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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/08/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 5 appears to have removed the element numbers in the claims, but “sensor (12)” appears to have been missed. Appropriate correction is required.
Additionally, claim 1 recites the limitation “at least one image-acquiring sensor” and then further recites “the sensor” making it appear that the sensor and the at least one image acquiring sensor are different sensors. Examiner suggests referring to “the sensor” as “the at least one image-acquiring sensor” for all subsequent recitations to avoid potential antecedent issues.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recited the limitations “the pitch of a motor vehicle… the road” in lines 1-3. Claim 1 also recites the limitation “the absolute difference” in line 11 There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitation in the claim.
Claims 7 and 8 recites the limitation "the longitudinal acceleration" in lines 3 and 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 13 and 16 recite the limitation “the number of selected points”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “the longitudinal path of the motor vehicle” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
You can have other styles of doing this, but the main point is to make it clear that all these claims are rejected under 112th because some claims actually have 112th issues, and their dependent would also inherit these issues
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions
and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea of a mathematical concept without significantly more. The claims recite “a method for estimating the pitch of a motor vehicle… the method comprising at least:”,
“a first estimating step consisting in estimating a first pitch angle θ1(t) of the sensor using a first estimating method that integrates a drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) aiming to limit drift of the estimation of the first pitch angle θ1(t),”,
“a second estimating step that consists in estimating a second pitch angle θ2(t) of the sensor, using a second estimating method”,
“a comparing third step consisting in examining at least a first condition that is validated if the absolute difference between the first pitch angle θ1(t) and the second pitch angle θ2(t) is greater than or equal to a first predefined threshold,”,
“a fourth step that is executed if a criterion is met, the criterion comprising at least validation of the first condition, and that consists in refining said first pitch angle θ1(t) by increasing the drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) to obtain a refined first pitch angle θ1aff(t) considered as output angle”,
“and a fifth step that is executed if the first condition is invalidated and that consists in considering said first pitch angle θ1(t) such as computed in the course of the first step as output angle”,
“…wherein the comparing third step consists in examining at least a second condition that is validated if the quality of the estimation of the first pitch angle θ1(t) computed in the course of the first step, and if the quality of the estimation of the second pitch angle θ2(t) computed in the course of the second step, are each greater than a second predefined threshold, and in that the fourth step is executed if a criterion is met, the criterion further comprising validation of the second condition, and in that the fifth step is executed if the first condition or the second condition are invalidated”,
“…wherein the comparing third step consists in examining a third condition that is validated if the absolute difference between the first pitch angle θ1(t) and a calibration angle θcalib(t) at the current time t is less than the absolute difference between the second pitch angle θ2(t) and said calibration angle θcalib(t), or if the calibration angle θcalib(t) is comprised between the first pitch angle θ1(t) and the second pitch angle θ1(t), the calibration angle θcalib(t) being known at all times and corresponding to the nominal value of the tilt angle of the sensor when the motor vehicle is not moving, and in that the fourth step is executed if a criterion is met, the criterion further comprising validation of the third condition, and in that the fifth step is executed if at least one of said conditions is invalidated”,
“…a comparing sixth step consisting in examining a fourth condition that is validated if the first pitch angle θ1(t) is greater than the second pitch angle θ2(t) and the refined first pitch angle θ1aff(t) is less than the second pitch angle θ2(t), or if the first pitch angle θ1(t) is less than the second pitch angle θ2(t) and the refined first pitch angle θ1aff(t) is greater than the second pitch angle θ2(t), a seventh step that is executed if the fourth condition is validated and that consists in considering said second pitch angle θ2(t) such as computed in the course of the second step as output angle, and an eighth step that is executed if the fourth condition is invalidated and that consists in considering said refined first pitch angle θ1aff(t) as output angle”,
“… wherein the first method for estimating the first pitch angle θ1(t) of the sensor comprises at least: a first phase of computing a pitch angle of the sensor estimated by integrating the relative movement of the sensor (12) θint(t) at a current time t, using the following equation: θint(t)=θ1(t-1)-θrel(t) with: i. θ1(t−1) the first pitch angle θ1(t) of the sensor at a previous time t−1, and ii. θrel(t) a relative angle of the sensor at the current time t that expresses the angle of the sensor between said previous time t−1 and the current time t, and a second phase of estimating the first pitch angle θ1(t) of the sensor, using the following equation: θ1(t)=θint(t)+DAC(t)*(θcalib(t)-θint(t)) with: i. θ1(t) the first pitch angle of the sensor, at the current time t, ii. θint(t) the pitch angle of the sensor estimated by integrating the relative movement of the sensor in the course of the preceding computing first phase, at the current time t, iii. DAC(t) the drift-avoidance coefficient, comprised between zero and one, at the current time t, and iv. θcalib(t) a calibration angle at the current time t, which is known at all times and which corresponds to the nominal value of the tilt angle of the sensor when the motor vehicle is not moving.”,
“… wherein the drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) depends partly on the acceleration of the motor vehicle and partly on the relative movement of the sensor between the current time t and a previous time, the estimating second phase comprising computing the drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) using the following equation:
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with: DACrel(t) a relative drift-avoidance coefficient that depends on the movement of the sensor and that is obtained using the following equation:
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with DACMaxRel a predetermined maximum value of the relative drift-avoidance coefficient DACrel(t), Nrel a predetermined number corresponding to the selected value of the number of previous times used to determine the relative drift-avoidance coefficient DACrel(t), θrel(t) the relative angle of the sensor at the current time t, and θAMR a predetermined empirical maximum value of the relative angle of the sensor at the current time t θrel(t), and
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an acceleration drift-avoidance coefficient that depends on the acceleration of the motor vehicle, and that is obtained using the following equation:
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with
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a predetermined maximum value of the acceleration drift-avoidance coefficient
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, Na the predetermined number corresponding to the selected value of the number of previous times used to determine the acceleration drift-avoidance coefficient
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(t) the acceleration of the motor vehicle at the time t, and
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AMR a predetermined empirical maximum value of the acceleration {right arrow over (a)}(t) of the motor vehicle, and in that, in the course of the fourth step, the drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) is increased by increasing the predetermined maximum value DACMaxRel of the relative drift-avoidance coefficient DACrel(t) and by increasing the predetermined maximum value
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of the acceleration drift-avoidance coefficient
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“… wherein a penalty drift-avoidance coefficient DACpen(t) is added to the drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) when the measured longitudinal acceleration of the motor vehicle is inconsistent with the variation in the first pitch angle θ1(t) of the sensor.”,
“… wherein the penalty drift-avoidance coefficient DACpen(t) is obtained using the following equation:
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with DACMaxPen a predetermined maximum value of the penalty drift-avoidance coefficient DACpen(t),
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the longitudinal acceleration of the motor vehicle and θint(t) the pitch angle of the sensor estimated by integrating the relative movement of the sensor at a current time t”,
“… wherein the drift-avoidance coefficient DAC(t) is obtained using the following equation:
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with DACrel(t) the relative drift-avoidance coefficient that depends on the movement of the sensor,
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the acceleration drift-avoidance coefficient and DACpen(t) the penalty drift-avoidance coefficient”, “wherein the quality of the estimation of the first pitch angle θ1(t) depends on the quality of the relative angle θrel(t) and on the quality of the calibration angle θcalib(t)”,
“wherein the second method for estimating the second pitch angle θ2(t) of the sensor consists in processing the images acquired by the sensor with a view to recognizing therein, in each image, the shape of line markings of the road on which the motor vehicle is being driven and to deducing therefrom the estimation of the second pitch angle θ2(t)”,
“… wherein the second method for estimating the second pitch angle θ2(t) of the sensor consists in: analyzing at least one image acquired by the sensor at a time t with a view to recognizing line markings of the road in said image, … defining a vanishing point where said line markings cross, and comparing the position of said vanishing point with the position of the optical center of the sensor with a view to estimating the second pitch angle θ2(t) of the sensor”,
“… wherein the quality of the estimation of the second pitch angle θ2(t) depends on the number of selected points belonging to the line markings and on the length of said line markings visible in the acquired image”, “wherein the first pitch angle θ1(t) of the sensor is a pitch angle that corresponds to an angular movement of the sensor about a transverse axis that on the whole is perpendicular to the longitudinal path of the motor vehicle”, which calculates motor vehicle characteristics and pitch angle of a camera and the vehicle itself.
Step 1: These claims are directed to a method of estimating a pitch of a vehicle through angle relationships of the sensor
Step 2A, Prong One:
The limitations of estimating a vehicle pitch based on a sensor located on the vehicle is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of mathematic relationships without any inventive concepts. That is, other than reciting “at least one image-acquiring sensor” or “the sensor” or “relative movement of the sensor” or “acceleration of the sensor” or “the acceleration of the motor vehicle” or “the measured longitudinal acceleration of the motor vehicle” or “the shape of line markings of the road on which the motor vehicle is being driven” or “and selecting a plurality of points belonging to the line markings, defining a vanishing point where said line markings cross, and comparing the position of said vanishing point with the position of the optical center of the sensor”, nothing in the claim element precludes the step from relating to a purely mathematical concept with physical elements that relate to variables in the claimed formulas. For example, the “motor vehicle, sensor, acceleration, or line markings,” relates to variables utilized in the equations in order to allow for the vehicle pitch to be calculated. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers and abstract idea of using mathematical equations for determining updated vehicle characteristics like a wheel radius or corrected wheel speed, then it falls within the “Mathematical concepts” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, these claims recite an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong Two:
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims recite additional elements: “a motor vehicle” and “A device for dynamically estimating the pitch of a motor vehicle by at least on image-acquiring sensor that is located on board said motor vehicle… a processing unit”. The step of using a device to control this method and the physical vehicle components such as the pitch, movement, and acceleration are all recited in a means for merely applying the exception using generic components. Further stated, using a computer or device to apply an abstract mathematical concept is recited as “apply it” additional elements recited here in the MPEP 2106.05(f) “Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a fundamental economic practice or mathematical equation) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more. See Affinity Labs v. DirecTV, 838 F.3d 1253, 1262, 120 USPQ2d 1201, 1207 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (cellular telephone); TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto, LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 613, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1748 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (computer server and telephone unit).” Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The claims are directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B:
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed with respect to Step 2A, this has been re-evaluated in Step 2B and determined whether there is significantly more than the abstract idea. The rationale for prong 2 of step 2A applies equally here. Furthermore, the specification does not provide any indication that the device is anything other than a generic, off-the-shelf vehicle control components such as a processing unit in paragraph [0053]. As such, the claims are ineligible.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 6,535,114 B1 discloses a camera sensor determining pose and motion of the sensor
US 6,678,631 B2 discloses attitude estimation of the vehicle based on sensor information
DE 102010048143 A1 discloses determining camera parameters and the current pitch of the vehicle to correct the pitch angle
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kyle T Johnson whose telephone number is (303)297-4339. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:00-5:00 MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wade Miles can be reached at (571) 270-7777. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KYLE T JOHNSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3656