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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statements filed on 11/27/2023, 10/01/2024, and 07/21/2025 have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 forms).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4-7, 10-12, 14-17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Voorhies et al. [US Patent Application Publication 2020/0338741 A1; hereinafter “Voorhies”].
Regarding claim 1, Voorhies teaches a diagnostic robot comprising:
a communication interface (wirelessly transmit – 0046, 0098); and at least one processor configured to:
control the communication interface to search for at least one candidate electronic device (environmental elements) (receiving (at 510) a task at a particular robot of the collective set of robots, and selecting (at 520) different sensors, actuators, and/or environment elements to use in performance of the task. The particular robot may be programmed with routines that specify the sensors, actuators, and/or environment elements to use in performance of different tasks - 0072),
select a target electronic device from among the at least one candidate electronic device, and identify a component of the target electronic device on which to perform a fault diagnosis (anomaly detection - 0076),
control the communication interface to transmit information associated with a diagnosis range to the target electronic device (wirelessly transmit – 0046, 0098),
obtain first diagnostic data by performing a first fault diagnosis on a component of the diagnostic robot (operating the particular robots according to the activations and controls defined from the expected kinematics - 0076),
control the communication interface to receive (determine an expected set of activations and/or controls – 0073) (includes controlling the particular robot in the manner prescribed by the operations configured – 0074, 0076), from the target electronic device, second diagnostic data generated from a second fault diagnosis performed on the component of the target electronic device while the target electronic device is positioned at a diagnosis area within the diagnosis range (particular robot has moved to a certain location, has moved a certain distance, has performed a set of movements - 0075), and
identify whether there is an abnormality in the component of the target electronic device based on the first diagnostic data and the second diagnostic data (a match may indicate – 0077).
Compare diagnose data measured from two different spots by the robot when diagnosing target electronic devices (not a match … result of an individualized anomaly – 0080, 0081) (comparing the current kinematics against the kinematics from prior execution - 0083).
Regarding claim 2, Voorhies teaches the at least one processor is further configured to: search for the at least one candidate electronic device by receiving data from the at least one candidate electronic device, through the communication interface, information identifying components of the at least one candidate device available for a fault diagnosis and an estimated amount of time to conduct the fault diagnosis (The task may specify conditions associated with execution of the task. For instance, the task may specify a time and/or speed with which the particular robot is to complete the task - 0072) ( the particular robot may have logged (at 565) the expected and/or actual kinematics for the last time the particular robot performed a task using the same environment elements – 0081).
Regarding claim 4, Voorhies teaches the information associated with the diagnosis range comprises at least one from among map information, obstacle information, access restricted zone information, position information of the diagnostic robot, direction information of the diagnostic robot, and information of the diagnosis area (The particular robot may be configured with a map from which the particular robot determines the environment elements to expect when traversing the path - 0072).
Regarding claim 5, Voorhies teaches the at least one processor is further configured to: based on the target electronic device being able to move, transmit, through the communication interface, current position and direction information of the diagnostic robot to the target electronic device to allow the target electronic device to move to the diagnosis area based on the transmitted current position and direction information of the diagnostic robot, and receive, through the communication interface, current position and direction information of the target electronic device (a task to move the particular robot to a destination may involve a routine - 0072).
Regarding claim 6, Voorhies teaches the at least one processor is further configured to: based on the target electronic device being unable to move, receive, through the communication interface, current position and direction information of the target electronic device and cause the diagnostic robot to move to the diagnosis area based on the received current position and direction information of the target electronic device, and receive, through the communication interface, current position and direction information of the target electronic device (a task to move the particular robot to a destination may involve a routine - 0072) (determine if the particular robot has moved to a certain location, has moved a certain distance, has performed a set of movements – 0075).
Regarding claim 7, Voorhies teaches the component of the target electronic device comprises at least one from among a distance sensor, a camera, a memory, and a processor (a camera of the particular robot - 0072) ( cameras or other sensors to determine how far the robot has moved, the height of the robot, the orientation of the robot relative to an environment element, if the robot is at a correct location, if the robot is traveling at a correct speed, if the robot is interacting with a correct resource or object - 0096).
Regarding claim 10, Voorhies teaches the at least one processor is further configured to: based on identifying that there is an abnormality in the component of the target electronic device, cause the communication interface to transmit a stop operation command to the target electronic device or transmit information associated with an abnormality of the target electronic device to a user (in response to determining (at 560—No) that the expected kinematics did not match the actual kinematics by the threshold amount, process 500 attempts to determine the cause of the anomaly - 0081, whether the anomaly is an individualized anomaly affecting only the particular robot, or an environmental anomaly affecting multiple robots - 0083).
Regarding claim 11, Voorhies teaches a diagnostic method of using a diagnostic robot, the method comprising:
searching for at least one candidate electronic device (environmental elements) (receiving (at 510) a task at a particular robot of the collective set of robots, and selecting (at 520) different sensors, actuators, and/or environment elements to use in performance of the task. The particular robot may be programmed with routines that specify the sensors, actuators, and/or environment elements to use in performance of different tasks - 0072);
selecting a target electronic device from among the at least one candidate electronic device (anomaly detection - 0076);
identifying a component of the target electronic device on which to perform a fault diagnosis (operating the particular robots according to the activations and controls defined from the expected kinematics - 0076);
transmitting information associated with a diagnosis range to the target electronic device (determine an expected set of activations and/or controls – 0073) (includes controlling the particular robot in the manner prescribed by the operations configured – 0074, 0076);
obtaining first diagnostic data by performing a first fault diagnosis on a component of the diagnostic robot (operating the particular robots according to the activations and controls defined from the expected kinematics - 0076);
receiving, by the diagnostic robot from the target electronic device, second diagnostic data generated from a second fault diagnosis performed on the component of the target electronic device positioned at a diagnosis area within the diagnosis range (a match may indicate – 0077); and
identifying whether there is an abnormality in the component of the target electronic device based on the first diagnostic data and the second diagnostic data (not a match … result of an individualized anomaly – 0080, 0081) (comparing the current kinematics against the kinematics from prior execution - 0083).
Regarding claim 12, Voorhies teaches the searching for the at least one candidate electronic device comprises: receiving, by the diagnostic robot, data from the at least one candidate electronic device information identifying components of the at least one candidate electronic device available for a fault diagnosis, and an estimated amount of time to conduct the fault diagnosis (The task may specify conditions associated with execution of the task. For instance, the task may specify a time and/or speed with which the particular robot is to complete the task - 0072) ( the particular robot may have logged (at 565) the expected and/or actual kinematics for the last time the particular robot performed a task using the same environment elements – 0081).
Regarding claim 14, Voorhies teaches the information associated with the diagnosis range comprises at least one from among map information, obstacle information, access restricted zone information, position information of the diagnostic robot, direction information of the diagnostic robot, information of the diagnosis area (The particular robot may be configured with a map from which the particular robot determines the environment elements to expect when traversing the path - 0072).
Regarding claim 15, Voorhies teaches based on the target electronic device being able to move, transmitting current position and direction information of the diagnostic robot to the target electronic device to allow the target electronic device to move to the diagnosis area, and receiving, by the diagnostic robot, current position and direction information of the target electronic device (a task to move the particular robot to a destination may involve a routine - 0072).
Regarding claim 16, Voorhies teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to execute a diagnostic method of using a diagnostic robot, the diagnostic method comprising:
searching for at least one candidate electronic device (environmental elements) (receiving (at 510) a task at a particular robot of the collective set of robots, and selecting (at 520) different sensors, actuators, and/or environment elements to use in performance of the task. The particular robot may be programmed with routines that specify the sensors, actuators, and/or environment elements to use in performance of different tasks - 0072);
selecting a target electronic device from among the at least one candidate electronic device (anomaly detection - 0076);
identifying a component of the target electronic device on which to perform a fault diagnosis (operating the particular robots according to the activations and controls defined from the expected kinematics - 0076);
transmitting information associated with a diagnosis range to the target electronic device (determine an expected set of activations and/or controls – 0073) (includes controlling the particular robot in the manner prescribed by the operations configured – 0074, 0076);
obtaining first diagnostic data by performing a first fault diagnosis on a component of the diagnostic robot (operating the particular robots according to the activations and controls defined from the expected kinematics - 0076);
receiving, by the diagnostic robot from the target electronic device, second diagnostic data generated from a second fault diagnosis performed on the component of the target electronic device positioned at a diagnosis area within the diagnosis range (a match may indicate – 0077); and
identifying whether there is an abnormality in the component of the target electronic device based on the first diagnostic data and the second diagnostic data (not a match … result of an individualized anomaly – 0080, 0081) (comparing the current kinematics against the kinematics from prior execution - 0083).
Regarding claim 17, Voorhies teaches the searching for the at least one candidate electronic device comprises: receiving, by the diagnostic robot, data from the at least one candidate electronic device information identifying components of the at least one candidate electronic device available for a fault diagnosis, and an estimated amount of time to conduct the fault diagnosis (The task may specify conditions associated with execution of the task. For instance, the task may specify a time and/or speed with which the particular robot is to complete the task - 0072) ( the particular robot may have logged (at 565) the expected and/or actual kinematics for the last time the particular robot performed a task using the same environment elements – 0081).
Regarding claim 19, Voorhies teaches the information associated with the diagnosis range comprises at least one from among map information, obstacle information, access restricted zone information, position information of the diagnostic robot, direction information of the diagnostic robot, information of the diagnosis area (The particular robot may be configured with a map from which the particular robot determines the environment elements to expect when traversing the path - 0072).
Regarding claim 20, Voorhies teaches the diagnostic method further comprising: based on the target electronic device being able to move, transmitting current position and direction information of the diagnostic robot to the target electronic device to allow the target electronic device to move to the diagnosis area, and receiving, by the diagnostic robot, current position and direction information of the target electronic device (a task to move the particular robot to a destination may involve a routine - 0072).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 8, 9, 13 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 3 is objected to because the closest prior art, Voorhies et al. [US Patent Application Publication 2020/0338741 A1], fails to anticipate or render obvious select the target electronic device from the at least one candidate electronic device based on the diagnostic robot comprising at least one component corresponding to a component of the at least one candidate electronic device or a priority order identified based on a Jaccard similarity, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Claim 8 is objected to because the closest prior art, Voorhies et al. [US Patent Application Publication 2020/0338741 A1], fails to anticipate or render obvious based on the component of the target electronic device comprising the distance sensor of the target electronic device, cause the diagnostic robot to be a pre-set distance from the target electronic device and to be positioned such that a distance sensor of the diagnostic robot is directed toward the target electronic device and the distance sensor of the target electronic device is directed toward the diagnostic robot, and identify whether there is an abnormality in the distance sensor of the target electronic device by comparing first diagnostic data of the distance sensor of the diagnostic robot with second diagnostic data of the distance sensor of the target electronic device, and wherein the first diagnostic data comprises a distance measurement between the diagnostic robot and the target electronic device taken using the distance sensor of the diagnostic robot, and the second diagnostic data comprises a distance measurement between the diagnostic robot and the target electronic device taken using the distance sensor of the target electronic device, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Claim 13 is objected to because the closest prior art, Voorhies et al. [US Patent Application Publication 2020/0338741 A1], fails to anticipate or render obvious selecting the target electronic device from the at least one candidate electronic device based on the diagnostic robot comprising at least one component corresponding to a component of the at least one candidate electronic device or a priority order identified based on a Jaccard similarity, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Claim 18 is objected to because the closest prior art, Voorhies et al. [US Patent Application Publication 2020/0338741 A1], fails to anticipate or render obvious selecting the target electronic device from the at least one candidate electronic device based on the diagnostic robot comprising at least one component corresponding to a component of the at least one candidate electronic device or a priority order identified based on a Jaccard similarity, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Relevant Prior Art / Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rosenberg (US Patent Number 10,335,962 B1) discloses a system for detecting and diagnosing fault of a robot;
KOTANI et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2021/0178594 A1) discloses a mobile robot including a detection unit that detects information, a communication unit that transmits and receives information, and a movement means capable of moving in the living environment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICKY GO whose telephone number is (571)270-3340. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arleen M. Vazquez can be reached on (571) 272-2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICKY GO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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