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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-4, & 6-7 of U.S. Application No. 18/541581 filed on 09/16/2025 have been examined.
Office Action is in response to the Applicant's amendments and remarks filed09/16/2025. Claims 1, 4, & 7 are presently amended, and Claims 5 is cancelled. Claims 1-4, & 6-7 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
In regards to the previous claim objections: the amendments to the claims overcome the previous claim objection(s). Therefore, the previous claim objection(s) is/are withdrawn.
In regards to the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b): the amendments to the claims overcome the previous 35 USC § 112(b) rejection. Therefore, the previous 35 USC § 112(b) rejection is withdrawn.
In regards to the previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103: Applicant’s arguments with respect to the independent claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. A new grounds of rejection is made in view of US 2020/0388169A1 (“Barr”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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 & 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0247405A1 (“Paczan”), in view of US 2020/0388169A1 (“Barr”), in view of US 2023/0290256A1 (“Tehrani”).
As per claim 1 Paczan discloses
A method for assisting a piloting of an aircraft, the method being implemented by a computing system comprising electronic circuitry and the method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps (see at least Paczan, para. [0021]: In accordance with one or more embodiments, the UAV may be equipped with a flight management system comprising a processor, computer readable media, one or more sensors, one or more output devices, and a wireless communications component.):
detecting obstacles in an environment of the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0018]: The UAV may also identify an object-type associated with the source of the transmission (e.g., stationary object, fixed wing air vehicle, rotorcraft, blimp/balloon, etc.) and likelihood of trajectory changes of the source by analyzing captured signal data over a period of time.);
determining a protection zone surrounding each detected obstacle (see at least Paczan, para. [0021]: Further, the flight management system may determine a trajectory envelope for one or more detected objects based at least partly on the performance parameters associated with the object by an object performance parameter database.);
determining an initial trajectory followed by the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0037]: Furthermore, a flight management system 120 may maintain a dynamic flight plan 132 for the UAV 114. The dynamic flight plan 132 may describe the completed portion and/or planned portion of a flight path between the UAV's base location 128 and one or more destination locations 130.);
wherein the initial trajectory is determined using data from sensors and detectors chosen from: an inertial unit, a camera, a lidar, a radar, a satellite positioning system, and an attitude determination system and wherein the initial trajectory is determined by the data acquired by the sensors and detectors (see at least Paczan, para. [0030]: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative UAV's airspace 100 partly including a UAV 114; moving and stationary objects 102; UAV sensors, including for example an optical sensor 124 and/or an acoustic sensor 126; and an UAV flight-management system 120 to dynamically update a UAV flight plan 132. The airspace 100 may be, for example, the airspace between the UAV's base location128 and one or more destination locations 130.);
when the initial trajectory enters a protection zone, determining a corrected trajectory based on the initial trajectory of the aircraft and based on the protection zone surrounding the each detected obstacle, such that the aircraft avoids the protection zone (see at least Paczan, para. [0045]: The flight plan manager module 306 may store the UAV's current flight plan and interact with the object trajectory module 308 to update the UAV's flight plan as necessary. For example, the flight plan manager module 306 may determine a likelihood of interaction between the UAV's current flight plan 132 and the object's trajectory envelope. The flight plan manager module 306 may determine an optimized flight plan to avoid interaction with an object's trajectory envelope as well as factors such as: fuel level, payload weight, distance to one or more destination, distance traveled from a base location, airspace congestion, etc.);
applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0045]: The flight plan manager module 306 may store the UAV's current flight plan and interact with the object trajectory module 308 to update the UAV's flight plan as necessary. For example, the flight plan manager module 306 may determine a likelihood of interaction between the UAV's current flight plan 132 and the object's trajectory envelope. The flight plan manager module 306 may determine an optimized flight plan to avoid interaction with an object's trajectory envelope as well as factors such as: fuel level, payload weight, distance to one or more destination, distance traveled from a base location, airspace congestion, etc.).
Paczan discloses sensors and detectors that identify different parameters, characteristics of objects in the airspace and one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the initial trajectory would be determined in view of the detection of the objects.
However Paczan does not explicitly disclose
wherein the initial trajectory is determined by fusing the data acquired by the sensors and detectors;
outputting at least one haptic alert in a flight control stick of the aircraft, the haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft.
Barr teaches
wherein the initial trajectory is determined using data from sensors and detectors chosen from: an inertial unit, a camera, a lidar, a radar, a satellite positioning system, and an attitude determination system and wherein the initial trajectory is determined by fusing the data acquired by the sensors and detectors (see at least Barr, para. [0061]: A navigation system of the UAS 500 may plan a path and navigate to a target destination in several stages. The UAS 500 gathers data about the network of corridors 700 using various on-board sensors (e.g., magnetic field sensors, GPS sensors, visions systems, etc.) and pre-loaded information (e.g., maps of the infrastructure network). After acquiring environmental data from the various on-board sensors, the UAS may determine its position in the network of corridors 700, and plot a path from the determined position to a target destination, taking into account corridor constraints. The constraints may be detected by the on-board sensors and/or information stored with a memory unit of the UAS. Once a path has been acquired by the UAS (or pushed to the UAS via a networked navigation systems) along the corridor network to the target destination, the UAS determines a first target heading along the planned path which takes into account any impediments to flight (e.g., other UASs).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paczan to incorporate the teaching of wherein the initial trajectory is determined by fusing the data acquired by the sensors and detectors of Barr, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to enable safe operation of large-scale, commercial UAS traffic (see at least Barr, para. [0024]).
Tehrani teaches
outputting at least one haptic alert in a flight control stick of the aircraft, the haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft (see at least Tehrani, para. [0033]: Upon generation, the inceptors 115 may convey or send the set of commands to the flight control computing system 110, and the inceptor processor 130 in turn may detect the set of command signals….The set of commands may include a set of corresponding values to apply to set, configure, or modify the functioning of the navigation components 120. & para. [0087]: The collision checker 140 may have determined that the predicted path 165 intersects with a terrain 605 at a predicted collision point 610A.The goal selector 145 may generate one or more goal points 225 to effectuate an avoidance trajectory620. The goal selector 145 may use the elevation of the terrain 605 at the predicted collision point610A to determine the goal points 225. & para. [0096]: The output may be in any modality, such as a visual cue (e.g., a graphical user interface such as a prompt), an audio cue (e.g., a sound prompting terrain avoidance), or a tactile cue (e.g., haptic feedback prompting terrain avoidance)…In some embodiments, the motion planner 150 may determine acceptance or declination based on interaction 230 inputted via the inceptors 115.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paczan to incorporate the teaching of outputting at least one haptic alert in a flight control stick of the aircraft, the haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft of Tehrani, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order for increasing the odds of accomplishing the mission objectives of the flight (see at least Tehrani, para. [0007]).
As per claim 2 Paczan discloses
further comprising: detecting a landing zone on the initial trajectory followed by the aircraft, the detected landing zone being determined as a destination of the initial trajectory of the aircraft, and a destination of the corrected trajectory coincides with the destination of the initial trajectory (see at least Paczan, para. [0087]: At step 814, the UAV may apply the trajectory envelope from the operation 810 to update the UAV's flight plan 132. For example, if the UAV's current flight characteristics 112 are likely to intersect with a determined trajectory envelope, the UAV 114 may update its flight plan 132 to minimize or eliminate the likelihood of interference with the object 102. Furthermore, the UAV 114 may consider features of its own flight plan 132 in determining an updated flight plan that is optimized with respect to distance to a destination 130, payload weight, remaining fuel, proximity of charging stations, and/or distance traveled from a base location 128, among other factors.).
As per claim 3 Paczan discloses
wherein dimensions of each protection zone are determined in proportion to a speed of the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0085]: At 812, the UAV 114 may determine a trajectory envelope for the object 102. The object trajectory module 308 may look up one or more performance parameters associated with the identified object 102 from a performance parameter database 314. Performance parameters may include maximum speed, operating ceiling, maneuverability, etc. The object trajectory module 308 may factor in the object's performance parameters to determine the likelihood that the object will change its trajectory relative to the UAV. This likelihood of trajectory change may then be used to determine the shape and size of the trajectory envelope for each object that is identified by the UAV.).
As per claim 6 Paczan discloses
A non-transient storage medium on which there is stored a computer program comprising program code instructions for executing the method according to claim 1 when said instructions are read from said non-transient storage medium and executed by a processor (see at least Paczan, para. [0021]: In accordance with one or more embodiments, the UAV may be equipped with a flight management system comprising a processor, computer readable media, one or more sensors, one or more output devices, and a wireless communications component.).
As per claim 7 Paczan discloses
A computing system comprising electronic circuitry configured to implement assistance with a piloting of an aircraft, comprising the following steps (see at least Paczan, para. [0021]: In accordance with one or more embodiments, the UAV may be equipped with a flight management system comprising a processor, computer readable media, one or more sensors, one or more output devices, and a wireless communications component.):
detecting obstacles in an environment of the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0018]: The UAV may also identify an object-type associated with the source of the transmission (e.g., stationary object, fixed wing air vehicle, rotorcraft, blimp/balloon, etc.) and likelihood of trajectory changes of the source by analyzing captured signal data over a period of time.);
determining a protection zone surrounding each detected obstacle (see at least Paczan, para. [0021]: Further, the flight management system may determine a trajectory envelope for one or more detected objects based at least partly on the performance parameters associated with the object by an object performance parameter database.);
determining an initial trajectory followed by the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0037]: Furthermore, a flight management system 120 may maintain a dynamic flight plan 132 for the UAV 114. The dynamic flight plan 132 may describe the completed portion and/or planned portion of a flight path between the UAV's base location 128 and one or more destination locations 130.);
wherein the initial trajectory is determined using data from sensors and detectors chosen from: an inertial unit, a camera, a lidar, a radar, a satellite positioning system, and an attitude determination system and wherein the initial trajectory is determined by the data acquired by the sensors and detectors (see at least Paczan, para. [0030]: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative UAV's airspace 100 partly including a UAV 114; moving and stationary objects 102; UAV sensors, including for example an optical sensor 124 and/or an acoustic sensor 126; and an UAV flight-management system 120 to dynamically update a UAV flight plan 132. The airspace 100 may be, for example, the airspace between the UAV's base location128 and one or more destination locations 130.);
when the initial trajectory enters the protection zone, determining a corrected trajectory based on the initial trajectory of the aircraft and based on the protection zone surrounding the each detected obstacle, such that the aircraft avoids the protection zone (see at least Paczan, para. [0045]: The flight plan manager module 306 may store the UAV's current flight plan and interact with the object trajectory module 308 to update the UAV's flight plan as necessary. For example, the flight plan manager module 306 may determine a likelihood of interaction between the UAV's current flight plan 132 and the object's trajectory envelope. The flight plan manager module 306 may determine an optimized flight plan to avoid interaction with an object's trajectory envelope as well as factors such as: fuel level, payload weight, distance to one or more destination, distance traveled from a base location, airspace congestion, etc.);
applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft (see at least Paczan, para. [0045]: The flight plan manager module 306 may store the UAV's current flight plan and interact with the object trajectory module 308 to update the UAV's flight plan as necessary. For example, the flight plan manager module 306 may determine a likelihood of interaction between the UAV's current flight plan 132 and the object's trajectory envelope. The flight plan manager module 306 may determine an optimized flight plan to avoid interaction with an object's trajectory envelope as well as factors such as: fuel level, payload weight, distance to one or more destination, distance traveled from a base location, airspace congestion, etc.).
Paczan discloses sensors and detectors that identify different parameters, characteristics of objects in the airspace and one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the initial trajectory would be determined in view of the detection of the objects.
However Paczan does not explicitly disclose
wherein the initial trajectory is determined by fusing the data acquired by the sensors and detectors;
outputting at least one haptic alert in a flight control stick of the aircraft, the haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft.
Barr teaches
wherein the initial trajectory is determined using data from sensors and detectors chosen from: an inertial unit, a camera, a lidar, a radar, a satellite positioning system, and an attitude determination system and wherein the initial trajectory is determined by fusing the data acquired by the sensors and detectors (see at least Barr, para. [0061]: A navigation system of the UAS 500 may plan a path and navigate to a target destination in several stages. The UAS 500 gathers data about the network of corridors 700 using various on-board sensors (e.g., magnetic field sensors, GPS sensors, visions systems, etc.) and pre-loaded information (e.g., maps of the infrastructure network). After acquiring environmental data from the various on-board sensors, the UAS may determine its position in the network of corridors 700, and plot a path from the determined position to a target destination, taking into account corridor constraints. The constraints may be detected by the on-board sensors and/or information stored with a memory unit of the UAS. Once a path has been acquired by the UAS (or pushed to the UAS via a networked navigation systems) along the corridor network to the target destination, the UAS determines a first target heading along the planned path which takes into account any impediments to flight (e.g., other UASs).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paczan to incorporate the teaching of wherein the initial trajectory is determined by fusing the data acquired by the sensors and detectors of Barr, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to enable safe operation of large-scale, commercial UAS traffic (see at least Barr, para. [0024]).
Tehrani teaches
outputting at least one haptic alert in a flight control stick of the aircraft, the haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft (see at least Tehrani, para. [0033]: Upon generation, the inceptors 115 may convey or send the set of commands to the flight control computing system 110, and the inceptor processor 130 in turn may detect the set of command signals…The set of commands may include a set of corresponding values to apply to set, configure, or modify the functioning of the navigation components 120. & para. [0087]: The collision checker 140 may have determined that the predicted path 165 intersects with a terrain 605 at a predicted collision point 610A.The goal selector 145 may generate one or more goal points 225 to effectuate an avoidance trajectory620. The goal selector 145 may use the elevation of the terrain 605 at the predicted collision point610A to determine the goal points 225. & para. [0096]: The output may be in any modality, such as a visual cue (e.g., a graphical user interface such as a prompt), an audio cue (e.g., a sound prompting terrain avoidance), or a tactile cue (e.g., haptic feedback prompting terrain avoidance)…In some embodiments, the motion planner 150 may determine acceptance or declination based on interaction 230 inputted via the inceptors 115.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paczan to incorporate the teaching of outputting at least one haptic alert in a flight control stick of the aircraft, the haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when applying the corrected trajectory to the aircraft of Tehrani, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order for increasing the odds of accomplishing the mission objectives of the flight (see at least Tehrani, para. [0007]).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paczan, in view of Barr, in view of Tehrani, in view of US 20180267543A1 (“McGuire”).
As per claim 4 Paczan does not explicitly disclose
wherein, when the aircraft is hovering over a point of an environment, the method further comprises:
determining a static safety zone around the hovering aircraft, the static safety zone being centered on the aircraft and being static with respect to said point of the environment;
detecting a movement of the hovering aircraft outside the static safety zone;
repositioning the hovering aircraft in the center of the static safety zone;
outputting the at least one haptic alert in the flight control stick of the aircraft, the at least one haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when repositioning the aircraft in the center of the static safety zone.
McGuire teaches
wherein, when the aircraft is hovering over a point of an environment, the method further comprises: determining a static safety zone around the hovering aircraft, the static safety zone being centered on the aircraft and being static with respect to said point of the environment (see at least McGuire, para. [0027]: Method 200 additionally includes an act 240 of calculating, using a processor, a drone-relative geofence having specified dimensions with at least a specified floor and a specified radius. The processor 101 uses the drone's initial location information calculated in step 220 to calculate the drone-relative geofence 106. As shown in FIG. 1, the drone-relative geofence 106 may be spherical, or as shown in FIG. 3, the geofence may be cylindrical. In cases where the geofence is spherical, the size of the sphere may be calculated with the drone in the center and projected outward. Thus, the outer edge of the geofence would be equal in distance regardless of direction. In cases where the geofence is cylindrical, the “floor” of the cylinder may be a specified distance below the drone and maybe of a specified diameter. This diameter may extend upwards to the ceiling, which itself is a specified distance above the drone.);
detecting a movement of the hovering aircraft outside the static safety zone (see at least McGuire, para. [0035]: If a drone is traveling at a high rate of speed, and if the diameter of the drone-relative geofence 106 is not sufficiently large, the drone may pass the edge of the geofence before the next GPS update signal is received.);
repositioning the hovering aircraft in the center of the static safety zone (see at least McGuire, para. [0035]: If such is the case, the motor controllers103 may be adjusted to slow or stop the drone to ensure that is remains within the drone-relative geofence 106. In some cases, the drone may be configured to remain on the edge of the drone-relative geofence for at least a specified amount of time before returning to center.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paczan to incorporate the teaching of wherein, when the aircraft is hovering over a point of an environment, the method further comprises determining a static safety zone around the hovering aircraft, the static safety zone being centered on the aircraft and being static with respect to said point of the environment, detecting a movement of the hovering aircraft outside the static safety zone, repositioning the hovering aircraft in the center of the static safety zone of McGuire, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to improve position accuracy (see at least McGuire, para. [0036]).
Tehrani teaches
outputting the at least one haptic alert in the flight control stick of the aircraft, the at least one haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when repositioning the aircraft in the center of the static safety zone (see at least Tehrani, para. [0033]: Upon generation, the inceptors 115 may convey or send the set of commands to the flight control computing system 110, and the inceptor processor 130 in turn may detect the set of command signals…The set of commands may include a set of corresponding values to apply to set, configure, or modify the functioning of the navigation components 120. para. [0080]: On the other hand, when the predicted path 165 is determined to intersect, the goal selector145 may identify, determine, or otherwise generate one or more goal points 225A-N (herein after generally referred to goal points 225 or locations). & para. [0087]: The collision checker 140 may have determined that the predicted path 165 intersects with a terrain 605 at a predicted collision point 610A.The goal selector 145 may generate one or more goal points 225 to effectuate an avoidance trajectory620. The goal selector 145 may use the elevation of the terrain 605 at the predicted collision point610A to determine the goal points 225. & para. [0096]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paczan to incorporate the teaching of outputting the at least one haptic alert in the flight control stick of the aircraft, the at least one haptic alert indicating a direction of deflection applied to the aircraft when repositioning the aircraft in the center of the static safety zone of Tehrani, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order for increasing the odds of accomplishing the mission objectives of the flight (see at least Tehrani, para. [0007]).
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 MOHAMED ABDO ALGEHAIM whose telephone number is (571)272-3628. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5PM EST.
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/MOHAMED ABDO ALGEHAIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668