DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 March 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This Office action is in response to the reply received on 16 September 2025. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Remarks
The argument that the combination of US 9,993,129 B2 (Santini) and US 2006/0293788 A1 (Pogodin) does not fully teach every limitation recited by independent claim 1 has been considered. Santini discloses a robot vacuum with an obstacle detection sensor, such as a camera, for detecting features in the operating environment and for building a map of the environment (col 7 ln 18-23), and further discloses where the robot autonomously navigates and cleans a floor (col 6 ln 55-59), but doesn't expressly disclose that the robot detects debris in the environment and adds it to the map. The argument is persuasive because the combination of Santini and Pogodin does not teach forming or updating a debris map of the environment based on debris data output by a second sensor of the plurality of sensors configured to sense debris on a floor of the environment, as recited by claim 1, and the rejection of claims 1 and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of Santini and Pogodin is therefore withdrawn. However, a new rejection is made below in view of additional prior art. Because the new rejection is not necessitated by an applicant's amendment, the present Office action is non-final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-14, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 9,993,129 B2 (Santini) in view of US 2006/0293788 A1 (Pogodin) and US 9,380,922 B2 (Duffley et al.).
As to claim 1, Santini discloses a method for operating a robotic surface cleaning device, comprising:
determining a first location of the robotic surface cleaning device in an environment (col 7 ln 18-22 - "the visual sensor 134 is in the form of a digital camera having a field of view optical axis oriented in the forward drive direction of the robot, for detecting features and landmarks in the operating environment and building a virtual map");
capturing, with a first sensor of a plurality of sensors of the robotic surface cleaning device, first data indicative of an environmental characteristic of the first location (col 8 ln 48-52 - "The IMU 164 is, in part, responsive to changes in position of the robot 100 with respect to a vertical axis substantially perpendicular to the floor and senses when the robot 100 is pitched at a floor type interface having a difference in height, which is potentially attributable to a flooring type change");
adjusting a first operational parameter of a first actuator based on the sensed first data, wherein the adjusting is configured to cause the first operational parameter to be in a first adjusted state while the robotic surface cleaning device is at the first location (col 13 ln 64-col 14 ln 4 - "Once the integrator 524 makes a floor type determination, the controller circuit 128 determines (704) whether the floor type has changed and whether to alter (706) a cleaning characteristic of the robot 100. Altering a cleaning characteristic may include altering the speed of the side brush motor powering the side brush 122 and/or altering the speed of the suction fan motor powering the vacuum fan 114 in the cleaning bin"); and
wherein:
the first actuator is a motor configured to drive rotation of a vacuum impeller, fan, or blower (col 7 ln 63-66 - "The cleaning system 210 includes the roller motor 113, a side brush motor 154 driving the side brush 122, and a suction fan motor 156 powering the vacuum source 114 in the cleaning bin 116");
the first operational parameter is motor speed or torque (col 14 ln 4-9 - "the controller circuit 128 may alter a cleaning characteristic of the robot 100 to increase cleaning power (e.g., increasing the motor speed of the side brush 122 and/or increasing the speed of the vacuum fan 114) when the change in floor type is from a hard surface to a soft surface");
the environmental characteristic is a type of flooring in an ontology of floor types that distinguishes between carpet flooring and other types of flooring (col 8 ln 48-52); and
adjusting comprises increasing the motor speed or torque in response to determining the robotic surface cleaning device is over carpet flooring relative to motor speed or torque applied when the robotic surface cleaning device is over other types of flooring (col 14 ln 4-9).
Pogodin teaches certain limitations not expressly disclosed by Santini, namely:
determining usage data of the robotic surface cleaning device, wherein the usage data comprises at least a run time of the robotic surface cleaning device (para [0046] - "The operating program 204 controls motion direction and speed of the appliance, monitors the readings of the various sensors and periodically writes the performance characteristics of the appliance into the performance data tables 202", para [0050] - "The user may also configure the appliance to periodically email the user the status and past performance information on the appliance, such as duration", para [0059] - "the CPU 101 collects information on performance and malfunctions of various components of the appliance 101").
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Pogodin because both relate to systems and methods of operating a robotic vacuum cleaner. The combination would yield predictable results according to the teachings of Pogodin by providing the user with records of the vacuum cleaner's performance.
Duffley teaches certain limitations not expressly disclosed by Santini, namely:
forming or updating a debris map of the environment based on debris data output by a second sensor of the plurality of sensors configured to sense debris on a floor of the environment (col 12 ln 58-61 - "the autonomous mobile robot 200 may be provided with sufficient SLAM capability to build a progressively improving map at the same time as it covers (e.g., cleans) within this map", col 14 ln 66-col 15 ln 2 - "permit the robot 200 to spot clean and/or edge clean opportunistically (upon sensing either of dirt/spot opportunity with optical or piezo sensing, or edge opportunity with proximity sensing)").
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Duffley because Santini expressly cites Duffley as providing additional features of the robot including control software, and incorporates Duffley by reference (col 16 ln 52-57).
As to claim 3, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Santini further discloses wherein an application of a communication device is wirelessly connected with the robotic surface cleaning device (col 16 ln 1-5 - "the controller circuit 128 is configured to operate the wireless communications module 137 to communicate information describing a status of the robot 100 to a suitable remote mobile device, such as one operated by a user").
Duffley further teaches [wherein the application is] configured to:
display:
a battery level of the robotic surface cleaning device, scheduling information, mapping information, and status information (Fig 5, Fig 6, Fig 10); and
receive at least one user input designating:
a request for surface cleaning service at a particular location and robotic surface cleaning device settings comprising a type of cleaning, areas to clean, and areas to avoid (col 9 ln 17-22 - "the robot 200 may be executing a floor cleaning operation and the system 100 (e.g., via instructions from the hub 110 to the robot 200) may instruct the robot 200 to return to the dock 140, move to a different, unoccupied zone, avoid the occupied zone, or assume a quieter mode of operation", col 17 ln 49-53 - "The home screen 500 includes a control area 501 [...] and therein user manipulable control or interface elements in the form of a cleaning initiator button 512, a scheduling button 514, a cleaning strategy toggle button 516").
As to claim 4, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Santini further discloses the method further comprising:
capturing, with a third sensor of the plurality of sensors, a plurality of depth data indicative of depth from the third sensor to objects in the environment at a plurality of third sensor poses (col 5 ln 12-19 - "Upon identification of furniture and other obstacles (e.g., via time of flight imaging sensors, camera sensors, sonar, proximity sensors, or other ODOA sensors), the robot 100 can slow its approach and lightly and gently touch the obstacle with its bumper 106 and then selectively change direction to avoid further contact with the obstacle follow along the outer surfaces and/or edges of the obstacle in a wall following routine").
Duffley further teaches aligning the plurality of depth data based on overlap between the plurality of depth data (col 8 ln 34-35 - "The mapping/navigation system 240 can be used by the mobile robot 200 to map the enclosure space 20", col 12 ln 29-31 - "The surface area in which the robot 200 expects to be able to localize grows over time (i.e., 'the map' gets bigger as the robot 200 travels)");
determining a spatial model of the environment based on the alignment of the depth data (col 12 ln 50-51 - "Meaningful subdivisions of the complete map may be assigned based on analysis or user input");
identifying rooms within the spatial model (col 12 ln 50-51, col 12 ln 54-57 - "These room identities may be stored as sub-areas or sub-divisions, as transition lines from one subdivision to another, as localized markers within the complete map, or the like"); and
segmenting the spatial model into rooms based on the identified rooms (col 12 ln 50-51, col 12 ln 54-57).
As to claim 5, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 4.
Duffley further teaches wherein aligning a first depth data and a second depth data among the plurality of depth data comprises:
detecting a feature in the first depth data (col 8 ln 34-37 - "The mapping/navigation system 240 can be used by the mobile robot 200 to [...] determine or register the position of the robot 200 relative to the space 20 (i.e., to localize the robot 200 in the space 20)");
detecting the feature in the second depth data (col 12 ln 23-26 - "Maps may [...] track walls, obstacles, open spaces, fiducials, natural features, 'occupancy', or other map features");
determining a first value indicative of a difference in position of the feature in the first and second depth data in a first frame of reference of the third sensor (col 12 ln 58-61 - "the autonomous mobile robot 200 may be provided with sufficient [Simultaneous Localization and Mapping] SLAM capability to build a progressively improving map at the same time as it covers (e.g., cleans) within this map");
obtaining a second value indicative of a difference in pose of the third sensor between when the first depth data is captured and the second depth data is captured (col 8 ln 37-39 - "The robot 200 can thus also localize the locations of its onboard sensors 270A-H", col 12 ln 58-61); and
determining a first overlap between the first depth data and the second depth data based on the first value and the second value (col 9 ln 46-50 - "the locations of the robot environmental sensors 270A-H in the enclosure space 20 can be determined and registered so that the readings from the robot environmental sensors 270A-H can be correspondingly registered with respect to the space 20").
As to claim 6, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Duffley further teaches the method further comprising:
assigning a debris accumulation score or classification to different areas within the environment based on at least one of:
the debris data output by the second sensor, the time elapsed since the last cleaning session, and the type of cleaning performed in the last cleaning session (col 19 ln 47-52 - "The robot 200 does detect the density of the dirt lifted from the surface being cleaned (e.g., using the dirt sensor 242C) and controls its path, speed or power in view thereof, but the dirt detection threshold required to trigger such modification to its cleaning operation is set at a higher threshold (as compared to the deep cleaning control state)").
As to claim 7, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 6.
Duffley further teaches the method further comprising:
determining a route of the robotic surface cleaning device based on the debris accumulation scores or classifications of the different areas within the environment (col 19 ln 47-52).
As to claim 8, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 7.
Duffley further teaches wherein the route prioritizes coverage by the robotic surface cleaning device of the areas of the environment with debris accumulation (col 14 ln 66-col 15 ln 4 - "permit the robot 200 to spot clean and/or edge clean opportunistically (upon sensing either of dirt/spot opportunity with optical or piezo sensing, or edge opportunity with proximity sensing), but should both opportunities be detected simultaneously, to permit the higher setting to win more often").
As to claim 9, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Duffley further teaches the method further comprising:
determining a cleaning schedule of the robotic device based on the areas of the environment with debris accumulation (col 16 ln 35-46 - "an end user, presented with the occupancy opportunities may schedule activity of the robot in different ways, such as the following: [...] (4) Tuning room to room coverage, to designate rooms or areas for specific attention", col 22 ln 31-36 - "the application on the device 300 enables the user to input designated high traffic areas for corresponding cleaning by the robot 200. In some embodiments, or in the invention, the robot 200 is configured to discover or detect and identify high traffic areas automatically and programmatically").
As to claim 10, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Duffley further teaches the method further comprising:
obtaining a spatial representation of a physical layout of the environment of the robotic surface cleaning device, the spatial representation including boundaries and obstacles detected using at least one sensor of the plurality of sensors (col 8 ln 34-35, col 12 ln 50-51, col 12 ln 54-57);
maneuvering, during a cleaning or cleaning and mapping session, the robotic surface cleaning device to a location and orientation of the environment that positions the robotic surface cleaning device to sense a part of the physical layout of the environment at a second location of the environment (col 8 ln 34-35, col 12 ln 29-31);
sensing, with at least one sensor of the plurality of sensors, while the robotic surface cleaning device is at the location, the part of the physical layout of the environment at the second location (col 8 ln 34-35, col 12 ln 29-31);
updating, during the cleaning or cleaning and mapping session, based on the sensing, the spatial representation of the physical layout of the environment (col 8 ln 34-35, col 12 ln 50-51);
determining, during the session, based on the updated spatial representation, at least a part of a coverage path of the robotic surface cleaning device through the environment (col 19 ln 28-29 - "The robot 200 travels a deterministic, systematic or planned single pass coverage or travel pattern or path", col 19 ln 47-52), wherein:
the environment is represented by a plurality of regions (col 12 ln 50-51); and
an instance of a coverage path is determined for a first region among the plurality of regions based on at least a plurality of dimensions of the first region (col 19 ln 28-29);
maneuvering the robotic surface cleaning device along at least a part of the coverage path (col 19 ln 28-29).
As to claim 11, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Duffley further teaches the method further comprising:
actuating the robotic surface cleaning device to clean according to a schedule and a suggested schedule (col 16 ln 35-46, col 22 ln 31-36), wherein:
the robotic surface cleaning device only cleans according to the suggested schedule after approval of the suggested schedule by a user (col 22 ln 21-30 - "The system may further be configured to provide operational messages to the user based on conditions sensed by the robot 200 and/or data collected or derived by the application (e.g., messages 528 and 506C in FIGS. 15 and 17). The operational messages may include robot status messages and/or inquiry messages. For example, the system may display on the device 300 'You should do a deep clean soon; quick shows that the amount of dirt is higher than average. Would you like to schedule a deep clean? When? You are not normally at home Tuesdays at 11—how about tomorrow at 11?'"); and
an application of a communication device wirelessly connected to the robotic surface cleaning device is configured to:
propose the suggested schedule for operating the robotic surface cleaning device comprising at least one day and time to a user (col 22 ln 21-30); and
receive at least one user input designating:
the schedule and an approval of the suggested schedule (col 22 ln 1-9 - "the user can set (using the application on the device 300, for example) the time available and the area to be cleaned, and the robot 300 or application can determine the appropriate or preferred cleaning mode(s) (quick, deep, or multi-mode) based on these criteria. [...] the robot 300 or application optimizes the user's original input settings, and the user can then decide whether to adopt the recommendation", col 22 ln 21-30).
As to claim 12, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 11.
Duffley further teaches wherein the schedule comprises at least:
a time of operation, at least one area of operation, and a type of operation corresponding to each area to be operated on (col 22 ln 21-30).
As to claim 13, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 11.
Duffley further teaches wherein the suggested schedule is inferred based on at least a plurality of user inputs historically provided to the application (col 16 ln 2-11 - "the system of robot 200 and hub 110 [...] may include: [...] an occupancy database including at least one progressively more accurate profile of household traffic and/or presence map; a scheduling database including data representing the intended missions compatible with the occupancy database", col 22 ln 21-30).
As to claim 14, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 13.
Duffley further teaches wherein the plurality of user inputs designates at least a plurality of schedules previously executed by the robotic surface cleaning device at a particular past day and time specified in each of the plurality of schedules (col 16 ln 2-11, col 16 ln 35-46 - "an end user, presented with the occupancy opportunities may schedule activity of the robot in different ways, such as the following: (1) Requesting the system (hub 110, robot 200, or either) to advantageously schedule household cleaning automatically in the best times available; (2) Selecting times within the presented occupancy, and/or overriding suggestions from the auto-scheduler").
As to claim 16, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 11.
Duffley further teaches wherein the suggested schedule is inferred based on cleaning habits of the user (col 10 ln 62-66 - "the system 100 collects device usage data, determines a pattern of device usage, generates a recommendation plan for operating or deploying energy management equipment, and reports the recommendation or plan to the user").
As to claim 20, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Pogodin further teaches the method further comprising:
activating or deactivating a mop of the robotic surface cleaning device based on the type of flooring of the floor or an input provided to an application of a communication device wirelessly connected with the robotic surface cleaning device (para [0042] - "the information and control interface of the appliance is displayed on the Bluetooth-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA) or a mobile phone", para [0069] - "the robotic appliance may be of any known type, including [...] a floor washing robotic appliance, which treats the floor with a washing fluid").
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Santini in view of Pogodin, Duffley, and US 9,233,472 B2 (Angle et al.).
As to claim 15, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 11.
Angle teaches the limitations not expressly further taught by the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley, namely:
wherein the suggested schedule is inferred using a machine learning algorithm (col 37 ln 35-42 - "the mobile robot 200 monitors and learns the occupancy schedule over a period or periods of time and sets the target completion time based on the learned occupancy schedule. In some embodiments, the mobile robot learns the occupancy schedule over a period of time and identifies one or more occupancy patterns and sets the target completion time based on the one or more learned occupancy patterns").
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Angle because Santini expressly cites Angle as providing additional features for controlling a cleaning robot, and incorporates Angle by reference (col 16 ln 52-57).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Santini in view of Pogodin, Duffley, and US 10,201,898 B2 (Gu et al.).
As to claim 17, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Gu teaches the limitations not expressly further taught by the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley, namely:
wherein the robotic surface cleaning device collaborates with a second robotic surface cleaning device to clean the environment (col 7 ln 3-6 - "a communication subsystem 50 configured to conduct signal communication between the processing subsystem 30 and multiple cleaning robots 200 disposed for multiple areas").
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Gu because both relate to control systems and methods for a vacuuming robot. The combination would yield predictable results according to the teachings of Gu by allowing multiple robots to be controlled.
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Santini in view of Pogodin, Duffley, and US 9,962,054 B2 (Seo et al.).
As to claim 18, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Seo teaches the limitations not expressly further taught by the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley, namely:
the method further comprising:
extracting at least one feature of debris based on at least some of the debris data (col 4 ln 63-col 5 ln 1 - "the robot cleaner 200 may capture an image that includes a foreign substance through a stereo camera provided within the robot cleaner 200, verify and/or evaluate an object related to the foreign substance in the image by executing signal-processing or pattern recognition of the captured image"); and
inferring a debris type of the debris based on a comparison of the at least one feature against features associated with different debris types stored in a database (col 4 ln 63-col 5 ln 1).
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Seo because both relate to controls for vacuum cleaning robots. The combination would yield predictable results according to the teachings of Seo by allowing the robot to avoid cleaning some areas when objects that should not be vacuumed are present (col 1 ln 58-67).
As to claim 19, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, Duffley, and Seo teaches the method of claim 18.
Seo further teaches the method further comprising:
actuating the robotic surface cleaning device to either clean or avoid the debris depending on the debris type of the debris (col 4 ln 63-col 5 ln 8 - "the robot cleaner 200 may [...] generate by itself positive cleaning command information or negative cleaning command information regarding the foreign substances based on the verified object related to the foreign substances, and clean an area proximate the foreign substance based on the cleaning command information or not an clean area proximate the foreign substance based on the cleaning command information"),
wherein the robotic surface cleaning device is actuated to avoid debris having at least a debris type of feces (col 4 ln 58-61 - "by not executing cleaning of certain foreign substances, such as a pet's excrement, further contamination of an area proximate the excrement due to the cleaning mode of the robot cleaner 200 may be prevented").
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Santini in view of Pogodin, Duffley, US 10,365,659 B2 (Park et al.), and US 10,201,898 B2 (Gu et al.).
As to claim 2, the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley teaches the method of claim 1.
Park teaches certain limitations not expressly further taught by the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley, namely:
wherein:
receiving a request for surface cleaning service at a particular location from an application of a communication device (Fig 5B, Fig 26, col 7 ln 43-46 - "The communicator 5 may receive a command input from a user via the terminal device 100a or the remote controller 1100b. For example, the user can input a cleaning start/stop command", col 13 ln 53-54 - "a user may draw a line along a perimeter of the area to be cleaned").
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Park because both relate to systems for managing a floor cleaning robot. The combination would yield predictable results according to the teachings of Park by providing a means for the user to give remote commands to the robot.
Gu teaches certain limitations not expressly further taught by the combination of Santini, Pogodin, and Duffley, namely:
wherein the robotic surface cleaning device is one of a plurality of robotic surface cleaning devices that provides surface cleaning services to a plurality of users (col 7 ln 3-6 - "a communication subsystem 50 configured to conduct signal communication between the processing subsystem 30 and multiple cleaning robots 200 disposed for multiple areas"); and
determining which robotic surface cleaning device is to respond to the request based on at least one of:
a location of each of the plurality of robotic surface cleaning devices, a fill volume of a debris container of each of the plurality of robotic surface cleaning devices, a battery charge of each of the plurality of robotic surface cleaning devices, and an availability of each of the plurality of robotic surface cleaning devices (col 11 ln 3-8 - "The control block 303 is configured to calculate a time needed for each cleaning robot in idle mode to travel from its current location to the target location of an upcoming cleaning task, so that a cleaning robot bearing a shortest travel time can be selected out of multiple cleaning robots in idle mode", col 12 ln 31-35 - "the control block 303 is able to select multiple available cleaning robots respectively and generate corresponding control signals respectively to dispatch multiple selected cleaning robots to the corresponding multiple areas for performing the cleaning tasks").
As of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Santini and Gu because both relate to control systems and methods for a vacuuming robot. The combination would yield predictable results according to the teachings of Gu by allowing multiple robots to be controlled.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Todd Melton whose telephone number is (571)270-3871. The examiner can normally be reached weekdays, 9:30am - 6:00pm (Eastern time). 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, Navid Mehdizadeh can be reached at 571-272-7691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TODD MELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669