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 .
This is a Final-Office Action on the merits.
Response to Amendment/Arguments
The amendment filed 12/31/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-10 are pending in the instant application.
Applicant's arguments filed 12/31/2025 have been fully considered as below.
Regarding the rejections made under 35 USC 102/103 to the claims, Applicant's arguments, see pages 7-8 of Remarks, have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection provided below, in light of newly found prior art, which was necessitated based on Applicant's amendments which changed the scope of the claims.
Regarding the rejections made under 35 USC 112(b) to the claims, Applicant's arguments, see page 7 of Remarks, have been considered and are persuasive in view of the amendments. Therefore, the rejections made under 35 USC 112(b) have been withdrawn.
Regarding the objections to the drawings, Applicant's arguments, see page 6 of Remarks, have been considered and are persuasive in view of the amendments. Therefore, the objections to the drawings have been withdrawn.
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 1-7 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20110131165 A1), and further in view of Kim (US 20220118626 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses an action control device (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0041], emotion engine system 100) comprising:
a controller that controls an action of a controlled device (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0041-0044], emotion engine system 100 comprises one or multiple control circuit that controls an action of a robot; par. [0045], “When the behavior control unit 110 receives an initial sensing signal, the behavior control unit 110 provides a first behavior mode and drives the peripheral driving unit 130 to execute the first behavior mode, wherein the initial sensing signal may be a power signal or other driving signals”), wherein the controller is configured to:
control the action of the controlled device using both (i) set control data that is set in advance and stored in correspondence with a simulated emotion of the controlled device (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0049], “the behavior data bank 140 stores a plurality of behavior data, and the behavior modes of the robot are respectively corresponding to at least one of the behavior data. In the emotion technology, a piece of different behavior data could be corresponding to a different location in a coordinate system for a virtual space, and the virtual space may be the realization of an emotion space. Herein the virtual space may be a 2-dimensional (2-D) space, a 3-dimensional (3-D) space, or a multi-dimensional space, and the behavior data stored in the behavior data bank 140 may include image data, voice data, and exercise behavior data”) and (ii) random control data comprising a random signal (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0056], “In another exemplary embodiment, the emotion simulation unit 113 further generates a random signal. The emotion point also moves according to the random signal so that the inner mood changes of the robot are also exhibited besides the emotional responses of the robot to external signals. Thereby, a diversified and personalized behavior mode is produced. On the other hand, in the present exemplary embodiment, the behavior control unit 110 determines the behavior data corresponding to the second behavior mode according to the timing signal, the trigger sensing signal, the first behavior mode, and the random signal. Similarly, the behavior control unit 110 may also determine the behavior data corresponding to the first behavior mode according to the timing signal, the initial sensing signal, and the random signal”).
Wu fails to explicitly teach random control data comprising a waveform.
Kim teaches a system and method to generate random control data comprising a waveform that is randomly generated, in accordance with the simulated emotion, using a parameter from the set control data as input. Kim further teaches a disposition-driven machine 100, i.e. a robot, including a disposition-driven system 102, the disposition-driven system 102 includes a number of sensors 104, at least one computer 80, a personality waveform generator 130, a mood mechanism 132, a number of reaction mechanisms 134, and at least one power supply 160 (Kim, see at least Figs. 1-2, par. [0030]); simulated emotions/feelings/moods/personalities are generated using a mood mechanism 132 and/or personality waveform generator 130, such as from an amplitude or frequency of waveform randomly generated by the mood mechanism 132 (Kim, see at least Figs. 1-2, 6-8, par. [0037-0038. 0090-0095]); and the reaction mechanisms 134, e.g., heartbeat simulation mechanism 142, is configured to generate action control corresponding to the simulated emotions/feelings/moods (Kim, see at least Figs. 1-2, par. [0037-0038]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the apparatus of Wu to include a waveform, as taught by Kim. This modification would allow to define the boundaries defines the boundaries of the potential responses to stimuli by utilizing characteristics of a waveform (Kim, see at least par. [0049-0069]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim further teaches wherein the controller is configured to: generate action control data by combining the set control data and the random control data, and control the action of the controlled device using the action control data (Wu, see at least Fig. 4, par. [0086-0092], the peripheral driving unit 130 is driven to execute the second behavior mode that is determined according to the timing signal, the trigger sensing signal, the first behavior mode, and the random signal).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim further teaches wherein the controller is configured to set, based on the simulated emotion, a setting parameter for generating the random control data (Wu, see at least Fig. 3, par. [0075-0085], the controller is configured to set, based on the simulated emotion such as emotion point S on a three-dimensional space, a setting parameter for generating the random control data such as an offset within an interval radius R so as to form a random vibratory interval moving along with the emotion point S, so that the emotional response of the robot won't be too stiff).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim further teaches wherein the controller is configured to store, in a storage (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0049], “the behavior data bank 140 stores a plurality of behavior data, and the behavior modes of the robot are respectively corresponding to at least one of the behavior data. In the emotion technology, a piece of different behavior data could be corresponding to a different location in a coordinate system for a virtual space, and the virtual space may be the realization of an emotion space. Herein the virtual space may be a 2-dimensional (2-D) space, a 3-dimensional (3-D) space, or a multi-dimensional space, and the behavior data stored in the behavior data bank 140 may include image data, voice data, and exercise behavior data. However, the invention is not limited thereto”), a 3D map that associates the simulated emotion and the setting parameter (Wu, see at least Fig. 3, par. [0075-0085], “FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the emotional response of a robot in a virtual space. Referring to both FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in the present exemplary embodiment, the virtual space is a 3-D space generated by the behavior control unit 110, wherein the axes of the virtual space respectively represent the pleasantness, arousal, and certainty of the robot for expressing emotional scalar values of an emulational living body. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and the virtual space may also be a 2-D or a multi-dimensional space. In addition, in another exemplary embodiment, the axes may represent angriness, sadness, confusion, intellectuality, or other different emotional behaviors”), and to acquire and set the setting parameter using the 3D map (Wu, see at least Fig. 3, par. [0075-0085], to acquire and set the setting parameter such as an offset within an interval radius R so as to form a random vibratory interval moving along with the emotion point S, an emotion vector V in the virtual space for pushing the emotion point S so as to simulate the emotion change of an emulational living body, and/or a coordinate of convergence point P in the virtual space which represents the personality of the robot).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claims 1 and 2 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim further teaches wherein the controller is configured to change, in accordance with a pseudo growth days count (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0057, 0064-0066], “the time unit 150 includes a bio-clock schedule table 152 for recording the system age and biological block of the robot, and the time unit 150 is capable of switching the timing modules of the phase control unit 111 according to a timing signal”), at least one of (i) a weighting of the set control data (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0058-0063], “To be specific, the phase control unit 111 can lively exhibit the behaviours of the robot in different timing modules according to the system age of the robot, just like the behaviors or states exhibited by a living body in different life stages. For example, after the emotion engine system 100 is initialized, the life stage of the robot enters from an initial state 112 into the child timing module 114 according to the system age of the robot recorded in the bio-clock schedule table 152 of the time unit 150, so as to execute the corresponding behavior mode. After that, the timing module of the phase control unit 111 is switched to the adult timing module 118 through a growth/transition interface 116 along with the growth of the system age of the robot”) and (ii) a weighting of the random control data (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0058-0063], “In the child timing module 114, the phase control unit 111 controls the behaviour of the robot randomly or according to the timing signal received from the time unit 150”; par. [0062-0063], “In other embodiments, the behavior modes in different timing modules can be slightly adjusted according to the corresponding behaviors and states exhibited by a living body at different life stages … Thus, the phase control unit 111 can generate emotional responses in different timing modules by sharing the virtual space and control a peripheral system by driving the peripheral driving unit 130. Accordingly, the phase control unit 111 can lively exhibit the behaviors of the robot in different timing modules according to the system age of the robot, just like the corresponding behaviors and states exhibited by a living body at different life stages”).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim further teaches wherein the controller is configured to: acquire an external stimulus acting on the controlled device, and change the simulated emotion in accordance with the acquired external stimulus (Wu, see at least Figs. 1-3, par. [0046], In the present exemplary embodiment, the sensing unit 120 is coupled to the behavior control unit 110. When the robot is stimulated, the sensing unit 120 is enable and generates a trigger sensing signal for the behavior control unit 110. For example, when the robot and the user interact with each other, the sensing unit 120 generates the trigger sensing signal for the behavior control unit 110 according to the interaction between the robot and the user. For example, when the robot is touched, patted, shaken, or hit by the user, the behavior control unit 110 could determine the type of the user's behavior according to the trigger sensing signal generated by the sensing unit 120 and allows the robot to exhibit a corresponding emotional response (for example, happiness, anger, or sadness)”).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim further teaches wherein the set control data includes control data that controls an action that the controlled device executes on a regular basis (Wu, see at least par. [0045], “The behavior mode exhibited by the robot may be one of a general mode, an active event mode, a passive event mode, a sleep mode, a get-up mode, and a random behavior mode. However, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the behavior control unit 110 provides the get-up mode when the robot is powered on so that the behaviours or states of the robot are more vivid and lively, and seem like actions a living body does”).
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Wu discloses:
an action control method (Wu, see at least Figs. 1-4, par. [0086-0094], an action control method is adapted to a robot with emotional response) comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer of an action control device that controls an action of a controlled device to execute processes (Wu, see at least Figs. 1-5, par. [0044], “For example, the behavior control unit 110 with the phase control unit 111 and the emotion simulation unit 113 may be formed by recording a plurality of control instructions into a program memory (for example, a read only memory (ROM)) and coupling the program memory to a microprocessor. When the emotion engine system 100 is in operation, the control instructions of the phase control unit 111 and the emotion simulation unit 113 are executed by the microprocessor so as to accomplish the emotion engine management mechanism in exemplary embodiments of the invention”) comprising:
controlling, by a controller of an action control device that controls an action of a controlled device (Wu, see at least Figs. 1, 2, par. [0041-0044], emotion engine system 100 comprises one or multiple control circuit that controls an action of a robot; par. [0045], “When the behavior control unit 110 receives an initial sensing signal, the behavior control unit 110 provides a first behavior mode and drives the peripheral driving unit 130 to execute the first behavior mode, wherein the initial sensing signal may be a power signal or other driving signals”), the action of the controlled device using both (i) set control data that is set in advance and stored in correspondence with a simulated emotion of the controlled device (Wu, see at least Fig. 4, par. [0085-0087], “First, in step S401, a first behavior mode is provided by the behavior control unit 110. Herein the behavior control unit 110 receives an initial sensing signal and provides a predetermined first behavior mode once it is powered on”; par. [0049], “… the behavior data bank 140 stores a plurality of behavior data, and the behavior modes of the robot are respectively corresponding to at least one of the behavior data. In the emotion technology, a piece of different behavior data could be corresponding to a different location in a coordinate system for a virtual space, and the virtual space may be the realization of an emotion space. Herein the virtual space may be a 2-dimensional (2-D) space, a 3-dimensional (3-D) space, or a multi-dimensional space, and the behavior data stored in the behavior data bank 140 may include image data, voice data, and exercise behavior data”) and (ii) random control data comprising a random signal waveform that is randomly generated, in accordance with the simulated emotion, using a parameter from the set control data as input (Wu, see at least Fig. 5, par. [0093-0094], “Referring to FIG. 5, in step S501, the timing signal and the trigger sensing signal are received through the behavior control unit 110. Then, in step S503, a corresponding emotion vector V and a corresponding regression force F are obtained according to the types or strengths of the first behavior mode, the timing signal, and the trigger sensing signal through emotional operations of the emotion simulation unit 113. Next, in step S505, the emotion point S located at the old coordinate is moved according to the random signal provided by the emotion simulation unit 113, so as to obtain a new coordinate of the emotion point S, as shown in step S507. After that, in step S509, the scenario point closest to the new coordinate of the emotion point S is found by the emotion simulation unit 113 and provided to the scenario point to the phase control unit 111. In step S511, the current emotional response of the robot is provided by the phase control unit 111 according to the current timing and the scenario point”).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20110131165 A1), further in view of Kim (US 20220118626 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Belpaeme et al. (NPL “Multimodal Child-Robot Interaction: Building Social Bonds”, hereinafter “Belpaeme”).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Wu and Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. The combination of Wu and Kim fails to explicitly teach wherein the controller generates the random control data using Perlin noise based on the input parameter from the set control data.
Belpaeme teaches to generate a random rhythmic perturbation to the robot’s pose by adding Perlin noise (Belpaeme, see at least Fig. 6, page 11).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the combination of Wu and Kim to include wherein the controller generates the random control data using Perlin noise based on the input parameter from the set control data, as taught by Belpaeme. This modification would allow to increase the lifelikeness of robot movements and to generate idle behaviors.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 TRANG DANG whose telephone number is (703)756-1049. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00.
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/TRANG DANG/Examiner, Art Unit 3656 /KHOI H TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3656