DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-16 are pending.
Claims 1, 5, 8, 12, 13, 15, and 16 have been amended.
Claims 1-16 are rejected.
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 Objections
Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “transforming … into a world coordinate system with a processor” at lines 2-4. It should recite, “transforming … into a world coordinate system, with a processor.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 5-10, and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choe et al. (US 2020/0410260, hereinafter “Choe”), cited by applicant, in view of Okamoto et al. (US 2021/0197819, hereinafter “Okamoto”).
In regards to claim 1, Choe teaches a method for creating a virtual lane for a vehicle, the method comprising:
transforming real-time values of vehicle dynamics parameters associated with the vehicle and a location of one or more objects surrounding the vehicle into a world coordinate system with a processor, (Choe; pars [0014]-[0015], [0022], Fig. 6 – the 2D and 3D views require a coordinate system);
generating, with the processor, a bird's-eye view of the vehicle and a predetermined region surrounding the vehicle based on the world coordinate system (Choe; par [0049]; Fig. 6, reference character 602 – top-down view); and
creating with the processor a virtual lane corresponding to the vehicle on the bird's-eye view of the vehicle and the predetermined region (Choe; par [0050]; Fig. 6, reference character 605 – virtual lane).
Choe does not explicitly teach wherein the world coordinate system comprises a two-dimensional cartesian mapping including an X coordinate axis and a Y coordinate axis with the vehicle represented at an origin of the X coordinate axis and the Y coordinate axis and automatically re-routing or changing a course of navigation of the vehicle based upon the bird's-eve view and other vehicles in the bird's-eve view, the re-routing or the changing of the course being effective to cause the vehicle to give way to the other vehicles approaching in a same lane as the vehicle.
Okamoto teaches wherein the world coordinate system comprises a two-dimensional cartesian mapping including an X coordinate axis and a Y coordinate axis with the vehicle represented at an origin of the X coordinate axis and the Y coordinate axis (Okamoto; pars [0040], [0056], [0112]) and
automatically re-routing or changing a course of navigation of the vehicle based upon the bird's-eve view and other vehicles in the bird's-eve view, the re-routing or the changing of the course being effective to cause the vehicle to give way to the other vehicles approaching in a same lane as the vehicle (Okamoto; pars [0020], [0042], [0215]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the method of Choe using the features of Okamoto for improved localization, control, and safety in an autonomous driving context (Okamoto; par [0020]).
In regards to claim 2, Choe and Okamoto teach the method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is at least one of an autonomous vehicle, a human-driven vehicle or an assisted driving vehicle (Choe; pars [0001], [0003] – autonomous vehicle).
In regards to claim 3, Choe and Okamoto teach the method of claim 1, wherein transforming the vehicle dynamics parameters comprises transforming odometry information associated with the vehicle (Choe; par [0022]).
In regards to claim 5, Choe and Okamoto teach the method of claim 1.
Choe further teaches determining the curvature of the virtual lane based on the current direction the vehicle is moving in or the steering angle of the vehicle (Choe; par [0046]). However, Choe does not explicitly teach recreating the virtual lane using the processor when a deviation angle associated with the virtual lane changes more than a predetermined deviation angle.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the method of Choe and Okamoto whereby if the deviation angle associated with the virtual lane changed more than a predetermined angle, i.e. the steering angle of the vehicle changed, the virtual lane would be adjusted, i.e. recreated, accordingly in order to be more accurate to the current conditions of the vehicle (Choe; par [0046]).
In regards to claim 6, Choe and Okamoto teach the method of claim 1 further comprises detecting, using the processor, when at least one of the one or more objects is in the virtual lane of the vehicle (Choe; pars [0048], [0050], Figs. 5 and 6).
In regards to claim 7, Choe and Okamoto teach the method of claim 6 further comprises alerting the vehicle when the at least one object is detected in the virtual lane of the vehicle (Choe; pars [0014]-[0015] – emergency operation is activated, which constitutes alerting the vehicle).
Claims 8-10, 12, 13, and 14 are rejected for the same reasons as claims 1-3, 5, 6, and 7, respectively.
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 1.
In regards to claim 16, Choe and Okamoto teach the lane creation system of claim 8, wherein the lane creation system is located in a vehicle (Choe; Figs. 1, 3A, 3B).
Claims 4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choe in view of Okamoto, further in view of Valeo Schalter Und Sensoren GmbH (WO 2018/172460, hereinafter “Valeo”), cited by applicant.
In regards to claim 4, Choe and Okamoto teach the method of claim 1, further comprising detecting the location of the one or more objects using a camera of the vehicle, during movement of the vehicle (Choe; par [0022] – cameras).
Choe and Okamoto do not explicitly teach using a rear-view camera of the vehicle.
Valeo teaches the use of a rear-view camera (Valeo; p.17, 1st paragraph – “video sensor can be positioned at the rear of the ego vehicle”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the implement the cameras in Choe and Okamoto by including a rear-view camera, as taught by Valeo, in order to more fully capture the vehicle environment, including the lane markings of a currently traveled road (Valeo; p.17, 1st paragraph).
Claim 11 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 4.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments with respect to the claim objections have been fully considered. However, an objection to claim 1 remains. Although applicant indicated it was corrected in applicant’s remarks, the change is not reflected in the amendments to claim 1.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to the 35 USC 112 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 112 rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to the 35 USC 101 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 101 rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with respect to the prior art rejections have been fully 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.
With respect to the modification of Choe, the examiner respectfully asserts that Choe and Okamoto are both in the field of autonomous vehicle control and perception and are properly combined, as set forth in the rejection above, to render obvious the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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 Kavita Stanley whose telephone number is (571)272-8352. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30am-6pm.
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/KAVITA STANLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2153
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