DETAILED ACTION
This non-final rejection is responsive to the claims filed 27 March 2024. Claims 1-14 are pending. Claims 1, 13, and 14 are independent claims.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3 and 6-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Low (US 7,174,474 B1) hereinafter known as Low.
Regarding independent claim 1, Low teaches:
at an electronic device that includes: a coordinated trajectory planning component, a trajectory decoding component, a set of one or more physical output component controllers, and a set of one or more physical output components: (Low: Fig. 6 and col. 4, lines 27-40; Low teaches a host processor (interpreted as the planning component) and node components 601 which control motion of various motors (interpreted as the physical output controllers and components). Fig. 7 and col. 4, lines 58-61 further teach the node component including a motor controller. Col. 5, lines 25-45 teaches process I/O boards which interpret tables into post processed tables which contain actual commands.)
determining, by the coordinated trajectory planning component, a set of one or more encoded output trajectories for the set of one or more physical output components; (Low: col. 4, lines 65-67 to col. 5, lines 1-25; Low teaches the host processor creating a pattern for the motor system to cause motion in the various axes.)
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An embodiment of Low does not explicitly teach but another embodiment teaches:
providing the set of one or more encoded output trajectories to the trajectory decoding component; (Low: col. 5, lines 25-45; Low teaches pre-processing and translating the patterns into separate pattern tables by the Pattern Profiler. Col. 5, lines 25-45 teaches process I/O boards which interpret tables into post processed tables which contain actual commands.))
decoding, by the trajectory decoding component, the set of one or more encoded output trajectories for the set of one or more physical output components into a set of one or more decoded output trajectories; (Low: col. 5, lines 25-45; Low teaches pre-processing and translating the patterns into separate pattern tables by the Pattern Profiler and process I/O boards. The process I/O boards interpret the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands to the motor controller boards.)
providing the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers; and (Low: col. 5, lines 25-65 to col. 6, lines 1-43; Low teaches interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration.)
causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to the set of one or more decoded output trajectories. (Low: col. 6, lines 44-54; Low teaches beginning actuator motions.)
Low is in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as it is directed to trajectory planning for actuators. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to combine encoding a trajectory for actuators with further decoding it by pre-processing and translating it to commands. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine these teachings because the combination would allow translating the patterns to actual command sequences, as suggested by Low: col. 6, lines 44-54.
Regarding claim 2, Low further teaches the method of claim 1.
Low further teaches:
wherein, before causing movement of the set of physical output components in a manner according to the set of one or more decoded physical output trajectories, the set of one or more encoded output trajectories includes a first encoded output trajectory and a second encoded output trajectory. (Low: col. 5, lines 1-67 to col. 6, lines 1-44; Low teaches the tables of multiple types of patterns.)
Regarding claim 3, Low further teaches the method of claim 2.
Low further teaches:
further comprising: providing a first target execution time for the first encoded output trajectory and a second target execution time for the second encoded output trajectory. (Low: col. 5, lines 1-67 to col. 6, lines 1-55; Low teaches providing sequence times and time-bombs scheduling.)
Regarding claim 6, Low further teaches the method of claim 2.
Low further teaches:
wherein: decoding, by the trajectory decoding component, the set of one or more encoded output trajectories for the set of one or more physical output components into the set of one or more decoded output trajectories includes: decoding the first encoded output trajectory into a first decoded output trajectory of the set of one or more decoded output trajectories; and providing the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output components controller includes: streaming the first decoded output trajectory to the set of one or more physical output components controllers as positional data. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-65 to col. 6, lines 1-43; Low teaches interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration.)
Regarding claim 7, Low further teaches the method of claim 6.
Low further teaches:
wherein streaming the first decoded output trajectory to the set of one or more physical output component controllers as positional data is performed in response to a determination that the first decoded output trajectory is to be used for the set of one or more physical output components. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-65 to col. 6, lines 1-43; Low teaches interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration. Col. 7, lines 50-67 to col. 8, lines 1-15 further teaches sequence outputs are executed only when the input conditions are met.)
Regarding claim 8, Low further teaches the method of claim 6.
Low further teaches:
further comprising: after streaming the first decoded output trajectory: decoding a third encoded output trajectory into a second decoded output trajectory; and streaming the second decoded output trajectory to the set of one or more physical output component controllers as positional data. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-65 to col. 6, lines 1-43; Low teaches interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands and successive sequences of steps to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration.)
Regarding claim 9, Low further teaches the method of claim 1.
Low further teaches:
wherein: the set of one or more physical output component controllers includes the trajectory decoding component; and providing the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers includes: storing, by the decoding component the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers as positional data. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-45; Low teaches process I/O boards interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands and successive sequences of steps to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration. The node components contain the process I/O boards and hold and execute the tables locally.)
Regarding claim 10, Low further teaches the method of claim 9.
Low further teaches:
wherein making available the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers as positional data is performed in response to a determination that the set of one or more decoded output trajectories is to be used for the set of one or more physical output components. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-45; Low teaches process I/O boards interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands and successive sequences of steps to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration. Col. 7, lines 50-67 to col. 8, lines 1-15 further teaches sequence outputs are executed only when the input conditions are met.)
Regarding claim 11, Low further teaches the method of claim 1.
Low further teaches:
wherein providing the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers includes: streaming the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers as positional data. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-65 to col. 6, lines 1-43; Low teaches interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration. Low further teaches performing the sequences.)
Regarding claim 12, Low further teaches the method of claim 11.
Low further teaches:
wherein streaming the set of one or more decoded output trajectories to the set of one or more physical output component controllers as positional data is performed in response to a determination that the set of one or more decoded output trajectories is to be used for the set of one or more physical output components. (Low: col. 5, lines 25-45; Low teaches process I/O boards interpreting the tables into the post processed tables 3a-3c which contain actual commands and successive sequences of steps to the motor controller boards, which include position, velocity, and acceleration. Col. 7, lines 50-67 to col. 8, lines 1-15 further teaches sequence outputs are executed only when the input conditions are met.)
Regarding claims 13-14, these claims recite a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and an electronic device that perform the method of claim 1; therefore, the same rationale for rejection applies.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Low in view of Chand (US 4,663,726 A) hereinafter known as Chand.
Regarding claim 4, Low further teaches the method of claim 2.
Low does not explicitly teach but Chand teaches:
further comprising: before causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to the set of one or more decoded output trajectories, determining, by the coordinated trajectory planning component, an updated first encoded physical output trajectory, wherein causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to the decoded output trajectories includes causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to a decoded updated first encoded output trajectory. (Chand: Fig. 4 and col. 3, lines 5-67 and col. 10, lines 65-67 to col. 11, lines 1-; Chand teaches when point P4 is known, new values are computed instead of the original quadratic. So while movement begins through the first points, the movement is refined before getting to the later points.)
Low and Chand are in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as the references are directed to trajectory planning. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to combine encoding a trajectory for actuators as taught in Low with updating the trajectories as taught in Chand. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Low to include teachings of Chand, because the combination would allow smooth end effector motion, as suggested by Chand: col. 6, lines 20-37.
Regarding claim 5, Low in view of Chand further teaches the method of claim 4.
Low further teaches:
further comprising: before causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to the decoded output trajectories, forgoing determining, by the coordinated trajectory planning component, an updated second encoded output trajectory, wherein causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to the decoded output trajectories includes causing movement of the set of one or more physical output components in a manner according to a decoded second encoded output trajectory. (Low: Fig. 4 and col. 7, lines 50-67 to col. 8, lines 1-15; Low teaches suspending operations.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX OLSHANNIKOV whose telephone number is (571)270-0667. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/ALEKSEY OLSHANNIKOV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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