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 . Claims 1-20 are pending and examined below. This action is in response to the claims filed 4/16/26.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Remarks 35 USC § 102. filed on 4/16/26, regarding 35 USC § 102 rejections are persuasive in view of amendments filed 4/16/26.
However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view of further citations to the art of record below.
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 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.
(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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being clearly anticipated by VANDIKE et al. (US 2022/0113734), herein “Vandike”.
Regarding claim 1, Vandike discloses a crop state map generation and control system including an agricultural system comprising (Abstract):
one or more processors; and memory storing instruction, executable by the one or more processors, that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (¶46 and ¶209):
obtain harvest readiness sensor data, indicative of one or more harvest readiness attributes corresponding to a worksite, from one or more harvest readiness sensors remote from a harvester (¶69 – in-situ sensor data corresponding to the recited harvest readiness sensor data for determining harvest readiness attributes of specific crops corresponding to the recited a worksite where sensors include remote in-situ sensors 224, such as UAV-based sensors flown at a time to gather in-situ data as well as other sensors for gathering the appropriate data),
wherein the one or more harvest readiness attributes include commodity orientation, and wherein commodity orientation is indicative of an orientation of a commodity relative to a corresponding crop plant stalk (¶24, ¶77, and ¶93 – in-situ sensor data includes crop state data including whether or not a crop has a downed condition and the magnitude/orientation of the downed crop);
determine one or more harvest readiness values corresponding to the worksite, indicative of a readiness for harvesting, based on the harvest readiness sensor data (¶46 and ¶69 – agricultural characteristics corresponding to the recited one or more harvest readiness values based on the sensor data); and
control one or more controllable subsystems of the harvester based on the one or more harvest readiness values (¶69-76 and Fig. 3A – element 310 corresponding to the recited controlling subsystems based on controls derived from the agricultural characteristics corresponding to the recited harvest readiness values).
Regarding claim 9, Vandike further discloses a computer implemented method of controlling a harvester, the computer implemented method comprising (Abstract):
obtaining harvest readiness sensor data, indicative of one or more harvest readiness attributes corresponding to a worksite, from one or more harvest readiness sensors remote from a harvester (¶69 – in-situ sensor data corresponding to the recited harvest readiness sensor data for determining harvest readiness attributes of specific crops corresponding to the recited a worksite where sensors include remote in-situ sensors 224, such as UAV-based sensors flown at a time to gather in-situ data as well as other sensors for gathering the appropriate data),
wherein the one or more harvest readiness attributes include commodity exposure (¶96 – in-situ crop state data includes identification of stalk damage corresponding to the recited commodity exposure);
determining one or more harvest readiness values corresponding to the worksite, indicative of a readiness for harvesting, based on the harvest readiness sensor data (¶46 and ¶69 – agricultural characteristics corresponding to the recited one or more harvest readiness values based on the sensor data); and
controlling one or more controllable subsystems of the harvester based on the one or more harvest readiness values (¶69-76 and Fig. 3A – element 310 corresponding to the recited controlling subsystems based on controls derived from the agricultural characteristics corresponding to the recited harvest readiness values).
Regarding claims 2 and 10, Vandike further discloses wherein obtaining the harvest readiness sensor data comprises obtaining the harvest readiness sensor data from one or more harvest readiness sensors remote from the worksite (¶54 – sensor data may come from locations across the field or from different fields corresponding to the recited remote from the worksite for providing contextual information).
Regarding claims 3 and 11, Vandike further discloses wherein obtaining the harvest readiness sensor data comprises obtaining the harvest readiness sensor data from one or more harvest readiness sensor disposed on a drone (¶69 - remote in-situ sensors 224, such as UAV-based sensors flown at a time to gather in-situ data).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Vandike further discloses wherein the one or more harvest readiness attributes further include one or more of: (i) presence and location of free- standing water: (ii) worksite accessibility: (iii) worksite traversability; (iv) one or more attributes of a worksite entrance; and (vi) one or more attributes of a worksite exit (¶44-46 - agricultural characteristics includes characteristics of the field corresponding to the recited worksite readiness attributes including the presence and location of standing water corresponding to the recited (i) where standing water on a field also indicates its accessibility and traversability corresponding to the recited (ii) and (iii), the “one or more of” claim element requires at least one of the following to be present to disclose the invention as claimed).
Regarding claim 5, Vandike further discloses wherein commodity orientation indicates whether a commodity is upright or hanging down (¶24, ¶77, and ¶93 – in-situ sensor data includes crop state data including whether or not a crop has a downed condition and the magnitude/orientation of the downed crop corresponding to the recited upright or hanging down orientations).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Vandike further discloses controlling a propulsion subsystem of the harvester to control a travel speed of the harvester (¶46 and ¶133 - the settings controller 232 controls propulsion subsystem 250 (shown as one of the controllable subsystems 216 in FIG. 2) to control the speed of agricultural harvester).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Vandike further discloses controlling a steering subsystem of the harvester to control a heading of the harvester (¶46 and ¶64 - control steering subsystem 252 to steer agricultural harvester 100 according to a desired path).
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Vandike further discloses the one or more controllable subsystems include one or more of (¶46 and ¶64 – the “one or more” claim element only requires one of the following to be present to disclose the claim as written):
a first actuator controllable to move a first component of the harvester (¶46 and ¶64 -header actuator corresponding to the recited first actuator to move a first component of the harvester); or
a second actuator controllable to adjust a movement speed of a second component of the harvester (¶32, ¶46, and ¶64 – propulsion subsystem that includes an engine that drives ground engaging components to control the ground speed of the harvester corresponding to the recited movement speed of a second component of the harvester); and
wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: control one or more of: the first actuator to move the first component of the harvester (¶46 and ¶64 -header actuator corresponding to the recited first actuator to move a first component of the harvester as controlled by the settings controller); or
the second actuator to adjust a movement speed of the second component of the harvester (¶32, ¶46, and ¶64 – propulsion subsystem that includes an engine that drives ground engaging components to control the ground speed of the harvester corresponding to the recited movement speed of a second component of the harvester).
Regarding claim 12, Vandike further discloses wherein commodity exposure indicates whether commodity is exposed to the environment (¶96 – in-situ crop state data includes identification of stalk damage corresponding to the recited commodity exposure where a damaged stalk exposes the commodity to the environment).
Regarding claim 17, Vandike further discloses an agricultural system comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instruction, executable by the one or more processors, that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (Abstract, ¶46, and ¶209):
obtain crop plant readiness sensor data, indicative of one or more crop plant readiness attributes corresponding to a worksite, from one or more sensors remote from a harvester (¶69 – in-situ sensor data including crop characteristics such as a vegetative index, seeing characteristics, etc. corresponding to the recited one or more crop plant readiness attributes for determining harvest readiness attributes of specific crops corresponding to the recited a worksite where sensors include remote in-situ sensors 224, such as UAV-based sensors flown at a time to gather in-situ data as well as other sensors for gathering the appropriate data),
wherein the one or more crop plant readiness attributes include crop plant shatterability (¶96 – readiness attributes includes the rate of crop senescence corresponding to the recited shatterability);
determine one or more crop plant readiness values corresponding to the worksite, indicative of a readiness of crop plants for harvesting, based on the crop plant readiness sensor data (¶46-47 – crop characteristics such as a vegetative index, seeing characteristics, etc. corresponding to the recited one or more crop plant readiness attributes); and
control one or more controllable subsystems of the harvester based on the one or more crop plant readiness values (¶46, ¶69-76, and Fig. 3A – element 310 corresponding to the recited controlling subsystems based on controls derived from the crop characteristics such as a vegetative index, seeing characteristics, etc. corresponding to the recited one or more crop plant readiness attributes).
Regarding claim 18, Vandike further discloses obtain worksite readiness sensor data, indicative of one or more worksite readiness attributes corresponding to the worksite, from the one or more sensors remote from the harvester, wherein the one or more worksite readiness attributes include one or more of: (i) presence and location of free-standing water; (ii) worksite accessibility; (iii) worksite traversability; (iv) one or more attributes of a worksite entrance; and (vi) one or more attributes of a worksite exit; determine one or more worksite readiness values corresponding to the worksite, indicative of a readiness of the worksite for harvesting, based on the worksite readiness sensor data (¶44-46 and ¶69 – in-situ sensor data including agricultural characteristics such as characteristics of the field corresponding to the recited worksite readiness attributes where sensors include remote in-situ sensors 224, such as UAV-based sensors flown at a time to gather in-situ data as well as other sensors for gathering the appropriate data including characteristics of the field corresponding to the recited worksite readiness attributes including the presence and location of standing water corresponding to the recited (i) where standing water on a field also indicates its accessibility and traversability corresponding to the recited (ii) and (iii), the “one or more of” claim element requires at least one of the following to be present to disclose the invention as claimed); and
control one or more controllable subsystems of the harvester based further on the worksite readiness values (¶46, ¶69-76, and Fig. 3A – element 310 corresponding to the recited controlling subsystems based on controls derived from the agricultural characteristics includes characteristics of the field corresponding to the recited worksite readiness attributes).
Regarding claim 19, Vandike further discloses wherein the one or more sensors include at least one sensor disposed on a drone (¶69 - remote in-situ sensors 224, such as UAV-based sensors flown at a time to gather in-situ data).
Regarding claim 20, Vandike further discloses wherein the one or more sensors include at least one sensor remote from the worksite (¶54 – sensor data may come from locations across the field or from different fields corresponding to the recited remote from the worksite for providing contextual information).
Additional References Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Mesquita et al. (US 2002/0004418) discloses a grain harvesting device which includes detecting and avoiding the shattering of seed pods while harvesting (¶37).
Johnson (US 2013/0174040) discloses a crop planting system which takes into account the different types of exposures a crop may be subjected to (¶75)
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Matthew J Reda whose telephone number is (408)918-7573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7-4 ET.
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/MATTHEW J. REDA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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