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 .
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 (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 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.
Claim(s) 1-10, 12-14, 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Patnaik et al (US 2021/0034060).
Claims 1, 17 and 18. Patnaik teaches a vehicle comprising: one or more sensors; one or more processors; and one or more computer readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the vehicle to: operate in an autonomous driving mode (para 0037-0039, “the vehicle includes a control system of one or more computing devices… one or more processors 204, memory 206… The memory 206 stores information accessible by the one or more processors 204, including instructions 208 and data 210…” ), wherein an operation in the autonomous driving mode comprises performing one or more driving operations based on road and environmental conditions detected by the one or more sensors (para [0036], [0042], [0045] “Level 5 is a fully autonomous mode in which the vehicle is able to drive without assistance in all situations.” “computing devices 202 may navigate the vehicle to a destination location completely autonomously using data from the map information and perception system…”); detect, by the one or more sensors, a first visual fiducial (para [0067] “the lead vehicle may have a unique QR code or other identifier information… recognizable by the cargo vehicle’s sensors…” ),; and in response to detecting the first visual fiducial, operate in a semi-autonomous follower mode (para [0031], [0063] “transitioning the vehicle from purely autonomously driving… to an autonomous ‘follow’ mode, in which the self-driving vehicle drives behind a lead vehicle…”) , wherein an operation in the semi-autonomous follower mode comprises performing one or more driving operations based on road and environmental conditions detected by the one or more sensors and one or more behaviors of a guide vehicle (para 0071, 0075, “the lead vehicle is responsible for ‘clearing the route…to ensure the cargo vehicle is able to safely traverse the route”.
2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the first visual fiducial is an ArUco, QR code, barcode, or bit code (para [0067] “the lead vehicle may have a unique QR code or other identifier information… recognizable by the cargo vehicle’s sensors”).
.
3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the first visual fiducial is associated with the guide vehicle (para [0067] “the lead vehicle may have a unique QR code… recognizable by the cargo vehicle’s sensors…”).
4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the vehicle to: establish a communicative link with the guide vehicle based on the first visual fiducial (para [0066], [0077] “authentication may be accomplished via a remote system…” “information transmission may take place directly between the lead and following vehicles…”).
.
5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the communicative link is a peer-to-peer link (para [0077]
“information transmission may take place directly between the lead and following vehicles”).
6. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the communicative link is a cellular connection, a Bluetooth connection, or a direct wireless communication protocol (para [0047], [0077] “wireless network connections… Bluetooth… cellular connections…”).
7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the one or more behaviors of the guide vehicle are detected by the one or more sensors (para [0063], [0068] “cargo vehicle 502 will follow a lead vehicle 504” “the cargo vehicle follows the lead vehicle as shown…”).
.
8. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the one or more behaviors of the guide vehicle are obtained through the communicative link (para [0071], [0073], [0077] “real-time state information for each following vehicle may include… location, speed and current pose…” “information may be sent via a wireless communication link (e.g., cellular, Bluetooth)”).
.
9. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the vehicle to: determine whether a failure condition has occurred;
based on a determination that the failure condition has occurred (para [0075], [0076]
“The truck can also stop or take other corrective action should another vehicle or other object interpose…”), provide a first signal to a control system (para [0066], [0070] “remote system… remote operator may identify the lead vehicle…”) indicating that the failure condition has occurred;
receive a second signal from the control system indicating a safe stop location; and responsively travel to the safe stop location in autonomous driving mode (para [0075]
“This may include pulling over… increasing the follow distance…”).
10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the vehicle to: receive a third signal from the control system instructing the vehicle to wait for the guide vehicle to arrive at the safe stop location; after the guide vehicle arrives at the safe stop location, detect the first visual fiducial; and responsively resume operating in semi-autonomous follower mode (para [0068], [0070] “authentication between the two vehicles may occur at a prearranged location…”).
12. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the vehicle to: receive a third signal from the control system instructing the vehicle to wait for a human driver to arrive at the safe stop location; and after the human driver arrives at the safe stop location, operate in a manual mode, wherein an operation in the manual mode comprises one or more driving operations executed by the human driver (para [0069] “the lead vehicle may employ an in-vehicle (or remote) human driver…”).
13. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein determining whether a failure condition has occurred comprises determining that the communicative link was lost and the one or more sensors do not detect the guide vehicle (para [0075] “The truck can also stop or take other corrective action should another vehicle or other object interpose…”).
14. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein determining whether a failure condition has occurred comprises determining that the guide vehicle made a maneuver that the vehicle cannot follow (para [0075] “The truck can also stop or take other corrective action…”).
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.
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patnaik (US 2021/0034060), in view of Tian (US 2016/0252905).
Claims 15-16, Patnaik discloses autonomous vehicle that has a lead vehicle, however , does not specifically disclose recognition of guide vehicle being apprehended by law enforcement nor guide vehicle being in the emergency situation; Tian an analogous art teaches autonomous driving system where an emergency vehicle is identified by the EV by flashing lights and sound (summary of the invention); therefore , it would have been obvious to ordinary skilled artisan prior to applicant’s earliest priority date of this application to modify Patnaik’s invention to include detection of any emergency with the lead vehicle so that the following vehicle can make a safer route and safety stop determination while in following mode.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patnaik et al. (US20210034060A1) in view of Mudalige (US20100256852A1).
Claim 11, Patnaik teaches an autonomous cargo vehicle configured to receive remote control signals and transition into a follower operation upon identifying a lead vehicle, including detecting a unique visual identifier such as a QR code associated with the lead vehicle and initiating following behavior based on detected or received lead-vehicle information (para [0066]: “the lead vehicle may send a request to a remote server… the remote server would push this state down to the cargo vehicle”; para [0067]: “the lead vehicle may have a unique QR code or other identifier information… recognizable by the cargo vehicle’s sensors”; Fig. 10A: “Initiate a following operation by controlling the driving system in accordance with detected or received information about the lead vehicle.” ). Patnaik et al., however, do not expressly disclose waiting for a replacement guide vehicle and resuming follower operation after leader replacement. Mudalige teaches platoon leadership transition procedures including waiting during communication disruptions and nominating a new leader vehicle, thereby enabling vehicles to continue coordinated operation with a replacement leader (para [0093]: “one of the other vehicles may attempt to take the leadership position, after a wait period…”; para [0091]: “If a new Leader Vehicle is identified… send a ‘new leader nomination’ message…”; para [0106]: “the vehicle can wait for more time to see if the Leader Vehicle reestablishes communication or some other vehicle… requests leadership.” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Patnaik et al. to incorporate the leader-replacement and waiting protocols of Mudalige in order to improve reliability and continuity of autonomous convoy operation when a lead vehicle becomes unavailable, thereby resulting in a vehicle that receives a signal to wait for a replacement guide vehicle, detects a new identifier corresponding to the replacement leader (i.e., a second visual fiducial as taught by Patnaik et al.’s identifier recognition), and responsively resumes semi-autonomous follower mode.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MASUD AHMED whose telephone number is (571)270-1315. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-8:30 PM PST with IFP.
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MASUD . AHMED
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657A
/MASUD AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657