DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 05/06/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
With regards to the claim objections of the previous actions; The amendments have been fully reviewed and the claim objections have been withdrawn accordingly.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/06/2025 has been entered.
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 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, 4, 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obara US-20200141743-A1 and Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 in view of Fujita US-20200364848-A1.
1. (Currently Amended) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
A monitoring plan generation device including a processor to:
(Obara [0007] A patrol system according to a first aspect of the disclosure includes a vehicle and a server)
(Obara [0053] The server 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 10 a, a random access memory (RAM) 10 b, a read-only memory (ROM) 10)
set monitoring map information including a virtual area corresponding to a monitoring area to be monitored by an uncrewed vehicle,
(Obara [Claim 1; 0007-8] a server including: a first decision unit configured to decide a priority of each of a plurality of patrol points to be patrolled and located in a prescribed area… based on map information of the prescribed area and the priorities…)
[0022] With this configuration, it is possible for the vehicles to travel autonomously along the patrol route to patrol the patrol points)
set a sub-area obtained by dividing the monitoring area into smaller sub-areas,
(Obara [claim.1] a plurality of patrol points to be patrolled and located in a prescribed area)
the monitoring map information being input by a user or generated by the processor,
(Obara [0023, 0039] decide a patrol route for patrolling the patrol points, based on map information of the prescribed area …map information 11 c)
and set, for each sub-area, an initial value of a time interval for monitoring each of the sub-areas, ***according to a prescribed period of time***;
(Obara [0017] patrol points are patrolled at least once within the prescribed period)
Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for methods for modifying patrol routs wherein controls prescribed periods of time that “…decrease a remaining time of the time interval over time” associated with a patrol route;
(Ciupek [0001] These designated routes, or “patrol routes,” may routinely position a safety officer within specific geographic areas during certain times of day)
(Ciupek [0017, 0021] …determining, for each of the plurality of geographic areas, …determining, based on the total elapsed time value for each of the plurality of geographic areas, that a patrol route of the safety officer should be modified; modifying the patrol route of the safety officer, the modified patrol route indicating that the safety officer is to patrol a given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas; and transmitting the modified patrol route to the safety officer)
(Ciupek [0010] determining that the total elapsed time value for the given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas is above a threshold elapsed time value. )
(Ciupek [0041-42] may determine that a patrol route for a safety officer 180 should be modified in response to determining that the total elapsed time value for a given geographic area 110 is above a threshold elapsed time value …modified patrol routes transmitted to the portable electronic communication device 190 of the safety officer 180 may include a heatmap indicating total elapsed time values of each geographic area 110. … indicating the total elapsed time value for each respective geographic area 110. For example, a geographic area 110 having a total elapsed time value above the threshold elapsed time value may be indicated using a red color within the heatmap. …In response to detecting an instance in which the safety officer 180 patrols a given geographic area 110, the color indicating the total elapsed time value for the given geographic area 110 may change to a different color, such as blue or indigo, to indicate that the total elapsed time value has been reset to zero)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include wherein there is a decrease a remaining time of the time interval over time associated with a patrol route with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Ciupek, for the benefit of keeping track of time elapsed/associated with security/patrol routes, monitoring for abnormalities in patrol schedules.
create action plan information that establishes a movement route of the uncrewed vehicle ***according to a prescribed period of time***;
(Obara [0017] patrol points are patrolled at least once within the prescribed period)
(Obara [0043] The second decision unit 13 decides the patrol route for patrolling the patrol points based on the map information 11 c and the priorities in the prescribed area. The second decision unit 13 may decide the patrol route such that the patrol points are patrolled in order of priority within a predetermined amount of time. )
Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for methods for modifying patrol routs wherein controls prescribed periods of time that “…[[to]] give priority to monitoring a sub-area where the initial value or the remaining time is shorter than an initial value or a remaining time of another sub-area;
(Ciupek [0001] These designated routes, or “patrol routes,” may routinely position a safety officer within specific geographic areas during certain times of day)
(Ciupek [0017, 0021] …determining, for each of the plurality of geographic areas, …determining, based on the total elapsed time value for each of the plurality of geographic areas, that a patrol route of the safety officer should be modified; modifying the patrol route of the safety officer, the modified patrol route indicating that the safety officer is to patrol a given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas; and transmitting the modified patrol route to the safety officer)
(Ciupek [0010] determining that the total elapsed time value for the given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas is above a threshold elapsed time value. )
(Ciupek [0041-42] may determine that a patrol route for a safety officer 180 should be modified in response to determining that the total elapsed time value for a given geographic area 110 is above a threshold elapsed time value …modified patrol routes transmitted to the portable electronic communication device 190 of the safety officer 180 may include a heatmap indicating total elapsed time values of each geographic area 110. … indicating the total elapsed time value for each respective geographic area 110. For example, a geographic area 110 having a total elapsed time value above the threshold elapsed time value may be indicated using a red color within the heatmap. …In response to detecting an instance in which the safety officer 180 patrols a given geographic area 110, the color indicating the total elapsed time value for the given geographic area 110 may change to a different color, such as blue or indigo, to indicate that the total elapsed time value has been reset to zero)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include to give priority to monitoring a sub-area where the initial value or the remaining time is shorter than an initial value or a remaining time of another sub-area with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Ciupek, for the benefit of keeping track of time elapsed/associated with security/patrol routes, monitoring for abnormalities in patrol schedules, and providing increased security to areas predetermined as a priority concern.
transmit the created action plan information to the uncrewed vehicle to control the uncrewed vehicle to follow the given priority; and
(Obara [0007] and a transmission unit configured to transmit the patrol route to the vehicle…)
(Obara [0043] …decides the patrol route for patrolling the patrol points based on the map information 11 c and the priorities in the prescribed area)
establish that a sub-area has been monitored once it is determined that the uncrewed vehicle has entered the sub-area based on the created action plan information, ****;
(Obara [0066] The vehicle then travels along the patrol route by autonomous driving (S21). The vehicle takes images of the patrol points and transmits the images to the server 10 (S22). Thus, the patrol process ends… The server 10 first receives images of the patrol points from one or more vehicles (S30) and saves the images in the storing unit 11.)
(Obara [S31-S32])
Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for a consideration for modifying a patrol route of a safety officer in accordance with a monitoring deadline based on a passage of time and further wherein when a security operator has moved on the basis of a modified action plan [0017, 0021, 0041] and further “establish that a sub-area has been monitored once it is determined that the [[patrol]] has entered the sub-area based on the created action plan information, and in response to a sub- area being monitored, reset the remaining time for the one of the sub-areas to the initial value”;
(Ciupek [0001] These designated routes, or “patrol routes,” may routinely position a safety officer within specific geographic areas during certain times of day)
(Ciupek [0017, 0021] …determining, for each of the plurality of geographic areas, …determining, based on the total elapsed time value for each of the plurality of geographic areas, that a patrol route of the safety officer should be modified; modifying the patrol route of the safety officer, the modified patrol route indicating that the safety officer is to patrol a given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas; and transmitting the modified patrol route to the safety officer)
(Ciupek [0042] …In response to detecting an instance in which the safety officer 180 patrols a given geographic area … indicate that the total elapsed time value has been reset to zero.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include in response to a sub-area being monitored, reset the remaining time for the one of the sub-areas to the initial value with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Ciupek, for the benefit of providing a set schedule for security patrols wherein time periods/cycles are established for one or more areas to be monitored within a deadline/predetermined time-interval according to a time remaining before the one or more areas require additional monitoring and further recognizing and resetting monitored parameters once a monitoring task is completed so that the task may be tracked and repeated within the next period/cycle.
identify the sub-area corresponding to an area monitored by the uncrewed vehicle as a monitored area;
****; and
(Obara [0066] The vehicle then travels along the patrol route by autonomous driving (S21). The vehicle takes images of the patrol points and transmits the images to the server 10 (S22). Thus, the patrol process ends… The server 10 first receives images of the patrol points from one or more vehicles (S30) and saves the images in the storing unit 11.)
(Obara [S31-S32])
Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for a consideration for modifying a patrol route of a safety officer in accordance with a monitoring deadline based on a passage of time and further wherein when a security operator has moved on the basis of a modified action plan [0017, 0021, 0041] and further “…reset a countdown timer of the identified sub-area to the initial value thereof”;
(Ciupek [0001] These designated routes, or “patrol routes,” may routinely position a safety officer within specific geographic areas during certain times of day)
(Ciupek [0017, 0021] …determining, for each of the plurality of geographic areas, …determining, based on the total elapsed time value for each of the plurality of geographic areas, that a patrol route of the safety officer should be modified; modifying the patrol route of the safety officer, the modified patrol route indicating that the safety officer is to patrol a given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas; and transmitting the modified patrol route to the safety officer)
(Ciupek [0042] …In response to detecting an instance in which the safety officer 180 patrols a given geographic area … indicate that the total elapsed time value has been reset to zero.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to reset a countdown timer of the identified sub-area to the initial value thereof with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Ciupek, for the benefit of providing a set schedule for security patrols wherein time periods/cycles are established for one or more areas to be monitored within a deadline/predetermined time-interval according to a time remaining before the one or more areas require additional monitoring and further recognizing and resetting monitored parameters once a monitoring task is completed so that the task may be tracked and repeated within the next period/cycle.
analyze an image photographed by the uncrewed vehicle and identify the sub-area corresponding to a position at which the image is photographed as the monitored area when the image includes a monitoring target,
(Obara [0066-70] The vehicle then travels along the patrol route by autonomous driving (S21). The vehicle takes images of the patrol points and transmits the images to the server 10 (S22). Thus, the patrol process ends… The server 10 first receives images of the patrol points from one or more vehicles (S30) and saves the images in the storing unit 11)
(Obara [0011] In the aspect, the server may further include a determination unit configured to determine whether there is an abnormality, based on a plurality of the images of the same patrol point taken at different times)
(Obara [0068] The server 10 then determines whether there is an abnormality based on the images of the same patrol point,… When it is determined that there is an abnormality based on the images (S32: YES)… server 10 may transmit the images that are the basis of the determination to the user terminal 50 with the alert)
wherein in a case where, on the movement route, the monitoring target ***contains an abnormality the system is configured to respond***.
(Obara [0068] The server 10 then determines whether there is an abnormality based on the images of the same patrol point, which are taken at different times (S31). When it is determined that there is an abnormality based on the images (S32: YES), the server 10 transmits an alert to the user terminal 50. The server 10 may transmit the images that are the basis of the determination to the user terminal 50 with the alert. )
Fujita US-20200364848-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for unmanned vehicle imagining operations wherein if an abnormality (e.g. obstructed targets) the system is configured to respond wherein “…in a case where, on the movement route, the monitoring target is not included in the image due to positional relationship between the uncrewed vehicle and the monitoring target, the movement route is corrected so that the movement route includes the positional relationship in which the monitoring target is included in the image”;
(Fujita [0055] In addition, since the image capture failure information includes the location information at which an image capture operation has failed, the user can generate a flight route including a place where the image is to be captured again and, thus, cause the unmanned aerial vehicle 100 to capture only the video frames corresponding to an image capture failure zone where frameout has occurred. In this manner, the efficiency of image capture of the object to be inspected can be improved. )
(Fujita [0012] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the method further includes the step of outputting the image capture failure information. According to one aspect, the method further includes the step of controlling the flight such that the image of the object at a location at which the image capture failed is re-captured on a basis of the image capture failure information. According to one aspect, the method further includes the step of stopping the flight if the image capture failure information is stored. According to one aspect, in the step of determining whether the imaging camera captures the image of the object, if the unmanned aerial vehicle has an imaging camera angle adjustment mechanism mounted therein, it is determined whether the imaging camera captures the image of the object on a basis of an angle adjusted by the angle adjustment mechanism, an angle of view of the imaging camera, and the relative position of the object detected by the sensor. )
(Fujita [0056] A second embodiment of the present invention is described below. According to the second embodiment, if the image capture determination module 240 determines that frameout of the overhead power wire W has occurred, the autonomous flight control program can automatically perform re-capture of the images corresponding to the image capture failure zone on the basis of the result of determination. FIG. 10 illustrates the operation flow according to the second embodiment.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include in a case where, on the movement route, the monitoring target is not included in the image due to positional relationship between the uncrewed vehicle and the monitoring target, the movement route is corrected so that the movement route includes the positional relationship in which the monitoring target is included in the image with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Fujita, for the benefit of ensuring optimal orientation between a system and the target of a monitoring operation, the efficiency of image capture of the object to be inspected can be improved [0055].
4. (Currently Amended) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
The monitoring plan generation device according to claim1, wherein the program causes the processor to: identify the sub-area corresponding to positional information as the monitored area on the basis of time-series positional information of the uncrewed vehicle.
(Obara [0066-70] The vehicle then travels along the patrol route by autonomous driving (S21). The vehicle takes images of the patrol points and transmits the images to the server 10 (S22). Thus, the patrol process ends… The server 10 first receives images of the patrol points from one or more vehicles (S30) and saves the images in the storing unit 11...)
Examiner’s Note: It should be noted that the present application discloses “…on the basis of time-series positional information…” in paragraphs [0074-0075] wherein; “…the monitored area identification unit 13 estimates an actual movement route of the uncrewed vehicle 20 from the time-series positional information of the uncrewed vehicle 20 acquired in step S8 … the monitoring plan generation device 10, the sensor information acquisition unit 12 acquires sensor information (step S8). The sensor information is, for example, an image photographed by a camera (the monitoring sensor 22) or positional information of the uncrewed vehicle 20 detected by a GPS receiver (the positioning sensor 23).”. As such, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the images taken and transmitted at the end of a patrol process, as disclosed by Obara, reasonably teaches a time-series positional information of an uncrewed vehicle.
7. (Previously Presented) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
The monitoring plan generation device according to claim 1, wherein the program further causes the processor to: acquire map information of the monitoring area and create the monitoring map information on the basis of the map information.
(Obara [0039-41] The map information 11 c includes information of a road map of the prescribed area, and may include information of the residences of the prescribed area
(Obara [0043] … decides the patrol route for patrolling the patrol points based on the map information 11 c and the priorities in the prescribed area.)
8. (Previously Presented) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
The monitoring plan generation device according to claim 1, wherein the program further causes the processor to: receive specification of a range of the monitoring area and create the monitoring map information for the received range.
(Obara [0041] prescribed area …may decide a priority of each of the patrol points located in the first area A and a priority of each of the patrol points located in the second area B independently from each other.)
(Obara [0039-41] The map information 11 c includes information of a road map of the prescribed area, and may include information of the residences of the prescribed area.)
9. (Previously Presented) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
A monitoring system comprising: the monitoring plan generation device according to claim 1; and
at least one uncrewed vehicle that behave on the basis of the action plan information.
(Obara [FIG.1] first/second/third vehicle 20a, 30a, 20b).
In re claim 10. The limitations are similar to those disclosed in the system of claim 1 and are therefore rejected under the same premise. For more information regarding the limitations, please see in re claim 1.
In re claim 11. The limitations are similar to those disclosed in the system of claim 1 and are therefore rejected under the same premise. For more information regarding the limitations, please see in re claim 1.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obara US-20200141743-A1, and Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 in view of Fujita US-20200364848-A1, as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Ueno US-20230168098-A1.
2. (Previously Presented) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
The monitoring plan generation device according to claim 1,
wherein the program causes the processor to create the action plan information ***according to a prescribed period of time***, ****.
(Obara [0007, 0043] The second decision unit 13 decides the patrol route for patrolling the patrol points based on the map information 11 c and the priorities in the prescribed area. The second decision unit 13 may decide the patrol route such that the patrol points are patrolled in order of priority within a predetermined amount of time.)
Ueno US-20230168098-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for traveling plans and preparation methods wherein the system discloses a consideration for travel plans set “…to reduce cost of moving the uncrewed vehicle”;
(Ueno [0040-41] Next, the traveling plan preparation unit 12 determines a sum of convenience costs of roads included in the traveling route as convenience cost of the traveling route, ... On the basis of the determined traveling cost, the traveling plan preparation unit 12 prepares an autonomous driving traveling plan ...traveling plan preparation unit 12 prepares an autonomous driving traveling plan for causing the subject vehicle to travel along a traveling route of the lowest traveling cost.)
(Ueno [0040-41] Next, the traveling plan preparation unit 12 determines a sum of convenience costs of roads included in the traveling route as convenience cost of the traveling route, ... On the basis of the determined traveling cost, the traveling plan preparation unit 12 prepares an autonomous driving traveling plan ...traveling plan preparation unit 12 prepares an autonomous driving traveling plan for causing the subject vehicle to travel along a traveling route of the lowest traveling cost. )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include priority to reducing a cost of moving the uncrewed vehicle with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Ueno, for the benefit of providing a system which is capable of operating a vehicle along a traveling route of the lowest traveling cost [0041].
Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for methods for modifying patrol routs wherein controls prescribed periods of time that “…[[to]] give priority to monitoring a sub-area where the initial value or the remaining time is shorter than an initial value or a remaining time of another sub-area;
(Ciupek [0001] These designated routes, or “patrol routes,” may routinely position a safety officer within specific geographic areas during certain times of day)
(Ciupek [0017, 0021] …determining, for each of the plurality of geographic areas, …determining, based on the total elapsed time value for each of the plurality of geographic areas, that a patrol route of the safety officer should be modified; modifying the patrol route of the safety officer, the modified patrol route indicating that the safety officer is to patrol a given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas; and transmitting the modified patrol route to the safety officer)
(Ciupek [0010] determining that the total elapsed time value for the given geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas is above a threshold elapsed time value. )
(Ciupek [0041-42] may determine that a patrol route for a safety officer 180 should be modified in response to determining that the total elapsed time value for a given geographic area 110 is above a threshold elapsed time value …modified patrol routes transmitted to the portable electronic communication device 190 of the safety officer 180 may include a heatmap indicating total elapsed time values of each geographic area 110. … indicating the total elapsed time value for each respective geographic area 110. For example, a geographic area 110 having a total elapsed time value above the threshold elapsed time value may be indicated using a red color within the heatmap. …In response to detecting an instance in which the safety officer 180 patrols a given geographic area 110, the color indicating the total elapsed time value for the given geographic area 110 may change to a different color, such as blue or indigo, to indicate that the total elapsed time value has been reset to zero)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include to give priority to monitoring a sub-area where the initial value or the remaining time is shorter than an initial value or a remaining time of another sub-area with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Ciupek, for the benefit of keeping track of time elapsed/associated with security/patrol routes, monitoring for abnormalities in patrol schedules, and providing increased security to areas predetermined as a priority concern.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obara US-20200141743-A1, and Ciupek US-20230003534-A1 in view of Fujita US-20200364848-A1, as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Tomita (US-20200064863-A1) and Takase (US-20220030758-A1).
6. (Currently Amended) Obara US-20200141743-A1 discloses
The monitoring plan generation device according to claim1, wherein the program causes the processor to:
calculate a movement route of the uncrewed vehicle on the basis of time-series positional
information of the uncrewed vehicle, and identify the sub-area corresponding to the calculated movement route as the monitored area when a difference between the calculated movement route and a predetermined movement route is within an allowable range.
(Obara [0066-70] The vehicle then travels along the patrol route by autonomous driving (S21). The vehicle takes images of the patrol points and transmits the images to the server 10 (S22). Thus, the patrol process ends… The server 10 first receives images of the patrol points from one or more vehicles (S30) and saves the images in the storing unit 11... )
Examiner’s Note: It should be noted that the present application discloses “…on the basis of time-series positional information…” in paragraphs [0074-0075] wherein; “…the monitored area identification unit 13 estimates an actual movement route of the uncrewed vehicle 20 from the time-series positional information of the uncrewed vehicle 20 acquired in step S8 … the monitoring plan generation device 10, the sensor information acquisition unit 12 acquires sensor information (step S8). The sensor information is, for example, an image photographed by a camera (the monitoring sensor 22) or positional information of the uncrewed vehicle 20 detected by a GPS receiver (the positioning sensor 23).”. As such, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the images taken and transmitted at the end of a patrol process, as disclosed by Obara, reasonably teaches a time-series positional information of an uncrewed vehicle.
Tomita US-20200064863-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for vehicle traveling systems wherein the system “…calculates movement route of the uncrewed vehicle on the basis of time-series positional information of the uncrewed vehicle”;
(Tomita [0002] The route calculating part finds the outer shape of the field from topographical data, and on the basis of the outer shape and the work width of the field working machine, calculates a travel route that starts from a travel start point to a travel end point that have been set. The drive assist unit compares a host vehicle position found on the basis of positioning data (latitude/longitude data) obtained from a GPS module with the travel route calculated by the route calculating part, and controls a steering mechanism so that the vehicle body travels along the travel route.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include a consideration for calculating a movement route of an uncrewed vehicle on the basis of time-series positional information of an uncrewed vehicle with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Tomita, for the benefit of monitoring a vehicle along a travel path such that the system is able to ensure, via time-series positional information data, that the vehicle position is within predetermined operational parameters as compared to a calculated travel route determined for the vehicle, notifying operators/technicians if a vehicle has begun to operate in under undesirable conditions.
Takase US-20220030758-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for a work vehicle wherein “…a difference between the calculated movement route and a predetermined movement route is within an allowable range”;
(Takase [0051] The above-described determination rules to which the determining section 571 refers are each intended to determine whether the vehicle body 1 is present within a predetermined zone… a determination condition of whether the deviation of the direction of the vehicle body 1 from the direction of the resumption travel path (that is, the direction in which the resumption travel path extends) is within an allowable deviation range…)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Obara to include a consideration for a difference between a calculated movement route and a predetermined movement route being within an allowable range with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Takase, for the benefit of monitoring a travel path such that no damage occurs to an autonomous vehicle or a surrounding operating environment [0051].
Conclusion
It should be noted that there exists prior art which is pertinent to significant though unclaimed features of the defined invention or directed to the state of art. The following is a brief description of relevant prior art cited but not applied:
Herman (US 20170098181 A1) discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for;
Herman [0052] This exemplary model may be defined entirely from the training data. To evaluate the demand with respect to a user-specified set of regions within a sector and time intervals (e.g., patrol periods), there is an additional step to re-integrate the demand model defined with respect to its native regions and time steps to those requested by a user. The re-integration assumes demand is uniform within each region and time interval of the demand model.
Herman [0086] FIG. 3 is an example of screenshot of an exemplary patrol schedule display 300. Exemplary patrol schedule display 300 may contain various selectors for manipulation by a user. The user may assign a number and color to a patrol officer using selector 320 and assign the officer to patrol a particular region at a particular time or be physically present in a particular region at a particular time using selector 330. Exemplary display patrol schedule 300 may contain sliders 310a and 310b with which the user may assign one or more quantities to his desire to achieve various patrol objectives.
Herman [0145] In an embodiment, master user 950 may be one or more people—such as a patrol supervisor—seeking to create a patrol schedule based on historic demand event data and to fulfill one or more patrol objectives, such as maximizing neighborhood policing, wherein the time since a police officer was last assigned to a particular neighborhood is minimized. Master user 950 may use master user device 150A to access the service system 910 over network 920 and indicate which patrol officers master user 150 would like to create a schedule for, and, optionally, what patrol objectives (e.g., neighborhood policing) master user 950 would like to achieve. Master user 150 may indicate how much he or she is willing to compromise on one or more patrol objectives. Master user 150 may rank the patrol objectives or assign a quantity proportional to his or her desire to achieve one or more objective to the one or more objectives. Master user 150 may indicate certain constraints (e.g., that a certain police officer should be in a particular geographic area or patrol a particular region at a particular time).
See PTO-892: Notice of references cited.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW JOHN MOSCOLA whose telephone number is (571)272-6944.
The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abby Flynn can be reached on (571) 272-9855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.J.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ABBY J FLYNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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