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 § 103
1. 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
2. Claims 1-9 and 21-29 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al: "Dynamic path planning method for headland turning of unmanned agricultural vehicles".
Regarding claims 1 and 21, He discloses an agricultural vehicle (title, figs, etc), comprising:
one or more sensors disposed on the agricultural vehicle (fig 2, etc);
a first controller in communication with the one or more sensors, the first controller comprising one or more first memory devices storing first instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more first processors, cause the one or more first processors to (fig 2, page 2, “2.1. Hardware system components”, etc: “first controller” mapped to onboard controller):
receive, from the one or more sensors, first information that indicates a position of the agricultural vehicle relative to a swath (figs 2, 4, etc: “swath” mapped to crop row);
retrieve, from a database, second information that indicates one or more parameters of the agricultural vehicle (Table 1, page 5, col. 1, "The coordinates for point B and point C are determined based on the vehicle's position and turning radius", etc: “parameter” mapped to turning radius);
generate, based at least on the first information and the second information, a path for the agricultural vehicle to travel to reach the swath (page 5, col. 1, "The coordinates for point B and point C are determined based on the vehicle's position and turning radius. Update point B or point C when the vehicle deviates. When the two points have changed, a new path have been created." And this path is used to reach the path 2 as shown in figure 4); and
transmit, to a second controller of the agricultural vehicle, responsive to generation of the path, one or more signals to indicate the path for the agricultural vehicle (page 3, "2.1. Hardware system components ", "After data analysis, the on board controller sends control instructions to the VCU (Vehicle Controller Unit) through the serial port to control the steering angle and speed of the vehicle.", etc); and
the second controller comprising one or more second memory devices storing second instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more second processors, cause the one or more second processors to (page 2, “2.1. Hardware system components”, etc: “second controller” mapped to Vehicle Controller Unit VCU, etc):
monitor, responsive to receipt of the one or more of the agricultural vehicle as the agricultural vehicle travels to the swath (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", or the speed of the vehicle regulated at 0.5 m/s, etc);
detect, responsive to monitoring the movement of the agricultural vehicle, a deviation from the path (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", or the speed of the vehicle regulated at 0.5 m/s, etc); and
generate, responsive to detection of the deviation, one or more second signals to control subsequent movement of the agricultural vehicle (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", etc).
He does not disclose that the monitoring and detecting steps are performed by the second controller (rather than by the first controller as implied by He).
However, it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950); In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975). As applied here, it would appear that if it were considered to be desirable for any reason to move functions from one controller to another, it would have been obvious to do so for that purpose. Thus He could easily be rearranged so that the monitoring and detecting steps are performed by the second controller rather than the first controller.
Alternatively, it has also been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961). Thus the first controller +functions of He could easily be separated into two controllers +functions.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He to move the monitoring and detecting steps to the second controller, using only routine skill in the art, in order to reduce the processing load on the first controller, with predictable results.
Regarding claims 2 and 22, He further discloses that the first controller and the second controller implement a cascade control loop, wherein the first instructions cause the one or more first processors to implement a first portion of the cascade control loop by providing the one or more signals as inputs to the second controller, and wherein the second instructions cause the one or more second processors to implement a second portion of the cascade control loop by providing one or more third signals as inputs to the first controller (fig 8, where the path is recomputed if the vehicle deviates too far from the initial path, etc).
Regarding claims 3 and 23, He further discloses that the one or more parameters of the agricultural vehicle comprise at least one of: a steering rate of the agricultural vehicle; a speed of the agricultural vehicle; an acceleration of the agricultural vehicle; a size of the agricultural vehicle; or a position of an implement coupled with the agricultural vehicle (Table 1, etc).
Regarding claims 4 and 24, He further discloses that the path includes a first path for the agricultural vehicle to travel to reach the swath and a second path for the agricultural vehicle to travel to reach the swath, and wherein the first instructions cause the one or more first processors to: determine, based at least on the first information, a first area that includes the swath and the agricultural vehicle; generate, responsive to determination of the first area, the first path for the agricultural vehicle to travel to reach the swath; receive, from the one or more sensors, responsive to the movement of the agricultural vehicle, third information that indicates a second position of the agricultural vehicle relative to the swath; determine, based at least one the third information, a second area that is less than the first area, wherein the second area includes:
at least a portion of the first path; the swath; and the agricultural vehicle; and
generate, responsive to determination of the second area, the second path for the agricultural vehicle to travel to reach the swath (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", etc).
Regarding claims 5 and 25, He further discloses that the first instructions cause the one or more first processors to receive, from the one or more second processors, an input to a cascade control loop (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", the feature appears to be present, as the position is used to update the target path, etc).
Regarding claims 6-7 and 26-27, He further discloses that the first instructions cause the one or more first processors to: generate, prior to the movement of the agricultural vehicle, a first prediction of a first area that includes the swath and the agricultural vehicle; and generate, subsequent to the movement of the agricultural vehicle, a second prediction of a second area that includes the swath and the agricultural vehicle; wherein the second area is less than the first area (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", etc).
Regarding claims 8 and 28, He further discloses the first controller configured to implement an outer loop of a cascade control loop at one or more first rates; and
the second controller configured to implement an inner loop of the cascade control loop at one or more second rates different from the one or more first rates (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", etc).
Regarding claims 9 and 29, He further discloses the first controller configured to implement the outer loop of the cascade control loop without calibration relative to the agricultural vehicle; and the second controller configured to implement the inner loop of the cascade control loop without calibration relative to the agricultural vehicle (figs 8-9, 11, page 8, "2.3.3. The third stage", etc).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHELLEY CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1330. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays through Fridays.
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/Shelley Chen/
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3665
February 21, 2026