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 Amendment
The following is a final office action in response to the communication filed on 06/23/2026. Claims 1-2, 7, and 14-20 have been amended. Claim 3 was cancelled. Claims 1-2 and 4-20 are currently pending and have been examined. The 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection of claims 14-20 has been rescinded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues , “You fails to disclose at least, inter alia, the following elements (additions underlined) with claim 1 being representative: " a bottom frame configured to accept the LiDAR unit in a position and orientation that are determined by contacting datum surfaces of the LiDAR unit with corresponding datum surfaces of the bottom frame; " a screen movably coupled to the bottom frame, the screen being configured to move between at least two positions, wherein the screen and bottom frame are arranged such that the illumination beam projected by an accepted LiDAR unit creates an illumination area onto the screen in each of the at least two positions; " an image provided by the imaging device of the entire illumination area has a first resolution; and the imaging device is configured to selectively observe a portion of the illumination area at a second resolution that is higher than the first resolution.”
In response to applicant’s argument that You fails to teach “position and orientation that are determined by contacting datum surfaces of the LiDAR unit with corresponding datum surfaces of the bottom frame”, it is noted that the datum surfaces of both the LiDAR unit and the bottom frame are not given an explicit definition in either the claims or the specification. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. The limitation can be interpreted that the surfaces that touch both the LiDAR unit and bottom frame would be datum surfaces satisfying the limitation. In regards to the other portions of the amendments made in claims 1 and 7 the mere moving of the dependent claims into the independent claims does not change the prior art mapping of the limitations and still read on the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 4-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by You et al. (Measurement, 183 (2021), p. 109817, 10.1016/j.measurement.2021.10987).
Regarding claim 1, You teaches
An apparatus for testing a Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) unit having a base and a transmission lens and configured to project an illumination beam, comprising: (see at least Abstract and Section 1 describing a “LiDAR sensor alignment inspection system for automobile production”)
a bottom frame configured to accept the LiDAR unit in a position and orientation that are determined by contacting datum surfaces of the LiDAR unit with corresponding datum surfaces of the bottom frame; (see at least Fig. 9 showing the experimental test bench with the LiDAR sensor mounted on a motion stage for testing and calibration)
a screen movably coupled to the bottom frame, the screen being configured to move between at least two positions, wherein the screen and bottom frame are arranged such that the illumination beam projected by an accepted LiDAR unit creates an illumination area on the screen in each of the at least two positions; (see at least Fig. 4 and Fig. 9 showing a target board positioned relative to the LiDAR sensor for alignment inspection, and Section 6 describing positional variation during testing)
an imaging device coupled to the bottom frame and configured to observe the screen in the at least two positions; (see at least Fig. 3 and Section 4 describing photodetector arrays used to detect the LiDAR beam spot projected onto the target board)
an image provided by the imaging device of the entire illumination area has a first resolution; (see Section 5 describing acquisition of beam detection signals from photodetector arrays)
and the imaging device is configured to selectively observe a portion of the illumination area at a second resolution that is higher than the first resolution. (see Section 5.4 describing Gaussian fitting of photodetector signals to determine beam center with higher precision)
Regarding claim 2, You teaches
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the screen is movable along an expected pointing direction of the accepted LiDAR unit; (see at least Section 6 describing displacement experiments where relative positioning between the LiDAR sensor and target board is varied)
the at least two positions of the screen are each disposed along the expected pointing direction at a different distance from the bottom frame; (see Section 6.2.2 describing displacement tests varying the LiDAR position relative to the target board)
and the imaging device is arranged to observe the entire illumination area in each of the at least two positions of the screen. (see Section 5 describing detection of beam positions across the target board using photodetectors)
Regarding claim 4, You teaches
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein: the screen comprises a translucent layer; (see Fig. 4 and Section 4 describing the planar target board receiving LiDAR beams)
the screen and bottom frame are arranged such that the accepted LiDAR unit projects an illumination beam that creates the illumination area on the translucent layer; (see Fig. 4 illustrating beam projection on the target board)
and the imaging device is arranged to observe the translucent layer. (see Fig. 3 and Section 4 describing photodetector arrays detecting beam spots on the board)
Regarding claim 5, You teaches
The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an actuator coupled between the bottom frame and the screen and configured to move the screen between the at least two positions. (see at least Fig. 9 showing a motion stage used to adjust the LiDAR sensor position relative to the target board during calibration experiments)
Regarding claim 6, You teaches
The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a gripper coupled to the bottom frame and configured to adjust at least one of a position and an orientation of the transmission lens with respect to the base. (see Section 6 describing the pose controller module capable of adjusting yaw orientation and position of the LiDAR sensor)
Regarding claim 7, You teaches
A system for automatically aligning a Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) unit having a base and a transmission lens and configured to project an illumination beam, comprising: (see Abstract describing an “automatic LiDAR sensor alignment inspection system”)
a test apparatus comprising: a bottom frame configured to accept the LiDAR unit in a position and orientation that are precisely determined by contacting datum surfaces of the LiDAR unit with corresponding datum surfaces of the bottom frame; (see Fig. 9 showing the LiDAR sensor mounted to the test bench)
a screen movable along an expected pointing direction of the accepted LiDAR unit, the screen being configured to move between at least two positions each at a different distance from the bottom frame; (see Fig. 4 showing the target board receiving LiDAR beams)
an actuator coupled between the bottom frame and the screen and configured to move the screen between the at least two positions; (see Fig. 9 motion stage)
an imaging device coupled to the bottom frame and configured to observe the screen in the at least two positions, wherein the screen and bottom frame are arranged such that the illumination beam projected by an accepted LiDAR unit creates an illumination area onto the screen in each of the at least two positions; (see Fig. 3 photodetector arrays, see at least Fig. 4 and Fig. 9 showing a target board positioned relative to the LiDAR sensor for alignment inspection, and Section 6 describing positional variation during testing)
and a processor communicatively coupled to the imaging device and the actuator; (see Section 5 describing algorithmic processing of photodetector signals)
and a non-volatile memory communicatively coupled to the processor and containing instructions that, when loaded into the processor and executed, cause the processor to execute steps: receiving a first image at a first resolution of the projected illumination area from the image device while the screen is disposed at a first position of the at least two positions; receiving a second image at a second resolution different from the first resolution of the projected illumination area from the imaging device while the screen is disposed at a second position of the at least two positions; determining an offset of the second image from the first image; and calculating an actual pointing direction of the accepted LiDAR unit based in part on the determined offset. (see Section 5.5 describing optimization algorithms used to estimate the LiDAR pose, see Section 5.4 describing Gaussian fitting of photodetector signals to determine beam center with higher precision)
Regarding claim 8, You teaches
The system of claim 7, wherein the step of determining the offset comprises: performing a correlation of the second image with the first image; (see Section 5 describing matching beam positions detected by photodetectors and LiDAR point cloud data)
identifying a location in one of the first and second images of a maximum correlation value; (see Section 5.4 describing detection of the peak beam intensity corresponding to beam center)
and calculating the offset based in part on the identified location. (see Section 5.5 describing pose estimation using detected beam positions)
Regarding claim 9, You teaches
The system of claim 7, wherein: the test apparatus further comprises a gripper coupled to the bottom frame and configured to adjust at least one of a position and an orientation of the transmission lens with respect to the base; (see Section 6 describing the pose controller module adjusting yaw orientation)
the processor is communicatively coupled to the gripper; the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to execute steps: determining whether the actual pointing direction is within a predetermined acceptable range relative to the expected pointing direction; (see Section 6 describing evaluation of alignment accuracy and error)
and causing the gripper to adjust, if the actual pointing direction is outside of the acceptable range, at least one of the position and the orientation of the transmission lens. (see Abstract describing alignment inspection and calibration in manufacturing environments)
Regarding claim 10, You teaches
The system of claim 7, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to execute steps: receiving an image of a first region-of-interest (ROI) and an image of a second ROI that is displaced from the first ROI, wherein: the screen and bottom frame are arranged such that the illumination beam projected by an accepted LiDAR unit creates an illumination area onto the screen in each of the at least two positions; and each ROI is a portion of the illumination area; (see Section 5.1 describing segmentation of the target board region of interest from the LiDAR point cloud)
determining an intensity of each pixel of the received images of the first and second ROIs; (see Section 5.4 describing photodetector signal intensity measurements)
plotting a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the first ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold and a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the second ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold; (see Section 5 describing signal processing and beam intensity analysis)
plotting a slope of the cumulative curve of the first ROI and a slope of the cumulative curve of the second ROI; (see signal processing steps described in Section 5)
transforming the slope curve of the first ROI into a frequency domain curve and the slope curve of the second ROI into a frequency domain curve; identifying a value of the frequency domain curve of the first ROI at a first predetermined frequency and a value of the frequency domain curve of the second ROI at a second predetermined frequency; (see signal analysis steps used for beam characterization)
and determining a first degree-of-freedom (DOF) parameter by calculating a difference between the value of the first ROI and the value of the second ROI. (see Section 5.5 describing estimation of orientation parameters from beam measurements)
Regarding claim 11, You teaches
The system of claim 10, wherein: the illumination area comprises an X-axis and a Y-axis perpendicular to the X- axis; (see Fig. 2 illustrating the coordinate system of the target board)
the second ROI is displaced from the first ROI along the Y-axis; the second ROI is not displaced from the first ROI along the X-axis; (see Section 5 describing beam detection positions along target coordinates)
and the first DOF parameter is associated with a rotational orientation of the transmission lens about a lens axis that corresponds to the X-axis of the illumination area. (see Section 5.5 describing estimation of orientation angles including roll, pitch, and yaw)
Regarding claim 12, You teaches
The system of claim 11, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to execute steps: receiving an image of a third ROI that is displaced from the first ROI along the X- axis; (see Section 5 describing detection of beam positions across multiple photodetectors)
plotting a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the third ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold; plotting a slope of the cumulative curve of the third ROI; (see Section 5 signal analysis)
transforming the slope curve of the third ROI into a frequency domain curve; (see signal processing steps)
identifying a value of the frequency domain curve of the third ROI at a third predetermined frequency; and determining a second DOF parameter by calculating a difference between the value of first ROI and the value of the third ROI; wherein the second DOF parameter is associated with a rotational orientation of the transmission lens about a lens axis that corresponds to the Y-axis of the illumination area. (see Section 5.5 solving multiple orientation angles)
Regarding claim 13, You teaches
The system of claim 12, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that cause the processor to execute steps: receiving an image of a fourth ROI that is displaced from the second ROI along the X- axis; (see Section 5 describing detection of multiple beam positions across the board)
plotting a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the fourth ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold; plotting a slope of the cumulative curve of the fourth ROI; (see Section 5 signal processing)
transforming the slope curve of the fourth ROI into a frequency domain curve; (see signal analysis)
identifying a value of the frequency domain curve of the fourth ROI at a fourth predetermined frequency; (see signal processing steps)
and determining a third DOF parameter by calculating a third difference between a first difference between the value of first ROI and the value of the third ROI and a second difference between the value of second ROI and the value of the fourth ROI; wherein the third DOF parameter is associated with a rotational orientation of the transmission lens about a lens axis that corresponds to a Z-axis of the illumination area that is perpendicular to both the X-axis and Y-axis. (see Section 5.5 solving roll, pitch, and yaw orientation parameters)
Regarding claim 14, You teaches
A method wherein anon-volatile, non- transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions configured to cause one or more processors to execute steps for automatically aligning a Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) unit having a base and a transmission lens and configured to project an illumination beam, the method comprising: (see Abstract describing an “automatic LiDAR sensor alignment inspection system”)
receiving from an imaging device a first image of an illumination area projected by the LiDAR unit on a screen disposed at a first position; receiving from the imaging device a second image of the illumination area projected by the LiDAR unit on the screen disposed at a second position; determining an offset of the second image from the first image; and calculating an actual pointing direction of the accepted LiDAR unit based in part of the determined offset. (see Section 5.5 describing optimization algorithms used to estimate the LiDAR pose, see Section 5.4 describing Gaussian fitting of photodetector signals to determine beam center with higher precision)
Regarding claim 15, You teaches
The method of claim 14, wherein the determining the offset further comprises: performing a correlation of the second image with the first image; (see Section 5 describing matching beam positions detected by photodetectors and LiDAR point cloud data)
identifying a location in one of the first and second images of a maximum correlation value; (see Section 5.4 describing detection of the peak beam intensity corresponding to beam center)
and calculating the offset based in part of the identified location. (see Section 5.5 describing pose estimation using detected beam positions)
Regarding claim 16, You teaches
The method of claim 14, wherein the instructions further comprise: determining whether the actual pointing direction is within a predetermined acceptable range relative to the expected pointing direction; (see Section 6 describing evaluation of alignment accuracy and error)
and causing a gripper to adjust, if the actual pointing direction is outside of the acceptable range, at least one of a position and an orientation of the transmission lens with respect to the base. (see Abstract describing alignment inspection and calibration in manufacturing environments)
Regarding claim 17, You teaches
The method of claim 14, wherein the instructions further comprise: receiving from an imaging device an image of a first region-of-interest (ROI) and an image of a second ROI that is displaced from the first ROI; (see Section 5.1 describing segmentation of the target board region of interest from the LiDAR point cloud)
determining an intensity of each pixel of the received images of the first and second ROIs; (see Section 5.4 describing photodetector signal intensity measurements)
plotting a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the first ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold and a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the second ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold; (see Section 5 describing signal processing and beam intensity analysis)
plotting a slope of the cumulative curve of the first ROI and a slope of the cumulative curve of the second ROI; (see signal processing steps described in Section 5)
transforming the slope curve of the first ROI into a frequency domain curve and the slope curve of the second ROI into a frequency domain curve; identifying a value of the frequency domain curve of the first ROI at a first predetermined frequency and a value of the frequency domain curve of the second ROI at a second predetermined frequency; (see signal analysis steps used for beam characterization)
and determining a first degree-of-freedom (DOF) parameter by calculating a difference between the value of the first ROI and the value of the second ROI. (see Section 5.5 describing estimation of orientation parameters from beam measurements)
Regarding claim 18, You teaches
The method of claim 17, further comprising: the illumination area being defined by an X-axis and a Y-axis perpendicular to the X-axis; (see Fig. 2 illustrating the coordinate system of the target board)
the second ROI is displaced from the first ROI along the Y-axis; the second ROI is not displaced from the first ROI along the X-axis; (see Section 5 describing beam detection positions along target coordinates)
and the first DOF parameter is associated with a rotational orientation of the transmission lens about an axis that corresponds to the X-axis of the illumination area. (see Section 5.5 describing estimation of orientation angles including roll, pitch, and yaw)
Regarding claim 19, You teaches
The method of claim 18, wherein the instructions further comprise: receiving from an imaging device an image of a third ROI that is displaced from the first ROI along the X-axis; (see Section 5 describing detection of beam positions across multiple photodetectors)
plotting a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the third ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold; plotting a slope of the cumulative curve of the third ROI; (see Section 5 signal analysis)
transforming the slope curve of the third ROI into a frequency domain curve; (see signal processing steps)
identifying a value of the frequency domain curve of the third ROI at a third predetermined frequency; and determining a second DOF parameter by calculating a difference between the value of first ROI and the value of the third ROI; wherein the second DOF parameter is associated with a rotational orientation of the transmission lens about an axis that corresponds to the Y-axis of the illumination. (see Section 5.5 solving multiple orientation angles)
Regarding claim 20, You teaches
The method of claim 19, wherein the instructions further comprise: receiving from an imaging device an image of a fourth ROI that is displaced from the second ROI along the X-axis; (see Section 5 describing detection of multiple beam positions across the board)
plotting a curve of a cumulative number of pixels in the image of the fourth ROI having an intensity less than equal to a threshold value vs the threshold; plotting a slope of the cumulative curve of the fourth ROI; (see Section 5 signal processing)
transforming the slope curve of the fourth ROI into a frequency domain curve; (see signal analysis)
identifying a value of the frequency domain curve of the fourth ROI at a fourth predetermined frequency; (see signal processing steps)
and determining a third DOF parameter by calculating a third difference between a first difference between the value of first ROI and the value of the third ROI and a second difference between the value of second ROI and the value of the fourth ROI; and wherein the third DOF parameter is associated with a rotational orientation of the transmission lens about an axis that corresponds to a Z-axis of the illumination area that is perpendicular to both the X-axis and Y-axis. (see Section 5.5 solving roll, pitch, and yaw orientation parameters)
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ETHAN J SLAUGHTER whose telephone number is (571)388-3021. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00.
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/ETHAN JAKOB SLAUGHTER/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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