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 08/30/2024 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“obtaining ... using the detection device” in claims 1 and 14.
The Specification describes the detection device in paragraph 67 as including, but not limited to, a LiDAR, a microwave radar, an ultrasound sensor, or a visual sensor.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Song et al. (20200215694; hereinafter Song).
Regarding claim 1, Song teaches a control method (Song: Abstract) comprising:
obtaining a plurality of boundary points at a boundary of a detected region (Song: Fig. 2, “acquiring an environment image collected by a robot in a first region” ¶ 121) and an undetected region while a movable platform is moving indoors (Song: “collecting environment information, when an image conforming to a passage structure is identified in the environment image” ¶ 122, “executing the passage blocking setting to divide the first region and a second region communicated through a passage, when a presence of the passage entering the second region is determined based on the environment information” ¶ 123) and performing detection on an indoor environment using a detection device (Song: “the environment image may be collected by the vision sensor arranged on the robot” ¶ 124);
selecting a target boundary point from the plurality of boundary points according to feature information of the boundary points, for each of the boundary points, the feature information including semantic information of at least a part of a region to be passed by the movable platform when moving from a current position to the boundary point (Song: “the environment information is a point cloud model, and accordingly, the step 202 may specifically include: constructing the point cloud model for the surrounding environment of the robot” ¶ 126, “when the passage exists and the robot works to the position of the passage by directly controlling the robot, the robot does not pass through the passage, and the robot does not enter the next region for working until the work task in the first region is completed” ¶ 136); and
controlling the movable platform to move to the target boundary point (Song: “will enter into the next region through the passage to perform cleaning task until the task in the first region is finished” ¶ 137, see also ¶ 142).
Regarding claim 2, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein:
the semantic information includes at least one of furniture or a door (Song: “the passage refers to a pathway such as a door opening” ¶ 58, see also ¶ 98); and
selecting the target boundary point includes:
selecting, as the target boundary point, one of the boundary points with which the movable platform does not need to enter another room when moving to the one of the boundary points (Song: “determine whether a cross-domain passage exists in the actual working scene of the robot; when the passage exists and the robot works to the position of the passage by directly controlling the robot, the robot does not pass through the passage, and the robot does not enter the next region for working until the work task in the first region is completed” ¶ 136).
Regarding claim 3, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein:
the semantic information includes a corridor (Song: “the sweeping robot may identify a passage (such as doors 1-4, corridor entrance and the like shown in FIG. 4)” ¶ 140); and
selecting the target boundary point includes:
selecting, as the target boundary point, one of the boundary points with which the movable platform does not need to move from one side of the corridor to another side of the corridor when moving to the one of the boundary points (Song: “carry out passage blocking setting (such as arranging a virtual wall) at the position of the passage in the indoor room topology map shown in FIG. 4 according to three-dimensional information (such as a three-dimensional point cloud model) provided by the SLAM, so that the sweeping robot may perform task by regions” ¶ 140).
Regarding claim 4, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein:
the semantic information includes a room type (Song: “rooms should be identified and cleaned” ¶ 49); and
selecting the target boundary point includes:
selecting, as the target boundary point, one of the boundary points with which the movable platform passes through a room with a predetermined room type when moving to the one of the boundary points (Song: “since the room 5 and the living room 6 are not partitioned at the beginning, when the robot D moves to the passage (the gap shown in FIG. 10), the robot D may enter the room 5 to continue the cleaning task and continue to construct the grid map” ¶ 145).
Regarding claim 5, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
planning movement paths of the movable platform moving from the current position to the boundary points (Song: “The work record may include, but not limited to: working mode (such as bow-shaped cleaning mode, Z-shaped cleaning mode and the like), starting position and current position of the robot” ¶ 59); and
obtaining the semantic information of each of the boundary points according to the movement path to the boundary point and semantic information of the indoor environment (Song: “the work record includes, but not limited to: working mode, starting position, starting orientation of the robot at the starting position and midway position when the robot works to the position of the passage. Correspondingly, the above step 1031′ may be specifically: acquiring a region map of the first region; and determining the continuation scheme according to the region map, the working mode, the starting position, the starting orientation and the midway position” ¶ 114, see also ¶ 116).
Regarding claim 6, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the feature information of each of the boundary points further includes at least one of an area of a detectable region that is part of the undetected region but detectable when the movable platform is at the boundary point (Song: “for the first time, the robot D is randomly placed anywhere, such as a position in living room 6 as shown in FIG. 10 ... may use the laser sensor to collect real-time environment information in the working environment ... Based on the two-dimensional point cloud data collected by the laser sensor, a region grid map may be constructed ... the robot D may enter the room 5 to continue the cleaning task and continue to construct the grid map” ¶ 145), a distance between the current position of the movable platform and the boundary point, or a boundary point density around the boundary point.
Regarding claim 7, Song teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein selecting the target boundary point includes at least one of:
selecting, as the target boundary point, one of the boundary points with which the area of the detectable region is largest among the boundary points;
selecting, as the target boundary point, one of the boundary points with which the distance is shortest among the boundary points (Song: “calculating the distance between the adjacent obstacles if the angle is larger than a set angle threshold; and determining there is a gap conforming to the passage structure between the adjacent obstacles if the distance between the adjacent obstacles meets a set distance requirement” ¶ 192); or
selecting, as the target boundary point, one of the boundary points with which the boundary point density is highest among the boundary points.
Regarding claim 8, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the movable platform to move to the target boundary point includes:
obtaining a movement path of the movable platform moving to the target boundary point (Song: “The work record may include, but not limited to: working mode (such as bow-shaped cleaning mode, Z-shaped cleaning mode and the like), starting position and current position of the robot” ¶ 59); and
controlling the movable platform to move to the target boundary point according to the movement path until the target boundary point is detected or a new target boundary point is determined during movement (Song: “planning a path returning to the starting position according to the midway position; controlling the robot to work to return to the starting position in accordance with the path; adjusting a continuation orientation after the robot returns to the starting position again according to the starting orientation; and controlling the robot to continue working in the first region in the working mode along the continuation orientation from the starting position” ¶ 157).
Regarding claim 9, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein selecting the target boundary point includes:
after the movable platform detects a previous target boundary point, selecting the target boundary point from the plurality of boundary points according to the feature information of the boundary points (Song: “determining the continuation scheme according to the region map, the working mode, the starting position, the starting orientation and the midway position” ¶ 114, “adjusting a continuation orientation after the robot returns to the starting position again according to the starting orientation; and controlling the robot to continue working in the first region in the working mode along the continuation orientation from the starting position” ¶ 115, see also ¶ 116); or
selecting the target boundary point from the plurality of boundary points according to the feature information of the boundary points at a preset update frequency.
Regarding claim 10, Song teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
constructing an indoor environment map in real-time according to detection data of the detection device (Song: “Based on the two-dimensional point cloud data collected by the laser sensor, a region grid map may be constructed, as shown in FIG. 10. In FIG. 10, since the room 5 and the living room 6 are not partitioned at the beginning, when the robot D moves to the passage (the gap shown in FIG. 10), the robot D may enter the room 5 to continue the cleaning task and continue to construct the grid map” ¶ 145).
Regarding claim 11, Song teaches the method according to claim 10, wherein obtaining the plurality of boundary points includes:
identifying positions of one or more boundaries between the detected region and the undetected region according to the indoor environment map (Song: “for the first time, the robot D is randomly placed anywhere, such as a position in living room 6 as shown in FIG. 10, and starts cleaning in any manner ... may use the laser sensor to collect real-time environment information in the working environment, that is, two-dimensional point cloud data ... a region grid map may be constructed”) ¶ 145; and
generating the plurality of boundary points according to the positions of the one or more boundaries (Song: “Further, during the cleaning task of the room 5 by the robot D, if the passage between the room 5 and the living room 6 is collected again, the passage (such as a door opening) between the room 5 and the living room 6 may be identified according to the methods shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 1” ¶ 145).
Regarding claim 12, Song teaches the method according to claim 10, wherein obtaining the plurality of boundary points includes:
performing random sampling on the indoor environment to obtain a plurality of sampling points (Song: “the environment information may be two-dimensional point cloud data acquired after a sensor (such as a laser sensor, etc.) arranged on the robot scans obstacles in a plane; or three-dimensional point cloud data acquired by a sensor module including a vision sensor” ¶ 57); and
obtaining the plurality of boundary points according to the plurality of sampling points and the indoor environment map (Song: “constructing the point cloud model for a surrounding environment of the robot by utilizing the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology, when an image conforming to a passage structure is identified in the environment image” ¶ 64).
Regarding claim 13, Song teaches the method according to claim 1,
wherein the movable platform is a vacuum cleaner robot (Song: “a cleaning robot, such as a sweeping robot” ¶ 49);
the method further comprising, after constructing an indoor environment map:
responding to a cleaning instruction, determining a cleaning sequence of a plurality of rooms according to the indoor environment map and room types of the rooms in the indoor environment (Song: “acquiring a region topology map and the position of the passage in the region topology map” ¶ 102, “additionally arranging a virtual wall at the position in the region topology map; where the virtual wall is a boundary form that may block the passage, and the robot cannot pass through the virtual wall” ¶ 104, “controlling the robot to continue working in the first region in the working mode along the continuation orientation from the starting position” ¶ 115); and
cleaning the plurality of rooms according to the cleaning sequence (Song: “when the work task is completed, controlling the robot to move from an end position, when the work task is completed to the midway position, and controlling the robot to enter the second region through the passage after the robot arrives the midway position” ¶ 118, “the robot is prevented from entering the second region through the passage by setting the region topology map; while in the step 106′, the robot is prevent from entering the second region through the passage by adjusting the control strategy of the robot” ¶ 119).
Regarding claim 14, Song teaches a movable platform comprising:
a detection device (Song: “the environment information may be two-dimensional point cloud data acquired after a sensor (such as a laser sensor, etc.) arranged on the robot scans obstacles in a plane; or three-dimensional point cloud data acquired by a sensor module including a vision sensor (e.g., a monocular camera, a binocular camera, a depth camera RGBD, etc.) provided on the robot” ¶ 57);
one or more processors (Song: “the cleaning robot includes a memory 31 and a processor 32” ¶ 169); and
one or more memories storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the movable platform to (Song: “the cleaning robot includes a memory 31 and a processor 32. The memory 31 may be configured to store various data to support operations on the cleaning robot” ¶ 169):
...
In regards to the remainder of claim 14, the claim recites analogous limitations to previously rejected claim 1, and is therefore rejected under the same premise.
In regards to claims 15-20, the claims recite analogous limitations to claims 2-3 and 6-9, respectfully, and are therefore rejected under the same premise.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Artes et al. (20210131822) is in the similar field of endeavor as the claimed invention of robot control.
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/C.P./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/KYLE J KINGSLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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