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 filed on 04/03/2026 with respect to claim(s) 1-3 and 5-11 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive or moot in view of new ground of rejection provided below which was necessitated based on Applicant’s amendments to the claims. The new ground of rejection for independent claim is based on Hosek in view of Wahrburg. The same reasoning as applied to the independent claim also apply to its corresponding dependent claims.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosek et al. (US 20140201571 A1) (Hereinafter Hosek) in view of Wahrburg et al. (US 20260115912 A1) (Hereinafter Wahrburg).
Regarding Claim 1, Hosek teaches a system, comprising:
a processor (See at least Para [0060] “The function controller 200 may generally include a processor 205, read only memory 210, random access memory 215, program storage 220, a user interface 225, and a network interface 230.”); and
a memory storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor (See at least Para [0064] “In particular, on board cache 235, read only memory 210, random access memory 215, and program storage 220, either individually or in any combination may include programs for causing the processor 205 to perform the data collection, pre-processing, analysis, reasoning functions, and the operation of the health-monitoring and fault-diagnostic manager described below. In addition, on board cache 235, read only memory 210, random access memory 215, and program storage 220 may be loaded with new or upgraded programs, for example, by processor 205 through network interface 230.”) to:
continuously monitor an electrical current used by a motor of a robot (See at least Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”, Para [0070] “The analysis function 120 includes algorithms for analyzing the characteristics of a number of individual components, and for producing one or more hypotheses about the condition of each of the components. For example, the analysis function 120 may include various analysis algorithms 145 specifically tailored for the type of characteristics being examined, such as voltage, current, torque, signal variation, etc. As a further example, when implemented in a robotized manufacturing tool, the analysis function 120 may include algorithms for encoder signal analysis, motor PWM and current analysis, power supply voltage analysis, tracking error analysis and robot torque analysis…”, Para [0264] (b) “The data collection layer records motor voltage, motor current, motor velocity, motor position and motor commanded acceleration for each of the motors in the system. In addition, it also records the time for each set of data.”);
compare the electrical current to a secondary electrical current used by the robot (See at least Para [0013] “Turning now to methods which do use a mathematical model of the plant, these model-based condition-monitoring and fault-diagnostic methods generally rely on the concept of analytical redundancy. In contrast to physical redundancy, where measurements from parallel sensors are compared to each other, sensory measurements are compared to analytically computed values of the respective variable. Such computations use present and/or previous measurements of other variables, and a mathematical plant model describing their nominal relationship to the measured variable. The idea can be extended to the comparison of two analytically generated quantities, obtained from different sets of variables. In either case, the resulting differences, called residuals, are indicative of faults in the system. Another class of model-based methods relies directly on parameter estimation.”, Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”, Para [0070] “The analysis function 120 includes algorithms for analyzing the characteristics of a number of individual components, and for producing one or more hypotheses about the condition of each of the components. For example, the analysis function 120 may include various analysis algorithms 145 specifically tailored for the type of characteristics being examined, such as voltage, current, torque, signal variation, etc. As a further example, when implemented in a robotized manufacturing tool, the analysis function 120 may include algorithms for encoder signal analysis, motor PWM and current analysis, power supply voltage analysis, tracking error analysis and robot torque analysis…”);
… based on a difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current exceeding a threshold, … the threshold being indicative of an operating inefficiency (See at least Para [0237] “The fault diagnosis methods described above involve the monitoring of various physical characteristics of the robot, such as, energy dissipation, motor torques, torque residuals, tracking errors, belt tension and peak vibration frequencies, to name a few. The monitoring of these characteristics involve comparing them with certain thresholds and signaling a fault if they exceed or fall below those thresholds…”);
determine a modification to the robot command instruction set to reduce the difference; and
move the robot via an altered robot command instruction set with the modification, the modification reducing the premature wear.
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out …
identify, … a portion of a robot command instruction set that led to premature wear in the robot, …
determine a modification to the robot command instruction set to reduce the difference; and
move the robot via an altered robot command instruction set with the modification, the modification reducing the premature wear.
Wahrburg teaches …
identify, … a portion of a robot command instruction set that led to premature wear in the robot (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear) …
determine a modification to the robot command instruction set to reduce the difference (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”, discloses that by limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided which is construed as determining a modification to the robot command instruction set); and
move the robot via an altered robot command instruction set with the modification, the modification reducing the premature wear (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of determining a modification to the robot command instruction set to reduce the difference between electrical current and moving the robot via an altered robot command instruction set with the modification to reduce the premature wear (See at least Para [0010] “The cost function can be an increasing function of a time derivative of at least one of the space coordinates of the trajectory. The derivative can be first order, i.e. a linear or angular speed, second order, i.e. an acceleration, or third order, i.e. a jerk. In either case, the fact that high values of the derivative lead to a high cost will cause the optimization to avoid trajectories having such high values, and will thus reduce wear and improve reliability of the robotic unit.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear).
Regarding Claim 2, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compare the electrical current to the secondary electrical current used by the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compare the electrical current to the secondary electrical current using a machine-learning instruction set (See at least Para [0020] “…the use of multiple linear neural network models for robot fault diagnosis ..”, Para [0197] “…using neural networks, and using this model to compute the energy dissipation in a normal robot. This model-computed energy dissipation can be compared to the actual energy dissipation to determine if there is an increase in energy dissipation over time.”).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to identify, from the electrical current and the secondary electrical current, the portion of the robot command instruction set that led to the premature wear in the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to identify the portion using a machine-learning instruction set (See at least Para [0020] “…the use of multiple linear neural network models for robot fault diagnosis ..”, Para [0197] “…using neural networks, and using this model to compute the energy dissipation in a normal robot. This model-computed energy dissipation can be compared to the actual energy dissipation to determine if there is an increase in energy dissipation over time.”).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein:
the secondary electrical current is a current used by the motor at a different point in time (See at least Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”, Para [0070] “The analysis function 120 includes algorithms for analyzing the characteristics of a number of individual components, and for producing one or more hypotheses about the condition of each of the components. For example, the analysis function 120 may include various analysis algorithms 145 specifically tailored for the type of characteristics being examined, such as voltage, current, torque, signal variation, etc. As a further example, when implemented in a robotized manufacturing tool, the analysis function 120 may include algorithms for encoder signal analysis, motor PWM and current analysis, power supply voltage analysis, tracking error analysis and robot torque analysis…”);
the portion is identified based on a difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current (See at least Para [0013] “Turning now to methods which do use a mathematical model of the plant, these model-based condition-monitoring and fault-diagnostic methods generally rely on the concept of analytical redundancy. In contrast to physical redundancy, where measurements from parallel sensors are compared to each other, sensory measurements are compared to analytically computed values of the respective variable. Such computations use present and/or previous measurements of other variables, and a mathematical plant model describing their nominal relationship to the measured variable. The idea can be extended to the comparison of two analytically generated quantities, obtained from different sets of variables. In either case, the resulting differences, called residuals, are indicative of faults in the system. Another class of model-based methods relies directly on parameter estimation.”, Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”, Para [0070] “The analysis function 120 includes algorithms for analyzing the characteristics of a number of individual components, and for producing one or more hypotheses about the condition of each of the components. For example, the analysis function 120 may include various analysis algorithms 145 specifically tailored for the type of characteristics being examined, such as voltage, current, torque, signal variation, etc. As a further example, when implemented in a robotized manufacturing tool, the analysis function 120 may include algorithms for encoder signal analysis, motor PWM and current analysis, power supply voltage analysis, tracking error analysis and robot torque analysis…”); and …
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out ….
the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to change an operation of the motor to reduce the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current.
Wahrburg teaches …
the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to
move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to change an operation of the motor to reduce the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear by reducing the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to change an operation of the motor to reduce the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current, thereby provide indication of robotic wear so that an altered command can be applied which will help reduce premature wear and improve reliability of the robot (See at least Para [0010] “The cost function can be an increasing function of a time derivative of at least one of the space coordinates of the trajectory. The derivative can be first order, i.e. a linear or angular speed, second order, i.e. an acceleration, or third order, i.e. a jerk. In either case, the fact that high values of the derivative lead to a high cost will cause the optimization to avoid trajectories having such high values, and will thus reduce wear and improve reliability of the robotic unit.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear).
Regarding Claim 8, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches
the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to continuously monitor the electrical current used by the motor of the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to continuously monitor the electrical current used by each joint motor of a multi-axis robot (See at least Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”, Para [0030] “FIG. 4 shows a five-axis direct-drive robotic manipulator;”, Para [0070] “The analysis function 120 includes algorithms for analyzing the characteristics of a number of individual components, and for producing one or more hypotheses about the condition of each of the components. For example, the analysis function 120 may include various analysis algorithms 145 specifically tailored for the type of characteristics being examined, such as voltage, current, torque, signal variation, etc. As a further example, when implemented in a robotized manufacturing tool, the analysis function 120 may include algorithms for encoder signal analysis, motor PWM and current analysis, power supply voltage analysis, tracking error analysis and robot torque analysis…”, Para [0084] “A five-axis direct-drive robotic manipulator may be employed in the platform of FIG. 3. A simplified schematic of such a robotic manipulator is provided in FIG. 4...”, Para [0264] (b) “The data collection layer records motor voltage, motor current, motor velocity, motor position and motor commanded acceleration for each of the motors in the system. In addition, it also records the time for each set of data.”).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to identify, from the electrical current and the secondary electrical current (See at least Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”),
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out … the portion of the robot command instruction set that led to the premature wear in the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to identify the portion of the robot command instruction set that led to premature wear in a functioning robot.
Wahrburg teaches … the portion of the robot command instruction set that led to the premature wear in the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to identify the portion of the robot command instruction set that led to premature wear in a functioning robot (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of identifying from the electrical current and the secondary electrical current, a portion of a robot command instruction set that led to premature wear in the robot, thereby provide indication of robotic wear so that an altered command can be applied which will help reduce premature wear and improve reliability of the robot (See at least Para [0010] “The cost function can be an increasing function of a time derivative of at least one of the space coordinates of the trajectory. The derivative can be first order, i.e. a linear or angular speed, second order, i.e. an acceleration, or third order, i.e. a jerk. In either case, the fact that high values of the derivative lead to a high cost will cause the optimization to avoid trajectories having such high values, and will thus reduce wear and improve reliability of the robotic unit.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear).
Claim(s) 6, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosek et al. (US 20140201571 A1) (Hereinafter Hosek) in view of Wahrburg et al. (US 20260115912 A1) (Hereinafter Wahrburg), and further in view of Yoshida et al. (US20200298416A1) (Hereinafter Yoshida).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches …
the portion is identified based on a difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current (See at least Para [0013] “Turning now to methods which do use a mathematical model of the plant, these model-based condition-monitoring and fault-diagnostic methods generally rely on the concept of analytical redundancy. In contrast to physical redundancy, where measurements from parallel sensors are compared to each other, sensory measurements are compared to analytically computed values of the respective variable. Such computations use present and/or previous measurements of other variables, and a mathematical plant model describing their nominal relationship to the measured variable. The idea can be extended to the comparison of two analytically generated quantities, obtained from different sets of variables. In either case, the resulting differences, called residuals, are indicative of faults in the system. Another class of model-based methods relies directly on parameter estimation.”, Para [0022] “The embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis including a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.”, Para [0070] “The analysis function 120 includes algorithms for analyzing the characteristics of a number of individual components, and for producing one or more hypotheses about the condition of each of the components. For example, the analysis function 120 may include various analysis algorithms 145 specifically tailored for the type of characteristics being examined, such as voltage, current, torque, signal variation, etc. As a further example, when implemented in a robotized manufacturing tool, the analysis function 120 may include algorithms for encoder signal analysis, motor PWM and current analysis, power supply voltage analysis, tracking error analysis and robot torque analysis…”); …
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, wherein:
the secondary electrical current is a current used by a different motor of the robot; …
the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to change an operation of at least one of the motor or the different motor to reduce the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”).
Wahrburg teaches …
the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to change an operation of at least one of the motor or the different motor to reduce the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to change an operation of at least one of the motor or the different motor to reduce the difference between the electrical current and the secondary electrical current, thereby help reduce premature wear and improve reliability of the robot (See at least Para [0010] “The cost function can be an increasing function of a time derivative of at least one of the space coordinates of the trajectory. The derivative can be first order, i.e. a linear or angular speed, second order, i.e. an acceleration, or third order, i.e. a jerk. In either case, the fact that high values of the derivative lead to a high cost will cause the optimization to avoid trajectories having such high values, and will thus reduce wear and improve reliability of the robotic unit.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear).
Yoshida teaches … the system of claim 1, wherein:
the secondary electrical current is a current used by a different motor of the robot (See at least
Para [0058] “At least one of the motors (plurality of actuators) mounted respectively on the first to third joint shafts AX1 to AX3 is set as a monitoring target, and at least one type of monitoring parameter is assigned to the or each motor set as the monitoring target. The monitoring parameter is a parameter related to the operation of the motor. In the present embodiment, position deviation, speed deviation, acceleration deviation, and current value related to the operation of the motor are assigned as monitoring parameters”, Para [0070] FIGS. 3A to 6C show examples of ranking results obtained in the ranking step of the monitoring method according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3Ato 6C, the ranking is made based on each of the monitoring parameters (position deviation, speed deviation, acceleration deviation, and current value) for each of the motors mounted on the joint shafts (AX1, AX2, and AX3).”, Para [0077] “FIGS. 6A to 6C show an example of a current value ranking result obtained in the ranking step of the monitoring method according to the embodiment of the present invention. The meaning of the current value ranking is the same as those of the position deviation ranking, the speed deviation ranking, and the acceleration deviation ranking, except that the current value ranking is made based on all of the current values detected in the preliminary operation step S1.”, Para [0078]); and …
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Yoshida and include the feature of secondary electrical current being a current used by a different motor of the robot, thereby providing an environment to facilitate multirobot operation environment by comparing current used by motors of two different robots.
Regarding Claim 9, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions further comprise:
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to rank operating inefficiencies of multiple motors of the robot; and
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to select, based on a ranking, the motor of the robot for which an alteration is generated.
Yoshida teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions further
comprise:
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to rank operating inefficiencies of multiple motors of the robot (See at least Para [0093] “In the present embodiment, once the ranking step S2 is completed, a notification of completion of the ranking step S2 may be provided. This allows the user to know the completion of the ranking step S2. Thus, for example, the user can, before start of the normal operation step S3, take measures such as performing a maintenance work on the motors that operate in the process phases in which the highly ranked monitoring parameters were detected.”, Para [0058] “At least one of the motors (plurality of actuators) mounted respectively on the first to third joint shafts AX1 to AX3 is set as a monitoring target, and at least one type of monitoring parameter is assigned to the or each motor set as the monitoring target. The monitoring parameter is a parameter related to the operation of the motor. In the present embodiment, position deviation, speed deviation, acceleration deviation,
and current value related to the operation of the motor are assigned as monitoring parameters”, Para [0070] FIGS. 3A to 6C show examples of ranking results obtained in the ranking step of the monitoring method according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3Ato 6C, the ranking is made based on each of the monitoring parameters (position deviation, speed deviation, acceleration deviation, and current value) for each of the motors mounted on the joint shafts (AX1, AX2, and AX3).”, Para [0077] “FIGS. 6A to 6C show an example of a current value ranking result obtained in the ranking step of the monitoring method according to the embodiment of the present invention. The meaning of the current value ranking is the same as those of the position deviation ranking, the speed deviation ranking, and the acceleration deviation ranking, except that the current value ranking is made based on all of the current values detected in the preliminary operation step S1.”, Para [0078] “In the present embodiment, when the current value ranking is made for the motor of the first joint shaft AX1, the result as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C is obtained; namely, the seventh process phase in which the load level is 97% is ranked first, the eleventh process phase in which the load level is 95% is ranked second, and the twenty-ninth process phase in which the load level is 89% is ranked third. For the motor of the second joint shaft AX2, the twentieth process phase in which the load level is 91% is ranked first, the twenty-second process phase in which the load level is 81% is ranked second, and the thirtieth process phase in which the load level is 79% is ranked third. For the motor of the third joint shaft AX3, the twenty-first process phase in which the load level is 90% is ranked first, the seventeenth process phase in which the load level is 79% is ranked second, and the forty-third process phase in which the load level is 77% is ranked third.”); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hosek with the teachings of Yoshida and include the feature of ranking operating inefficiencies of multiple motors of the robot thereby providing improvements to the operation of robots, such as manufacturing robots, by enabling the detection of features of the robot command programming/instruction set that may lead to premature wear of the robot, thus elongating the robot's effective life, reducing robot downtime, and overall increasing the productivity of the robot (See at least Para [0008] “… a robot monitoring method can be provided which is able to reduce the amount of data to be handled as compared to conventional methods and thereby solve various problems”).
Wahrburg teaches …
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to select, based on a ranking, the motor of the robot for which an alteration is generated (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to select the motor of the robot for which an alteration is generated, thereby help reduce premature wear and improve reliability of the robot (See at least Para [0010] “The cost function can be an increasing function of a time derivative of at least one of the space coordinates of the trajectory. The derivative can be first order, i.e. a linear or angular speed, second order, i.e. an acceleration, or third order, i.e. a jerk. In either case, the fact that high values of the derivative lead to a high cost will cause the optimization to avoid trajectories having such high values, and will thus reduce wear and improve reliability of the robotic unit.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear
Regarding Claim 10, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hosek further teaches … of different robots (See at least Para [0056] “As a further example, the machine may be a semiconductor production system with a master controller overseeing an atmospheric section with multiple robotic manipulators. Each manipulator may have a number of motors. An instance of the data collection function may reside in each motor controller, and an instance of the pre-processing function may reside in each robot controller that controls a group of motor controllers…”)…
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions further comprise:
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to rank operating inefficiencies of multiple motors …; and
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to select, based on a ranking, the motor of the robot for which an alteration is generated
Yoshida teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions further
comprise: a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to rank operating inefficiencies of multiple motors (See at least Para [0093] “In the present embodiment, once the ranking step S2 is completed, a notification of completion of the ranking step S2 may be provided. This allows the user to know the completion of the ranking step S2. Thus, for example, the user can, before start of the normal operation step S3, take measures such as performing a maintenance work on the motors that operate in the process phases in which the highly ranked monitoring parameters were detected.”, Para [0078] “In the present embodiment, when the current value ranking is made for the motor of the first joint shaft AX1, the result as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C is obtained; namely, the seventh process phase in which the load level is 97% is ranked first, the eleventh process phase in which the load level is 95% is ranked second, and the twenty-ninth process phase in which the load level is 89% is ranked third. For the motor of the second joint shaft AX2, the twentieth process phase in which the load level is 91% is ranked first, the twenty-second process phase in which the load level is 81% is ranked second, and the thirtieth process phase in which the load level is 79% is ranked third. For the motor of the third joint shaft AX3, the twenty-first process phase in which the load level is 90% is ranked first, the seventeenth process phase in which the load level is 79% is ranked second, and the forty-third process phase in which the load level is 77% is ranked third.”)…; and …
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Yoshida and include the feature of ranking operating inefficiencies of multiple motors of the robot thereby providing improvements to the operation of robots, such as manufacturing robots, by enabling the detection of features of the robot command programming/instruction set that may lead to premature wear of the robot, thus elongating the robot's effective life, reducing robot downtime, and overall increasing the productivity of the robot (See at least Para [0008] “… a robot monitoring method can be provided which is able to reduce the amount of data to be handled as compared to conventional methods and thereby solve various problems”).
Wahrburg teaches …
a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to select, based on a ranking, the motor of the robot for which an alteration is generated (See at least Para [0017] “According to still another embodiment, the condition imposed may be an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory. By limiting the load, premature wear of the robotic unit can be avoided.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to select the motor of the robot for which an alteration is generated, thereby help reduce premature wear and improve reliability of the robot (See at least Para [0010] “The cost function can be an increasing function of a time derivative of at least one of the space coordinates of the trajectory. The derivative can be first order, i.e. a linear or angular speed, second order, i.e. an acceleration, or third order, i.e. a jerk. In either case, the fact that high values of the derivative lead to a high cost will cause the optimization to avoid trajectories having such high values, and will thus reduce wear and improve reliability of the robotic unit.”, discloses the condition imposing an upper limit for a load imposed on an actuator driving movement of the robotic unit along the trajectory which is construed as keeping track of robot commands that leads to imposing load on the actuator that crosses a limit, and then limiting the load to avoid premature wear whereas limiting the load means altering/changing the robot command which will limit the load to avoid premature wear).
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosek et al. (US 20140201571 A1) (Hereinafter Hosek) in view of Wahrburg et al. (US 20260115912 A1) (Hereinafter Wahrburg), and further in view of Wilson et al. (US 10189159 B1) (Hereinafter Wilson).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Hosek teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Hosek does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, wherein:
the secondary electrical current is a zero current indicating an idle portion of a cycle of the
robot; and
the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to reduce an operating speed of the motor to reduce a duration of the idle portion.
Wilson teaches the system of claim 1, wherein:
the secondary electrical current is a zero current indicating an idle portion of a cycle of the robot
(See at least Col 13 Lines 37-40 “based on both the electrical power and the mechanical power being zero, it may be determined that a possible state of operation of the robotic device includes the robotic device being in an idle state.”); and …
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wilson and include the feature of the secondary electrical current being a zero current indicating an idle portion of a cycle of the robot, thereby keeping track of the robot’s idle state for calculation to make improvements to the operation of robots, such as manufacturing robots, by enabling the detection of features of the robot command programming/instruction set that may lead to premature wear of the robot, thus elongating the robot's effective life, reducing robot downtime, and overall increasing the productivity of the robot.
Wahrburg teaches …
the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to reduce an operating speed of the motor to reduce a duration of the idle portion (See at least Para [0010] “…A thus optimized trajectory will also involve low speeds so that wear and energy consumption can be expected to be low.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Hosek with the teachings of Wahrburg and include the feature of the machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to move the robot comprises a machine-readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to reduce an operating speed of the motor, thereby provide lower energy consumption and thus low wear (See at least Para [0010] “…A thus optimized trajectory will also involve low speeds so that wear and energy consumption can be expected to be low.”).
Conclusion
18. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kuno et al. (US 20180154530 A1) teaches a failure diagnosis device and a method thereof, which are capable of improving failure diagnosis accuracy by eliminating effects of one-off abnormal values, and of diagnosing a failure with a low-cost system configuration.
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAHEDA HOQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-5310. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 am- 5:00 pm.
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/SHAHEDA HOQUE/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
/Ramon A. Mercado/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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