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 .
Status of Claims
This communication is in response to applicant’s filing dated 03/19/2026. Claims 1-5, 9, 10 and 12-15 have been amended. Claims 6-8 and 11 have been canceled. Claim 17 is a new claim. Claims 1-5, 9, 10 and 12-17 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 10/08/2025 with respect to the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Hara et al., US 20140309841 A1, in view of Chu Xiumin et al., CN 109490906 A, and in view of Togashi et al., US 20190065859A1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9, 10 and 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hara et al., US 20140309841 A1, in view of Chu Xiumin et al., CN 109490906 A, and in view of Togashi et al., US 20190065859A1, hereinafter referred to as Hara, Xiumin and Togashi, respectively.
Regarding claim 1, Hara discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing map data with a map data structure that is a data structure of the map data to be referred to by an information processing device (storage means into which map data is stored that indicates a region of the determined regions that has been set as having a stationary object in the region – See at least ¶9), comprising:
voxel data for each voxel of structural object or feature data for each of the structural objects (As shown in FIG. 5, the operation count calculating section first executes pre-processing for each operation count calculation. More specifically, in step the operation count calculating section refers to the region segment data stored within the first storage device, and divides, by the set regions (three-dimensional voxels), the space for which the presence/absence of objects that the shape detector has detected around the vehicle “v” is to be identified. The space divided is equivalent to the shaded region in FIG. 3. In the present embodiment, each of the set regions is defined in terms of the three-dimensional voxels obtained by dividing the three-dimensional space into a plurality of solids. Each voxel has its dimensions dictated with dependence upon dimensions of the objects to be determined to be stationary or moving ones – See at least ¶43),
the voxel data and the feature data comprising: position information indicating a position of a structural object (The region segment data here, which indicates divisions of the set regions used to obtain the operation count data, is data that indicates in what form the three-dimensional space where the vehicle “v” moves is divided in the plurality of closed regions (set regions). In the present embodiment, where in the three-dimensional space the respective three-dimensional voxels are positioned is stored. In which region the objects or part thereof is positioned can be determined by associating the shape data and the region segment data with each other – See at least ¶30).
Hara fails to disclose attribute information indicating whether the structural object is a floating object on a water surface or the structural object is a non-floating object, wherein the map data structure is configured such that, in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the floating object on the water surface, the position information is defined as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface, and wherein the map data structure is configured to enable the information processing device controlling autonomous navigation based on the relative position information of the structural object.
However, Xiumin teaches:
attribute information indicating whether the structural object is a floating object on a water surface or the structural object is a non-floating object (the floating block can float on the water surface, and the floating block is placed on the vertical rod, and the floating block can move up and down along the vertical rod with the change of the wave height – See at least summary paragraph, lines 10-12. When the ship is shaken, the coordinates of the floating block in the hull coordinate system are obtained by the attitude angle compensation and coordinate conversion provided by the attitude meter, and the precise geodetic coordinates obtained by the differential GNSS receiver are obtained – See at least summary paragraph, lines 14-16),
wherein the map data structure is configured such that, in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the floating object on the water surface, the position information is defined as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface (When the ship is shaking, the vertical height difference Δh between the GNSS differential receiver and the floating block is: Δh=zG'-zO'=(dGcos(γ)-dLcos(φ))sin(θy)+(dGsin(γ)-dLsin(φ))cos(θx)cos(θy) Assuming that the true geodetic coordinates of the GNSS differential receiver are PG′′ (xG′′, yG′′, zG′′), the altitude corresponding to the GNSS differential receiver is hG, and the altitude hw of the wave is obtained. Hw=hG-Δh-h0 Among them, h0 is the difference between the altitude of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface – See at least summary paragraph, lines 23-27), and
wherein the map data structure is configured to enable the information processing device controlling autonomous navigation based on the relative position information of the structural object (The invention can dynamically measure the wave height and period during the navigation of the ship, and can provide information support and services for the automatic driving navigation of the ship – See at least abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of wherein the map data structure is configured such that, in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the floating object on the water surface, the position information is defined as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface and wherein the map data structure is configured to enable the information processing device controlling autonomous navigation based on the relative position information of the structural object, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
The combination of Hara and Xiumin fail to disclose in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface.
However, Togashi teaches in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface (The image coordinate and global coordinate can be converted by a projection matrix or a homography matrix (when an object position is restricted on one plane). Although the tracking unit can perform tracking by integrating the coordinates of a region of interest from different detection units, in that case, information indicating which detection unit provides the region of interest utilized for generation of a trajectory, and other attributes of the region of interest are collected and held. Also, through the tracking, a new attribute such as change in the position from a previous frame may be added – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hara and Xiumin and include the feature of in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface, as taught by Togashi, to monitor maritime environment based on different object detection schemes and/or physical principles obtained by one detection device.
Regarding claim 2, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose wherein the position information indicates a relative position whose position in height direction is represented with respect to a height position of the water surface, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on the water surface, and wherein the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify an absolute position of the structural object in the height direction obtained by adding an estimated absolute height position of the water surface to the relative position indicated by the position information.
However, Xiumin teaches wherein the position information indicates a relative position whose position in height direction is represented with respect to a height position of the water surface, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on the water surface, and wherein the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify an absolute position of the structural object in the height direction obtained by adding an estimated absolute height position of the water surface to the relative position indicated by the position information (the lidar scan obtains continuous point cloud frames. For each frame point cloud data, the position of the floating block relative to the lidar is detected by the target recognition algorithm – See at least summary paragraph, lines 13-15. When the ship is shaking, the vertical height difference Δh between the GNSS differential receiver and the floating block is: Δh=zG'-zO'=(dGcos(γ)-dLcos(φ))sin(θy)+(dGsin(γ)-dLsin(φ))cos(θx)cos(θy) Assuming that the true geodetic coordinates of the GNSS differential receiver are PG′′ (xG′′, yG′′, zG′′), the altitude corresponding to the GNSS differential receiver is hG, and the altitude hw of the wave is obtained. Hw=hG-Δh-h0 Among them, h0 is the difference between the altitude of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface – See at least summary paragraph, lines 23-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of wherein the position information indicates a relative position whose position in height direction is represented with respect to a height position of the water surface, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on the water surface, and wherein the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify an absolute position of the structural object in the height direction obtained by adding an estimated absolute height position of the water surface to the relative position indicated by the position information, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 3, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose wherein the map data is voxel data representing the position of the structural object for each voxel that is a unit region, and wherein the position information and the attribute information are provided for each voxel.
However, Xiumin teaches wherein the map data is voxel data representing the position of the structural object for each voxel that is a unit region, and wherein the position information and the attribute information are provided for each voxel (the laser emission center point is taken as the coordinate origin, the ship's head and tail direction is the x-axis, and the ship's lateral direction is the y-axis, and the vertical direction is established, The three-axis Cartesian coordinate system, is the z-axis perpendicular to the calm water surface – See at least Detailed description paragraph, lines 28-32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of wherein the map data is voxel data representing the position of the structural object for each voxel that is a unit region, and wherein the position information and the attribute information are provided for each voxel, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 4, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose wherein the position information indicates at least one of a voxel coordinate value which indicates a representative position of the each voxel and a mean vector of measured positions of the structural object for the each voxel.
However, Xiumin teaches wherein the position information indicates at least one of a voxel coordinate value which indicates a representative position of the each voxel and a mean vector of measured positions of the structural object for the each voxel (the laser emission center point is taken as the coordinate origin, the ship's head and tail direction is the x-axis, and the ship's lateral direction is the y-axis, and the vertical direction is established, The three-axis Cartesian coordinate system, is the z-axis perpendicular to the calm water surface – See at least Detailed description paragraph, lines 28-32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of wherein the position information indicates at least one of a voxel coordinate value which indicates a representative position of the each voxel and a mean vector of measured positions of the structural object for the each voxel, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 5, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose wherein, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on the water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to estimate a self position of the information processing device based on a matching result between an absolute position of the structural object, for each voxel, obtained by correcting the position information as the relative position information and an absolute position of the structural object based on measurement data which the information processing device obtains from a measurement device.
However, Xiumin teaches wherein, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on the water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to estimate a self position of the information processing device based on a matching result between an absolute position of the structural object, for each voxel, obtained by correcting the position information as the relative position information and an absolute position of the structural object based on measurement data which the information processing device obtains from a measurement device (When the ship is shaking, the vertical height difference Δh between the GNSS differential receiver and the floating block is: Δh=zG'-zO'=(dGcos(γ)-dLcos(φ))sin(θy)+(dGsin(γ)-dLsin(φ))cos(θx)cos(θy) Assuming that the true geodetic coordinates of the GNSS differential receiver are PG′′ (xG′′, yG′′, zG′′), the altitude corresponding to the GNSS differential receiver is hG, and the altitude hw of the wave is obtained. Hw=hG-Δh-h0 Among them, h0 is the difference between the altitude of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface – See at least summary paragraph, lines 23-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of wherein, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on the water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to estimate a self position of the information processing device based on a matching result between an absolute position of the structural object, for each voxel, obtained by correcting the position information as the relative position information and an absolute position of the structural object based on measurement data which the information processing device obtains from a measurement device, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 9, Hara discloses a control method executed by an information processing device (an arithmetic processing unit, for example a CPU, intended to run various control programs, and a first storage device intended for storage of various data including the control programs – See at least ¶23), the control method comprising:
referring to map data with data structure, the map data including voxel data for each voxel of structural objects or feature data for each of the structural objects (As shown in FIG. 5, the operation count calculating section first executes pre-processing for each operation count calculation. More specifically, in step the operation count calculating section refers to the region segment data stored within the first storage device, and divides, by the set regions (three-dimensional voxels), the space for which the presence/absence of objects that the shape detector has detected around the vehicle “v” is to be identified. The space divided is equivalent to the shaded region in FIG. 3. In the present embodiment, each of the set regions is defined in terms of the three-dimensional voxels obtained by dividing the three-dimensional space into a plurality of solids. Each voxel has its dimensions dictated with dependence upon dimensions of the objects to be determined to be stationary or moving ones – See at least ¶43),
the voxel data and the feature data comprising: position information indicating a position of a structural object and attribution information indicating whether or not the structural object is a floating object on a water surface (The region segment data here, which indicates divisions of the set regions used to obtain the operation count data, is data that indicates in what form the three-dimensional space where the vehicle “v” moves is divided in the plurality of closed regions (set regions). In the present embodiment, where in the three-dimensional space the respective three-dimensional voxels are positioned is stored. In which region the objects or part thereof is positioned can be determined by associating the shape data and the region segment data with each other – See at least ¶30).
Hara fails to disclose attribute information indicating whether the structural object is a floating object on a water surface or the structural object is a non-floating object, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify the position of the structural object by using the position information as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface and controlling autonomous navigation, based on the relative position information of the structural object, by the information processing device according to the map data structure.
However, Xiumin teaches:
attribute information indicating whether the structural object is a floating object on a water surface or the structural object is a non-floating object (the floating block can float on the water surface, and the floating block is placed on the vertical rod, and the floating block can move up and down along the vertical rod with the change of the wave height – See at least summary paragraph, lines 10-12. When the ship is shaken, the coordinates of the floating block in the hull coordinate system are obtained by the attitude angle compensation and coordinate conversion provided by the attitude meter, and the precise geodetic coordinates obtained by the differential GNSS receiver are obtained – See at least summary paragraph, lines 14-16),
if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify the position of the structural object by using the position information as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface (When the ship is shaking, the vertical height difference Δh between the GNSS differential receiver and the floating block is: Δh=zG'-zO'=(dGcos(γ)-dLcos(φ))sin(θy)+(dGsin(γ)-dLsin(φ))cos(θx)cos(θy) Assuming that the true geodetic coordinates of the GNSS differential receiver are PG′′ (xG′′, yG′′, zG′′), the altitude corresponding to the GNSS differential receiver is hG, and the altitude hw of the wave is obtained. Hw=hG-Δh-h0 Among them, h0 is the difference between the altitude of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface – See at least summary paragraph, lines 23-27), and
controlling autonomous navigation, based on the relative position information of the structural object, by the information processing device according to the map data structure (The invention can dynamically measure the wave height and period during the navigation of the ship, and can provide information support and services for the automatic driving navigation of the ship – See at least abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of attribute information indicating whether or not the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, wherein, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify the position of the structural object by using the position information as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface and controlling autonomous navigation, based on the relative position information of the structural object, by the information processing device according to the map data structure, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
The combination of Hara and Xiumin fail to disclose in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface.
However, Togashi teaches in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface (The image coordinate and global coordinate can be converted by a projection matrix or a homography matrix (when an object position is restricted on one plane). Although the tracking unit can perform tracking by integrating the coordinates of a region of interest from different detection units, in that case, information indicating which detection unit provides the region of interest utilized for generation of a trajectory, and other attributes of the region of interest are collected and held. Also, through the tracking, a new attribute such as change in the position from a previous frame may be added – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hara and Xiumin and include the feature of in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface, as taught by Togashi, to monitor maritime environment based on different object detection schemes and/or physical principles obtained by one detection device.
Regarding claim 10, Hara discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to (The management unit includes an arithmetic processing unit (for example a CPU) for running various control programs, the second storage device intended for storage of various data including the control programs – See at least ¶33):
refer to map data with the data structure, the map data including voxel data for each voxel of structural objects or feature data for each of the structural objects (As shown in FIG. 5, the operation count calculating section first executes pre-processing for each operation count calculation. More specifically, in step the operation count calculating section refers to the region segment data stored within the first storage device, and divides, by the set regions (three-dimensional voxels), the space for which the presence/absence of objects that the shape detector has detected around the vehicle “v” is to be identified. The space divided is equivalent to the shaded region in FIG. 3. In the present embodiment, each of the set regions is defined in terms of the three-dimensional voxels obtained by dividing the three-dimensional space into a plurality of solids. Each voxel has its dimensions dictated with dependence upon dimensions of the objects to be determined to be stationary or moving ones – See at least ¶43),
the voxel data and the feature data comprising: position information indicating a position of a structural object and attribution information indicating whether or not the structural object is a floating object on a water surface ((The region segment data here, which indicates divisions of the set regions used to obtain the operation count data, is data that indicates in what form the three-dimensional space where the vehicle “v” moves is divided in the plurality of closed regions (set regions). In the present embodiment, where in the three-dimensional space the respective three-dimensional voxels are positioned is stored. In which region the objects or part thereof is positioned can be determined by associating the shape data and the region segment data with each other – See at least ¶30).
Hara fails to disclose attribute information indicating whether the structural object is a floating object on a water surface or the structural object is a non-floating object, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify the position of the structural object by using the position information as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface and controlling autonomous navigation, based on the relative position information of the structural object, by the information processing device according to the map data structure.
However, Xiumin teaches:
attribute information indicating whether or not the structural object is a floating object on a water surface or the structural object is a non-floating object (the floating block can float on the water surface, and the floating block is placed on the vertical rod, and the floating block can move up and down along the vertical rod with the change of the wave height – See at least summary paragraph, lines 10-12. When the ship is shaken, the coordinates of the floating block in the hull coordinate system are obtained by the attitude angle compensation and coordinate conversion provided by the attitude meter, and the precise geodetic coordinates obtained by the differential GNSS receiver are obtained – See at least summary paragraph, lines 14-16),
if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify the position of the structural object by using the position information as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface (When the ship is shaking, the vertical height difference Δh between the GNSS differential receiver and the floating block is: Δh=zG'-zO'=(dGcos(γ)-dLcos(φ))sin(θy)+(dGsin(γ)-dLsin(φ))cos(θx)cos(θy) Assuming that the true geodetic coordinates of the GNSS differential receiver are PG′′ (xG′′, yG′′, zG′′), the altitude corresponding to the GNSS differential receiver is hG, and the altitude hw of the wave is obtained. Hw=hG-Δh-h0 Among them, h0 is the difference between the altitude of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface – See at least summary paragraph, lines 23-27), and
controlling autonomous navigation, based on the relative position information of the structural object, by the information processing device according to the map data structure (The invention can dynamically measure the wave height and period during the navigation of the ship, and can provide information support and services for the automatic driving navigation of the ship – See at least abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of attribute information indicating whether or not the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, wherein, if the attribute information indicates that the structural object is a floating object on a water surface, the attribute information is used by the information processing device to identify the position of the structural object by using the position information as relative position information relative to a position of the water surface and controlling autonomous navigation, based on the relative position information of the structural object, by the information processing device according to the map data structure, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
The combination of Hara and Xiumin fail to disclose in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface.
However, Togashi teaches in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface (The image coordinate and global coordinate can be converted by a projection matrix or a homography matrix (when an object position is restricted on one plane). Although the tracking unit can perform tracking by integrating the coordinates of a region of interest from different detection units, in that case, information indicating which detection unit provides the region of interest utilized for generation of a trajectory, and other attributes of the region of interest are collected and held. Also, through the tracking, a new attribute such as change in the position from a previous frame may be added – See at least ¶45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hara and Xiumin and include the feature of in a case where the attribute information indicates that the structural object is the non-floating object, the position information is defined as absolute position information independent from the position of the water surface, as taught by Togashi, to monitor maritime environment based on different object detection schemes and/or physical principles obtained by one detection device.
Regarding claim 12, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose estimate a water surface position based on measurement data from a measurement device; convert the relative position information to absolute position information by adding the estimated water surface position; and perform autonomous navigation control based on the converted absolute position information of the floating structural object.
However, Xiumin teaches estimate a water surface position based on measurement data from a measurement device; convert the relative position information to absolute position information by adding the estimated water surface position; and perform autonomous navigation control based on the converted absolute position information of the floating structural object (Among them, h0 is the difference between the detection height of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface, as shown in Fig. 4. Combining (3) and (4), you can get the altitude of the wave in real time. Further, the real-time altitude of the wave can be calculated from the geodetic coordinates of the floating block, and the effective wave height (wave height) of the wave, the wave period, and the altitude of the sea surface of the ship sailing area can be obtained – See at page 6, lines 12-16. Value, providing information support for autonomous driving. At the same time, information services can also be provided for the marine meteorological department – See at least page 7, lines 1-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of estimate a water surface position based on measurement data from a measurement device; convert the relative position information to absolute position information by adding the estimated water surface position; and perform autonomous navigation control based on the converted absolute position information of the floating structural object, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 13, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose estimate a water surface position based on measurement data from a lidar by: extracting water surface position data from point cloud data acquired when a ship is apart from a shore more than a first predetermined distance; and extracting, from the extracted water surface position data, data indicating positions within a second predetermined distance from a position of the ship, wherein the second predetermined distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance; convert the relative position information to absolute position information by adding the estimated water surface position; and perform autonomous navigation control of the ship based on the converted absolute position information.
However, Xiumin teaches estimate a water surface position based on measurement data from a lidar by: extracting water surface position data from point cloud data acquired when a ship is apart from a shore more than a first predetermined distance; and extracting, from the extracted water surface position data, data indicating positions within a second predetermined distance from a position of the ship, wherein the second predetermined distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance; convert the relative position information to absolute position information by adding the estimated water surface position; and perform autonomous navigation control of the ship based on the converted absolute position information (Among them, h0 is the difference between the detection height of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface, as shown in Fig. 4. Combining (3) and (4), you can get the altitude of the wave in real time. Further, the real-time altitude of the wave can be calculated from the geodetic coordinates of the floating block, and the effective wave height (wave height) of the wave, the wave period, and the altitude of the sea surface of the ship sailing area can be obtained – See at page 6, lines 12-16. Value, providing information support for autonomous driving. At the same time, information services can also be provided for the marine meteorological department – See at least page 7, lines 1-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of estimate a water surface position based on measurement data from a lidar by: extracting water surface position data from point cloud data acquired when a ship is apart from a shore more than a first predetermined distance; and extracting, from the extracted water surface position data, data indicating positions within a second predetermined distance from a position of the ship, wherein the second predetermined distance is shorter than the first predetermined distance; convert the relative position information to absolute position information by adding the estimated water surface position; and perform autonomous navigation control of the ship based on the converted absolute position information, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 14, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose perform NDT (Normal Distributions Transform) scan matching between: point cloud data after deletion of water surface reflection data, and voxel data represented in a world coordinate system with z-coordinate values converted from water surface reference coordinate values to absolute coordinate values based on estimated water surface position; and control autonomous docking of a ship based on results of the NDT scan matching.
However, Xiumin teaches perform NDT (Normal Distributions Transform) scan matching between: point cloud data after deletion of water surface reflection data, and voxel data represented in a world coordinate system with z-coordinate values converted from water surface reference coordinate values to absolute coordinate values based on estimated water surface position; and control autonomous docking of a ship based on results of the NDT scan matching (Moreover, the lidar scan obtains continuous point cloud frames. For each frame point cloud data, the position of the floating block relative to the lidar is detected by the target recognition algorithm. Moreover, when the ship is in a stable state, the laser emission center point O(0,0,0) is taken as the coordinate origin, the ship's head and tail direction is the x-axis, the ship's lateral direction is the y-axis, and the vertical direction is the z-axis. The axis Cartesian coordinate system O-XYZ, the ship's roll, pitch and yaw angles are represented by θx, θy and θz, respectively. The precise altitude value of the extracted floating block is realized as follows – See at least page 2, lines 1-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of perform NDT (Normal Distributions Transform) scan matching between: point cloud data after deletion of water surface reflection data, and voxel data represented in a world coordinate system with z-coordinate values converted from water surface reference coordinate values to absolute coordinate values based on estimated water surface position; and control autonomous docking of a ship based on results of the NDT scan matching, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 15, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose wherein the information processing device is further configured to: calculate individual evaluation function values for each voxel associated with point cloud data; calculate estimated parameters to maximize a score value based on the individual evaluation function values; determine an NDT position by applying the estimated parameters to a dead reckoning position; and perform autonomous docking by controlling at least one of an engine, an electric motor, a screw for generating propulsive force, a thruster for generating lateral propulsive force, and a rudder for controlling traveling direction.
However, Xiumin teaches wherein the information processing device is further configured to: calculate individual evaluation function values for each voxel associated with point cloud data; calculate estimated parameters to maximize a score value based on the individual evaluation function values; determine an NDT position by applying the estimated parameters to a dead reckoning position; and perform autonomous docking by controlling at least one of an engine, an electric motor, a screw for generating propulsive force, a thruster for generating lateral propulsive force, and a rudder for controlling traveling direction (Moreover, the lidar scan obtains continuous point cloud frames. For each frame point cloud data, the position of the floating block relative to the lidar is detected by the target recognition algorithm. Moreover, when the ship is in a stable state, the laser emission center point O(0,0,0) is taken as the coordinate origin, the ship's head and tail direction is the x-axis, the ship's lateral direction is the y-axis, and the vertical direction is the z-axis. The axis Cartesian coordinate system O-XYZ, the ship's roll, pitch and yaw angles are represented by θx, θy and θz, respectively. The precise altitude value of the extracted floating block is realized as follows – See at least page 2, lines 1-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of wherein the information processing device is further configured to: calculate individual evaluation function values for each voxel associated with point cloud data; calculate estimated parameters to maximize a score value based on the individual evaluation function values; determine an NDT position by applying the estimated parameters to a dead reckoning position; and perform autonomous docking by controlling at least one of an engine, an electric motor, a screw for generating propulsive force, a thruster for generating lateral propulsive force, and a rudder for controlling traveling direction, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Hara of Xiumin fail to disclose wherein the attribute information include a binary value indicating whether or not the structural object is the floating object.
However, Togashi teaches wherein the attribute information include a binary value indicating whether or not the structural object is the floating object (The characteristic quantity based detection unit in this example obtains information on a region of interest detected by the difference method based detection unit and extracts a characteristic quantity in the neighborhood of the region in an input image. It is determined whether the characteristic quantity corresponds to a floating matter using a machine learning technique – See at least ¶43. The binarization unit compares the difference image from the absolute difference unit with a threshold to binarize the image, and outputs the binarized image – See at least ¶65 and FIG. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Hara of Xiumin and include the feature of wherein the attribute information include a binary value indicating whether or not the structural object is the floating object, as taught by Togashi, to provide a surveillance system that comprehensively detects various objects which may intrude from the sea and gives a warning (See at least ¶21 of Togashi).
Regarding claim 17, Hara as modified discloses the device of claim 1, accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated.
Hara as modified does not disclose estimating a water surface position based on measurement data obtained from a sensor; converting the relative position information of the voxel identified as the floating object into an absolute position by adding the estimated water surface position to the relative position information; and performing scan matching between the measurement data and the map data using the converted absolute position to control autonomous navigation of a ship.
However, Xiumin teaches estimating a water surface position based on measurement data obtained from a sensor; converting the relative position information of the voxel identified as the floating object into an absolute position by adding the estimated water surface position to the relative position information; and performing scan matching between the measurement data and the map data using the converted absolute position to control autonomous navigation of a ship (Among them, h0 is the difference between the detection height of the floating object lidar and the height of the water surface, as shown in Fig. 4. Combining (3) and (4), you can get the altitude of the wave in real time. Further, the real-time altitude of the wave can be calculated from the geodetic coordinates of the floating block, and the effective wave height (wave height) of the wave, the wave period, and the altitude of the sea surface of the ship sailing area can be obtained – See at page 6, lines 12-16. Value, providing information support for autonomous driving. At the same time, information services can also be provided for the marine meteorological department – See at least page 7, lines 1-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hara and include the feature of estimating a water surface position based on measurement data obtained from a sensor; converting the relative position information of the voxel identified as the floating object into an absolute position by adding the estimated water surface position to the relative position information; and performing scan matching between the measurement data and the map data using the converted absolute position to control autonomous navigation of a ship, as taught by Xiumin, to obtain accurate world coordinates in real time.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al., US 20190221002 A1, discloses a target detection method and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The method includes: obtaining an image of a target, and obtaining a feature model of the target according to the image of the target; determining whether the target is lost; and if it is determined that the target is lost: obtaining a currently photographed first frame of image.
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RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED
/MAHMOUD M KAZIMI/Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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