains higher concentration of carotenoids, the index is thus a measure of stressed vegetation [0066] Higher CRil values mean greater carotenoid concentration relative to chlorophyll. (Bongartz, Figure [0547] “A controlled agricultural system, particularly for detection of plant diseases and various stages of ripening, comprising an illumination device able to emit light, perform a spectral light scan, comprising Complementary Color Spectra, particularly with regard to discoloration of plants or plant parts, and illuminate plants a sensor device able to detect the light reflected by the illuminated plants” NOTE: reflectance value reads on percentage of light reflected from the plant.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 8, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 7,
Miller further teaches on wherein said one or more parameter values comprise at least one of: position of said one or more light sources with respect to said plants, growth stage of said plants, stem density of said plants and plant density in said section of said plant growing environment (Miller, Figure 4, [0041], the master controller 106 may increase or decrease a level of water and/or nutrients provided to the plant matter on the cart 104 by the watering system 107 (FIG. 1), may increase or decrease a level of light provided by the lighting system 206 (FIG. 2), and/or may increase or decrease airflow provided by the airflow system 111 (FIG. 1) to either facilitate additional plant. The plant logic 844b may be configured to determine and/or receive a recipe for plant growth and may facilitate implementation of the recipe via the systems logic 844a.” [0050] FIG. 5 depicts the computing device 130 of the master controller 106, according to embodiments described herein. As illustrated, the computing device 130 includes a processor 930, input/output hardware 932, the network interface hardware 934, a data storage component 936 (which stores systems data 938a, plant data 938b, and/or other data).
Regarding Claim 9, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 5,
Miller is silent on wherein said at least one processor is configured to record yield over time at various temperatures and estimate said harvesting time further based on said recorded yield at said one or more assumed cultivation temperatures.
However, However, Bongartz teaches wherein said at least one processor is configured to record yield over time at various temperatures and estimate said harvesting time further based on said recorded yield at said one or more assumed cultivation temperatures. (Bongartz, [1197] "Temperature Control" proposes a method of how temperature conditions can be changed or adjusted to counter-influence (negative), keep or enhance (positive) Plant Growth or plant Time-to-Harvest conditions affected by thelocal temperature (or integral local temperature) settings at the location of a plant. [1251] 9th aspect of" Temperature Control": A method for agricultural management, particularly for plant breeding, growing, cultivating and harvesting in an agricultural facility, comprising: [1261] In an embodiment/implementation for saving energy, the temperature profile and the light recipe are synchronized to influence the plants in the same way, for instance, to speed up plant growth or delay plant growth (see e.g. the element "Flexible Growth").”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’ s system with temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz,[0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 10, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 1,
Miller is silent on wherein said one or more color sensors comprise a plurality of color sensors and said at least one processor is configured to determine an average light measurement measured by said plurality of color sensors and estimate said harvesting time for said section of said plant growing environment based on said average light measurement and said intensity of said color component in said light
setting.
based on said average light measurement and said intensity of said color component in said light setting ((Bongartz, [0665], the controlled agricultural system according to any one of the aspect of “yield prediction” wherein the sensor device comprises one or more of the following sensors or a combination thereof: imaging system, e.g. still or video camera,in some embodiments/implementations TOF camera or stereo camera, LIDAR system, color sensor. (Bongartz [0112] The controlled agriculture system may be configured to inform the grower if a certain threshold (min. or max. value) of a critical parameter is reached or if, for example, a certain percentage of leaves is affected. The trigger for detecting or verifying a disease may also be a certain combination of environmental factors like EC or pH values. The trigger may also be provided by a trained AI system. The system might continue to learn while used, e.g. by supervised learning.)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’ s system with temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz,[0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 11, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 1,
Miller further teaches further comprising at least one control interface, wherein said at least one processor (Miller, Figure 5, processor 930) is configured to control, via said at least one control interface, said one or more light source(Miller, Figure 2, lighting system 206) to illuminate said section of said plant growing environment according to said light setting(Miller, Figure 2, [0023], [0023] The lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or
more predetermined wavelengths that may facilitate plant growth. electromagnetic sources of the lighting system 206 may generally be positioned on the underside of the track 102 such that the electromagnetic sources can illuminate plant matter in the carts 104 on the track 102 below the electromagnetic sources),
Regarding Claim 12, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 11,
Miller further teaches wherein said at least one processor is configured to control, via said at least one control interface, said one or more light source (Miller, Figure 2, [0023], [0023] The lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or more predetermined wavelengths that may facilitate plant growth. electromagnetic sources of the lighting system 206 may generally be positioned on the underside of the track 102 such that the electromagnetic sources can illuminate plant matter in the carts 104 on the track 102 below the electromagnetic sources),
Regarding Claim 13, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the
system as claimed in claim 11,
Miller teaches wherein said at least one processor (Miller, Figure 5, processor 930) is configured to: control, via said at least one control interface (Miller, Figure 4, environmental sensors 313 and position sensors 315, in embodiments, weight sensors 310, etc); said one or more light sources to render light with a first light output level during a first moment and light with a second light output level during a second moment, an interval between said first moment and said second moment not exceeding an interval threshold,( Miller, Figure 2, [0023], [0023] The lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or more predetermined wavelengths that may facilitate plant growth. electromagnetic sources of the lighting system 206 may generally be positioned on the underside of the track 102 such that the electromagnetic sources can illuminate plant matter in the carts 104 on the track 102 below the electromagnetic sources. [0049] Similarly, the remote computing device 854 may include a server, personal computer, tablet, phablet, mobile device, server, or the like, and may be utilized for machine-to-machine communications. As an example, if the master controller 106 determines a type of seeds being used (and/or other information, such as ambient conditions), the master controller 106 may communicate with the remote computing device 854 to retrieve a previously stored recipe (e.g., predetermined preferred growing conditions, such as water/ nutrient requirements, lighting requirements, temperature requirements, humidity requirements, or the like).
Miller is silent on-obtain, via said at least one sensor interface first light measurement information measured at said first moment and second light measurement information measured at said second moment from at least one of said one or more color sensors,
-determine a daylight contribution based on a difference between said first light measurement information and said second light measurement information, -determine adjusted light measurement information by subtracting said daylight contribution from said light measurement information, and -estimate said harvesting time for said section.
However, Bongartz teaches -obtain, via said at least one sensor interface first light measurement information measured at said first moment and second light measurement information measured at said second moment from at least one of said one or more color sensors(Bongartz,[0665], the controlled agricultural system according to any one of the aspect of “yield prediction” wherein the sensor device comprises one or more of the following sensors or a combination thereof: imaging system, e.g. still or video camera, in some embodiments/implementations TOF camera or stereo camera, LIDAR system, color sensor).,
-determine a daylight contribution based on a difference between said first light measurement information and said second light measurement information, -determine adjusted light measurement information by subtracting said daylight contribution from said light measurement information, and -estimate said harvesting time for said sectionof said plant growing environment based on said adjusted light measurement information (Bongartz, 0739] In some embodiments/implementations, at least
some of the sensor devices differ in the parameter measured respectively, for instance cameras in their spectral sensitivity. The cameras can be equipped with same or different lens systems in order to cover various field-of-view settings and
therefore different sensed or surveilled plant areas. The lens systems can be adjustable, in some embodiments/implementations by remote control. The cameras can be equipped for daylight picture taking and/or for nighttime picture taking using infrared-sensitive sensors. They can also be equipped with an UV-protective cover that is transparent for visual and/or infrared radiation. The cameras can also be equipped with cleaning devices or with removable optically transparent protective covers that can be cleaned, refurbished and so on)..
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’ s system with temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz,[0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 14, Miller teaches,
A method of estimating a harvesting time in a plant growing environment, said method comprising: (Miller, Figures 2, and 4, [0002] Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems and methods for determining harvest tinting for plant matter within a grow pod, The assembly line grow pod 100), said system comprising:
at least one sensor interface (Miller, Figure 4, environmental sensors 313 and position sensors 315, in embodiments, weight sensors 310, etc); and
at least one processor configured to:-receive a light setting used by one or more light sources (Miller, Figure 2, lighting system 206) to illuminate a section of said plant growing environment with horticulture grow light that, in terms of light intensity and spectrum, is suitable for growing plants in said plant growing environment (Miller, Figure 2, [0023], The lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or more predetermined wavelengths that may facilitate plant growth. electromagnetic sources of the lighting system 206 may generally be positioned on the underside of the track 102 such that the electromagnetic sources can illuminate plant matter in the carts 104 on the track 102 below the electromagnetic sources),
said light setting comprising at least an intensity of a color component associated with said section of said plant growing environment, (Miller, Figure 4, [0038], The camera 340 may include a special filter that filters out artificial LED lights from lighting devices in the assembly line grow pod 100 such that the camera 340 may capture the natural colors of the plant),
Miller teaches lighting system 206 includes one or more electromagnetic sources to provide light waves in one or more predetermined wavelengths (known wave lengths) that may facilitate plant growth.
Miller is silent on -obtain, via said at least one sensor interface, light measurement information from one or more color sensors when said one or more color sensors are embedded in or attached to said one or more light sources,
wherein said light measurement information comprises how much light of said color component is reflected by at least a portion of said plant growing environment, and-estimate a harvesting time for said section of said plant growing environment based on
(i) said light measurement information including the light of said color component reflected,
(ii) said intensity of said color component in said light setting, wherein the processor is configured to receive, via a wired or wireless receiver, the light setting from the one or more light sources or from a controller of the one or more light sources and
(iii) a cultivation temperature protocol for said section of said plant growing environment, said cultivation temperature protocol comprising one or more assumed cultivation temperatures
However, Bongartz --obtain, via said at least one sensor interface, light measurement information from one or more color sensors when said one or more color sensors are embedded in or attached to said one or more light sources (Bongartz, [2307]. “Each growth zone 1200 is equipped with a light fixture 110, each of them having a plurality of LED light sources (not shown). Each of the light fixtures 110 is equipped with a sensor device 150, in this case a camera imaging the respective tray 1220”. [2392] “The sensor device 150 is configured to be able to detect the light reflected by the plants 102. The sensor device 150 may comprise camera or other sensor systems” [0078] 0078] RGB Camera (with removing the IR-filter, we also could increase the spectrum which is seen by the camera) NOTE: RGB camera is a color sensor).
wherein said light measurement information comprises how much light of said color component is reflected by at least a portion of said plant growing environment, (Bongartz, Figure [0547] “A controlled agricultural system, particularly for detection of plant diseases and various stages of ripening, comprising an
illumination device able to emit light, perform a spectral light scan, comprising Complementary Color Spectra, particularly with regard to discoloration of plants or plant parts, and illuminate plants a sensor device able to detect the light
reflected by the illuminated plants, a computing device, configured to control the illumination device for performing a spectral light scan, and further configured to analyze the data from the sensor device and detect dark areas on the
plants.”. NOTE: plant growth status is determined based on measuring the reflected lights from the plant and calculating reflectance, see “[0060] Healthy vegetation absorbs visible light and reflects large portion of NIR [0061] Unhealthy vegetation reflects more visible light and less NIR [0062] In case of bad vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to zero [0063] In case of good vegetation the reflected NRI or the NDVI is close to 0.8” also see [004]-[0068]). And
-estimate a harvesting time for said section of said plant growing environment (Bongartz, see figure 32, predicting harvest time 250, [2430] Step 3250: Predicting the harvesting time by retrieving the average harvesting time for the respective
fruit (time schedule of ripening) from the data storage device 170 and comparing it with the current state of the ripeness by means of the computing device 140; the current state of the ripeness is identified by analyzing the data measured by the sensor device 150 with regard to, e.g, the development of the flowers, the withering of the flowers, the creation of the fruits, and the different state of its ripening” also see FIGS. 99-106 For forecasting harvest due date).
(i) said light measurement information including the light of said color component reflected, (ii) said intensity of said color component in said light setting (Bongartz, [0549] The detection of discoloration may be used for various tasks of cultivating plants. For instance, it may be used to track changes in plants or part of the plants, e.g. flowering, changing colors due to ripening etc. In this case,
the complementary color of the state of the plant is applied (either the previous state to see if it is still there or the expected state to see if it has been realized). For example, to verify if the color of the tomatoes have already changed
from green to red, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to green (i.e. reddish light (magenta)). If such illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is still green. Otherwise, they have already changed
their color to red and may be ready for harvesting. Alternatively, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to red (i.e. cyan). If the illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is already red. Otherwise,
their color is still green”),
wherein the processor is configured to receive, via a wired or wireless receiver, the light setting from the one or more light sources or from a controller of the one or more light sources (Bongartz, [1162], A computing device can be connected to the first light fixture, for instance directly or via a light control unit. The connection between
these components can be wireless or wire based, combinations are possible as well”). and
(iii) a cultivation temperature protocol for said section of said plant growing environment, said cultivation temperature protocol comprising one or more assumed cultivation temperatures (Bongartz, Figures,67, 99, 106 [1223] “a sensor device, comprising temperature measuring means able to measure the (local) temperature, in some embodiments/implementations at various locations, in the agricultural facility, [1225] a data storage device for storing growth settings for plants, the growth settings comprising temperature profiles (temporal and/or spatial), [1227] the computing device, further configured to adjust the temperature in the agricultural facility according to the temperature profile of the growth setting by means of the sensor device and the actuator device”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 15, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the method of claim 14,
Miller further teaches A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed by a computer system (Miller, Figure 5, [0050] FIG. 5 depicts the computing device 130 of the master controller 106, according to embodiments described herein. As illustrated, the computing device 130 includes a processor 930, input/output hardware 932, the network
interface hardware 934, a data storage component 936, and the memory component 840, component 840 may be configured as volatile and/or nonvolatile
memory and as such, may include random access memory) the computer system to perform the method of claim 14.
Regarding Claim 16, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the system of claim 1,
Miller is silent on wherein the color component of the light setting corresponds to a color a plant arranged in said section of said plant growing environment.
However, Bongartz teaches wherein the color component of the light setting corresponds to a color a plant arranged in said section of said plant growing environment. (Bongartz, [0549] The detection of discoloration may be used for various tasks of cultivating plants. For instance, it may be used to track changes in plants or part of the plants, e.g. flowering, changing colors due to ripening etc. In this case, the complementary color of the state of the plant is applied (either the previous state to see if it is still there or the expected state to see if it has been realized). For example, to verify if the color of the tomatoes have already changed from green to red, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to green (i.e. reddish light (magenta)). If such illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is still green. Otherwise, they have already changed their color to red and may be ready for harvesting. Alternatively, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to red (i.e. cyan). If the illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is already red. Otherwise, their color is still green”),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’ s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875],[1197] [1231], [1263]).
Regarding Claim 17, combination of Miller and Bongartz teaches the method of claim 14,
Miller is silent on wherein the color component of the light setting corresponds to a color a plant arranged in said section of said plant growing environment.
However, Bongartz teaches wherein the color component of the light setting corresponds to a color a plant arranged in said section of said plant growing environment. (Bongartz, [0549] The detection of discoloration may be used for various tasks of cultivating plants. For instance, it may be used to track changes in plants or part of the plants, e.g. flowering, changing colors due to ripening etc. In this case, the complementary color of the state of the plant is applied (either the previous state to see if it is still there or the expected state to see if it has been realized). For example, to verify if the color of the tomatoes have already changed from green to red, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to green (i.e. reddish light (magenta)). If such illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is still green. Otherwise, they have already changed their color to red and may be ready for harvesting. Alternatively, the tomatoes may be illuminated with light of the color complemental to red (i.e. cyan). If the illuminated tomatoes appear dark, their color is already red. Otherwise, their color is still green”),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Miller system for determining harvest time to incorporate Bongartz’ s system with method with measurement of reflected light of different colors/wavelength and temperature sensor and associated system with the benefits of controlled agricultural system about designing and operating a plant production line of an agricultural facility, and a plant factory is to improve productivity of harvesting (Bongartz, ,[0060]-[0068], [0547]-[0550], [0124],[0875], [1197], [1231], [1263]).
Conclusion
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KOYANAGI et al (JP 2019-33720 A) recites “To improve profitability and effectively utilize a cutting facility by appropriately determining the cutting timing of a plant.
SOLUTION: When deciding a cutting schedule of a plant growing in a plurality of fields, the vacant period of the cutting facility, plant growth information (number of stems, plant height, ear information, grade, etc.) and weather prediction information are taken in to obtain the plant. Based on the growth information and weather forecast information of, the mowing period for each field is predicted, and the mowing date and time for multiple fields are determined based on the vacant period of the mowing facility and the mowing period for each field. Outputs a cutting schedule that clearly indicates the cutting date and time of the field. In addition, when determining the cutting date and time, prioritize multiple fields based on at least one of the field area, variety, number of stems, plant height, ear information, and grade, and the cutting facility is selected from the fields with the highest priority. The date and time of reaping is determined within the vacant period of the field and within the reaping period of the field. (Abstract)
HIRAHARA (WO 2019/035306 A1) discloses “The invention relates to a plant growth index calculation method, a plant growth index calculation program and a plant growth index calculation system which are capable of appropriately calculating a plant growth index. plant growth that indicates the degree of plant growth. This system comprises: a control device; a reflection light measuring device which measures the intensity of the reflection light of a measurement target having a plurality of sheets based on an
instruction of the control device; and a sunlight measuring device which measures the light intensity of the sunlight on the basis of the instruction of the control device. The reflection light measuring device performs a first process for measuring the intensity of the reflection light of the measurement target at first and second wavelengths; the sunlight measuring device executes a second process for measuring the light intensity of sunlight at third and fourth wavelengths; the controller executes a third process for calculating a plant growth index which indicates the degree of growth of the measurement target using reflection light intensity information which relates to the measurement target and are acquired by the reflection light measuring device, and light intensity information which relate to sunlight and are acquired from the solar light measuring device. In the third process, the plant growth index is calculated by correcting the reflection light intensity of the measurement target based on correction information on at least one of the measurement target and a field in which the measurement target is developed. (Abstract)
TAKAHASHI et al. (US 2020/0319024 A1) An object state detection and transmission system includes a spectroscope that measures a reflectance spectrum based
on reflected light reflected by a target object, a spectroscopic terminal apparatus integrally provided with an electronic device, the spectroscopic terminal apparatus receiving a measured reflection spectrum; and a server apparatus connected
to the spectroscopic terminal device via a communication line. The electronic device includes photographing means that photographs a target object to capture a photographed image; GPS means that measures a position of the target object; sensor means that measures azimuth and angle of the target object; clock means that clocks current time of the photographing and measurement; and communication
means that transmits the photographed image, the position of the target object, the azimuth and angle of the target object, and the photographing and measurement time
together with the received reflection spectrum to the server apparatus.
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/DILARA SULTANA/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
06/04/2026
/EMAN A ALKAFAWI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858 6/10/2026
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