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 25-47 have been examined.
Claims 1-24 have been canceled.
Claims 25-47 have been added.
P = paragraph e.g. P[0001] = paragraph[0001]
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 03/26/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
Claim 39 is 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.
As per Claim 39, it is unclear if the Claim 39 limitation “a sensing system controller” is or is not equivalent to the Claim 35 limitation “a sensing system controller”.
Furthermore, because both Claim 35 and Claim 39 recite “a sensing system controller”, it is unclear if the Claim 39 limitation “the sensing system controller” further limits the Claim 35 limitation “a sensing system controller” or the Claim 39 limitation “a sensing system controller”.
Therefore, the claim is unclear.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claims 25-28 and 35-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vosburgh et al. (2009/0241826).
Regarding Claim 25, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) sensing system controller (“…a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044]) in communication with an UUV controller (“…a vehicle controller 107, and a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044] and P[0071] and “The payload 105 may be provided as a module and may include components for vehicle guiding/navigating, sensing, communicating, operating, causing, neutralizing, marking, material-providing, and/or mass-altering, for example. In some cases, the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]), the UUV controller adapted for guiding an untethered UUV configured to detect and classify objects of interest in the water using the tactical sensors according to a preselected navigational behavior during operation of the UUV during a mission (“The vehicle control system 107 can include a guidance navigation and control (GNC) sensor, a state sensor, an environmental sensor, and/or a processor”, see P[0067]), the UUV sensing system controller further adapted for:
receiving tactical data from the tactical sensors located on the UUV, the tactical sensors having preselected tactical sensor settings (“The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067] and “…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]);
receiving environmental data including water parameter measurements from environmental sensors having preselected environmental sensor settings located on the UUV (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]);
modifying at least one of the preselected environmental sensor settings, the preselected tactical sensor settings and the preselected navigational behavior in response to the environmental data received during the mission (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]); and
controlling at least one of the environmental sensors, the tactical sensors and the preselected navigational behavior of the UUV in real time during the mission (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]).
Regarding Claim 26, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed UUV sensing system controller according to claim 25, wherein the water parameter measurements comprises at least one of:
water temperature, water conductivity, water salinity, sound velocity profile, turbidity, chlorophyll-a, water fluorescence, water column stability and biological population estimates (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]).
Regarding Claim 27, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed UUV sensing system controller according to claim 25, wherein the tactical sensors comprises at least one of:
active sonar, side scan sonar, optical video and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) (“…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]).
Regarding Claim 28, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed UUV sensing system controller according to claim 25, wherein the preselected navigational behavior comprises at least one of:
planned transects, altitude, heading, speed, roll rate, pitch rate, yaw rate, reacquiring an object and following an object (“As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the dihedral angles A1, A2 of the fins 110, 112 may be maintained substantially the same to enable or facilitate travel of the vehicle 100 in a horizontally straight direction. In some cases, the dihedral angles A1, A2 may be independently controlled so that they differ from one another to induce a turning, pitching or rolling moment on the vehicle 100”, see P[0065]).
Regarding Claim 35, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method for controlling tactical data gathered by an untethered uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV), the UUV configured for following a preselected navigational behavior during deployment in water to detect and classify objects of interest in the water the method comprising:
providing the untethered UUV further comprising:
a UUV controller for executing the preselected navigational behavior (“…a vehicle controller 107, and a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044] and P[0071] and “The vehicle control system 107 can include a guidance navigation and control (GNC) sensor, a state sensor, an environmental sensor, and/or a processor”, see P[0067]);
environmental sensors having preselected environmental sensor settings (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]);
tactical sensors having preselected tactical sensor settings and configured for gathering tactical data relating to the objects of interest (“The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067] and “…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]); and
a sensing system controller in communication with the UUV controller, the environmental sensors and the tactical sensors (“…a vehicle controller 107, and a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044] and P[0071]), the sensing system controller including a processor in communication with a memory for storing the tactical data and a computer program including instructions executed by the processor for performing one or more preconfigured heuristic operational scenarios for controlling the UUV (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]);
deploying the untethered UUV in water according to the preselected navigational behavior (“The vehicle 100 may be used to conduct surveillance and/or survey in the operational area. In some cases, the vehicle 100 detects signals and/or images, water parameters, and/or events”, see P[0093]);
gathering the environmental data with the environmental sensors (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071]);
gathering the tactical data with the tactical sensors (“The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067] and “…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]);
evaluating the gathered environmental data (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071]) and the gathered tactical data for selection criteria for one or more preconfigured heuristic operational scenarios used to control the UUV (“The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067] and “…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046] and “The dihedral angle control system 120 may be used to provide a force responsive to buoyancy force or to intermittent forces such as buffeting. The dihedral angle control system 120 may control the dihedral angles A1, A2 responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course”, see P[0071]); and
executing the one or more preconfigured heuristic operational scenarios to modify at least one of the environmental sensor settings, the tactical sensor settings and the navigational behavior of the UUV based on the selection criteria (“The dihedral angle control system 120 may be used to provide a force responsive to buoyancy force or to intermittent forces such as buffeting. The dihedral angle control system 120 may control the dihedral angles A1, A2 responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 provides a first control signal to a first force actuator operative to change the dihedral angle A1 and a second control signal to a second force actuator operative to change the dihedral angle A2 for purposes of steering, glide changing, depth changing, and/or stabilizing the vehicle 100. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 provides a signal to at least one dihedral actuator as means of augmenting rate and/or magnitude of change in dihedral angle (e.g., responsive to change in net buoyancy). In some cases, this is used to speed transition between up glide and down glide”, see P[0071]).
Regarding Claim 36, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 35, wherein the tactical data comprises at least one of:
active sonar, side scan sonar, optical video and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) (“…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]).
Regarding Claim 37, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 35, wherein the preselected navigational behavior comprises at least one of:
planned transects, altitude, heading, speed, roll rate, pitch rate and yaw rate (“As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the dihedral angles A1, A2 of the fins 110, 112 may be maintained substantially the same to enable or facilitate travel of the vehicle 100 in a horizontally straight direction. In some cases, the dihedral angles A1, A2 may be independently controlled so that they differ from one another to induce a turning, pitching or rolling moment on the vehicle 100”, see P[0065]).
Regarding Claim 38, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 35, wherein the environmental data comprises at least one of:
water temperature, water conductivity, water salinity, sound velocity profile, wave data, sea state, turbidity, chlorophyll-a, water fluorescence, water column stability and biological population estimates (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]).
Regarding Claim 39, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 35, wherein the UUV is further configured with a sensing system controller in communication with the environmental sensors and the tactical sensors, the sensing system controller further configured to modify the preselected navigational behavior by either employing at least one of the one or more preconfigured heuristic operational scenarios, or the output of a supervised machine learning algorithm model (“The dihedral angle control system 120 may be used to provide a force responsive to buoyancy force or to intermittent forces such as buffeting. The dihedral angle control system 120 may control the dihedral angles A1, A2 responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 provides a first control signal to a first force actuator operative to change the dihedral angle A1 and a second control signal to a second force actuator operative to change the dihedral angle A2 for purposes of steering, glide changing, depth changing, and/or stabilizing the vehicle 100. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 provides a signal to at least one dihedral actuator as means of augmenting rate and/or magnitude of change in dihedral angle (e.g., responsive to change in net buoyancy). In some cases, this is used to speed transition between up glide and down glide”, see P[0071]).
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 29-33, 40 and 42-47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vosburgh et al. (2009/0241826) in view of Pham et al. (11,881,017).
Regarding Claim 29, Vosburgh et al. does not expressly recite the claimed UUV sensing system controller according to claim 25, wherein the outputting of modifications to the preselected navigational behavior may include at least one of:
using different tactical sensors, using different sensor emission power levels, and using different sensor sensitivity levels.
However, Pham et al. (11,881,017) teaches wherein the outputting of modifications to the preselected navigational behavior may include at least one of: using different tactical sensors, using different sensor emission power levels, and using different sensor sensitivity levels (Pham et al.; “…upon receiving a signal indicating “high turbidity”, the system can increase the exposure time of the camera, or increase the light sensitivity of the camera”, see col.12, particularly lines 48-61).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vosburgh et al. with the teachings of Pham et al., and wherein the outputting of modifications to the preselected navigational behavior may include at least one of: using different tactical sensors, using different sensor emission power levels, and using different sensor sensitivity levels, as rendered obvious by Pham et al., in order to provide for “determining turbidity of water using machine learning”, and “determining…a measurement associated with turbidity of the water” and “providing a signal associated with the measurement” (Pham et al.; see Abstract).
Regarding Claim 30, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed untethered uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) including a UUV controller (“…a vehicle controller 107…”, see P[0044] and P[0071]), in communication with a navigation subsystem (“The vehicle control system 107 can include a guidance navigation and control (GNC) sensor, a state sensor, an environmental sensor, and/or a processor”, see P[0067]), a propulsion subsystem (“…an active propulsion system 760…”, see P[0087]), a communication subsystem (“…communications system…”, see P[0067]), a power subsystem (“…power supply…”, see P[0044]), tactical sensors (“The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067] and “…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]), environmental sensors (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]), and a sensing system controller in communication with the UUV controller (“…a vehicle controller 107, and a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044] and P[0071]), wherein the UUV is configured for deployment on a preselected navigational behavior in water to detect and classify objects of interest in the water using the tactical sensors having preselected tactical sensor settings (“The vehicle 100 may be used to conduct surveillance and/or survey in the operational area. In some cases, the vehicle 100 detects signals and/or images, water parameters, and/or events. Ill some cases, the vehicle 100 communicates responsive to detecting. In some cases, the vehicle 100 deposits and/or releases a payload. In some cases, the vehicle 100 operates or monitors a deposited or deployed payload. In some cases, the vehicle 100 recovers an object. In some cases, the vehicle 100 interchanges energy and/or data with a secondary object”, see P[0093]), the sensing system controller further comprising:
a memory for storing data and a computer program (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]), the computer program including computer instructions for modifying…the preselected navigational behavior…in response to environmental data gathered by the environmental sensors (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]);
a processor in communication with the environmental sensors, the tactical sensors, and the memory, the processor configured for executing the computer program (“The vehicle controller 107 may include any suitable electronics (e.g., a microprocessor), software and/or firmware configured to provide the functionality described herein”, see P[0045]); and
wherein the computer program…controls the UUV by modifying the preselected navigational behavior during the deployment (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]).
Vosburgh et al. does not expressly recite the bolded portions of the claimed
the computer program including computer instructions for modifying both the preselected navigational behavior and tactical sensor settings in response to environmental data gathered by the environmental sensors
and
wherein the computer program controls the tactical sensors by modifying the preselected tactical sensor settings and also controls the UUV by modifying the preselected navigational behavior during the deployment.
However, Pham et al. (11,881,017) teaches modifying tactical sensor settings in response to environmental data gathered by environmental sensors and controlling the tactical sensors by modifying the preselected tactical sensor settings (Pham et al.; “…upon receiving a signal indicating “high turbidity”, the system can increase the exposure time of the camera, or increase the light sensitivity of the camera”, see col.12, particularly lines 48-61).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vosburgh et al. with the teachings of Pham et al., and the computer program including computer instructions for modifying both the preselected navigational behavior and tactical sensor settings in response to environmental data gathered by the environmental sensors, and wherein the computer program controls the tactical sensors by modifying the preselected tactical sensor settings and also controls the UUV by modifying the preselected navigational behavior during the deployment, as rendered obvious by Pham et al., in order to provide for “determining turbidity of water using machine learning”, and “determining…a measurement associated with turbidity of the water” and “providing a signal associated with the measurement” (Pham et al.; see Abstract).
Regarding Claim 31, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed UUV according to claim 30, wherein the environmental data comprises at least one of: water temperature, water conductivity, water salinity, sound velocity profile, wave data, sea state, turbidity, chlorophyll-a, water fluorescence, water column stability and biological population estimates (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]).
Regarding Claim 32, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed UUV according to claim 30, wherein the tactical data comprises at least one of:
active sonar, side scan sonar, optical video, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) (“…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]).
Regarding Claim 33, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed UUV according to claim 30, wherein the preselected navigational behavior comprises at least one of:
planned transects, altitude, heading, speed, roll rate, pitch rate, yaw rate, reacquiring an object and following an object (“As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the dihedral angles A1, A2 of the fins 110, 112 may be maintained substantially the same to enable or facilitate travel of the vehicle 100 in a horizontally straight direction. In some cases, the dihedral angles A1, A2 may be independently controlled so that they differ from one another to induce a turning, pitching or rolling moment on the vehicle 100”, see P[0065]).
Regarding Claim 40, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method for controlling tactical data gathered by an untethered uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV), the UUV configured for following a preselected navigational behavior during deployment in water to detect and classify objects of interest in the water the method comprising:
providing the untethered UUV further comprising:
a UUV controller for executing the preselected navigational behavior (“…a vehicle controller 107, and a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044] and P[0071] and “The vehicle control system 107 can include a guidance navigation and control (GNC) sensor, a state sensor, an environmental sensor, and/or a processor”, see P[0067]);
environmental sensors having preselected environmental sensor settings (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]);
tactical sensors having preselected tactical sensor settings and configured for gathering tactical data relating to the objects of interest (“The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067] and “…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]); and
a sensing system controller in communication with the UUV controller, the environmental sensors and the tactical sensors (“…a vehicle controller 107, and a dihedral angle control system 120”, see P[0044] and P[0071]), the sensing system controller including a processor in communication with a memory for storing the tactical data and a computer program including instructions executed by the processor…for controlling the UUV (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]);
deploying the untethered UUV in water according to the preselected navigational behavior (“The vehicle 100 may be used to conduct surveillance and/or survey in the operational area. In some cases, the vehicle 100 detects signals and/or images, water parameters, and/or events”, see P[0093]);
gathering the environmental data with the environmental sensors (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071]);
gathering the tactical data with the tactical sensors (“…responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters…”, see P[0071] and “The results of detecting may be processed to classify a signal and/or its source or to provide a derived parameter such as a sound velocity, a water current profile and or a water salinity profile, for example”, see P[0094]);
…; and
…modifying at least one of the environmental sensor settings, the tactical sensor settings and the navigational behavior of the UUV during deployment for the detection and classification of the objects of interest in the water (“The dihedral angle control system 120 may be used to provide a force responsive to buoyancy force or to intermittent forces such as buffeting. The dihedral angle control system 120 may control the dihedral angles A1, A2 responsive to navigation sensor signals, state sensor signals, and/or an intended navigational course. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 provides a first control signal to a first force actuator operative to change the dihedral angle A1 and a second control signal to a second force actuator operative to change the dihedral angle A2 for purposes of steering, glide changing, depth changing, and/or stabilizing the vehicle 100. In some cases, the dihedral angle control system 120 provides a signal to at least one dihedral actuator as means of augmenting rate and/or magnitude of change in dihedral angle (e.g., responsive to change in net buoyancy). In some cases, this is used to speed transition between up glide and down glide”, see P[0071]).
Vosburgh et al. does not expressly recite the bolded portions of the claimed
the sensing system controller including a processor in communication with a memory for storing the tactical data and a computer program including instructions executed by the processor for running a supervised machine learning algorithm model for controlling the UUV
and
incorporating the gathered environmental data and the gathered tactical data into the supervised machine learning algorithm model used to control the UUV; and
the supervised machine learning algorithm model modifying at least one of the environmental sensor settings, the tactical sensor settings and the navigational behavior of the UUV during deployment for the detection and classification of the objects of interest in the water.
However, Pham et al. (11,881,017) teaches a supervised machine learning model that uses “gathered environmental data and the gathered tactical data” to perform “modifying at least one of the environmental sensor settings, the tactical sensor settings and the navigational behavior” of a “UUV during deployment” (Pham et al.; “Each camera subsystem 102 can include one or more image capture devices that can point in various directions, such as up, down, to any side, or at other angles. Each camera subsystem 102 can take images using any of its included imaging devices, and an enclosure 110 can contain multiple camera subsystems 102. A camera subsystem 102 can provide image data 155, which can be individual image data or video image data, represented in any appropriate format. For individual images, formats can include JPEG, TIFF, BMP, raw, etc. For video image data, formats can include MP4, MOV, WAV, AVI, etc. The image data 155 can be provided to a perception engine 160”, see col.5, particularly lines 5-32 and col.10, particularly lines 1-12, and col.11, particularly lines 19-35 and see “…upon receiving a signal indicating “high turbidity”, the system can increase the exposure time of the camera, or increase the light sensitivity of the camera”, see col.12, particularly lines 48-61).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vosburgh et al. with the teachings of Pham et al., and the sensing system controller including a processor in communication with a memory for storing the tactical data and a computer program including instructions executed by the processor for running a supervised machine learning algorithm model for controlling the UUV, and incorporating the gathered environmental data and the gathered tactical data into the supervised machine learning algorithm model used to control the UUV, and the supervised machine learning algorithm model modifying at least one of the environmental sensor settings, the tactical sensor settings and the navigational behavior of the UUV during deployment for the detection and classification of the objects of interest in the water, as rendered obvious by Pham et al., in order to provide for “determining turbidity of water using machine learning”, and “determining…a measurement associated with turbidity of the water” and “providing a signal associated with the measurement” (Pham et al.; see Abstract).
Regarding Claim 42, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein the tactical data comprises at least one of:
active sonar, side scan sonar, optical video and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) (“…the payload 105 includes a deployable device, such as an acoustic communication node or a sonar or other sensor array”, see P[0046]).
Regarding Claim 43, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein the environmental data comprises at least one of:
water temperature, water conductivity, water salinity, sound velocity profile, wave data, sea state, turbidity, chlorophyll a, water fluorescence, water column stability, and biological population estimates (“…the dihedral angle control system 120 processes signals representative of at least one of force on the vehicle, moment on the vehicle, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, vehicle inclination, vehicle rotation, vehicle depth, water temperature, water salinity, vehicle location, and predetermined operational parameters, and responsively provides control signals to one or more force actuators that in turn correspondingly adjust the dihedral angles A1 and/or A2”, see P[0071]).
Regarding Claim 44, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein providing the untethered UUV further comprises a navigation subsystem configured for determining location and headings of the UUV (“The vehicle control system 107 can include a guidance navigation and control (GNC) sensor, a state sensor, an environmental sensor, and/or a processor. In some cases, the vehicle control system 107 system can further comprise a communications system of any type such as radio, acoustic, or optical. The GNC sensor may include a depth, altitude, speed, inclination, acceleration, roll, direction, location, inertial measurement, homing, and/or obstacle avoidance sensor”, see P[0067]).
Regarding Claim 45, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein providing the untethered UUV further comprises a communication subsystem configured for communicating with users on a surface vessel for determining status and location of the UUV (“The payload 105 may include a communication system or module (which may be part of or connected to the vehicle controller 107, for example), which may include a radio, acoustic modem and/or light emitting device, for example. In some cases, the communication system or module includes a deployable portion such as a releasable buoyant radio or antenna”, see P[0047] and “…the vehicle control system 107 system can further comprise a communications system of any type such as radio, acoustic, or optical”, see P[0067] and “In some embodiments, at least a portion of a communications device is deployed to communicate. The communications module may send data reflective of location and/or results of processing. In some cases, the vehicle releases an expendable communication devices such as disclosed in co-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/494,941 and 11/495,134, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. In some cases, the communications device uses a radio and/or an optical or acoustic transponder. In some cases, the communications device receives signals such as commands, algorithm updates, or operational data”, see P[0095]).
Regarding Claim 46, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein providing the untethered UUV further comprises a propulsion subsystem configured for moving the UUV within water at preselected and adjustable depths along the preselected navigational behavior during operational missions (see P[0060 and “…active propulsion system 760…”, see P[0087]).
Regarding Claim 47, Vosburgh et al. teaches the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein providing the untethered UUV further comprises a power subsystem configured powering electronics and other electrical equipment onboard the UUV (“…a power supply…”, see P[0044] and P[0083]).
Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vosburgh et al. (2009/0241826) in view of Pham et al. (11,881,017) further in view of Larson et al. (2019/0127034).
Regarding Claim 34, Vosburgh et al. does not expressly recite the claimed UUV according to claim 30, wherein the processor comprises a graphics processing unit.
However, Vosburgh et al. does teach detecting images (“…the vehicle 100 detects signals and/or images…”, see P[0093]).
Furthermore, it is conventional and well-known in the art to use a graphics processing unit or GPU to process image data, as seen in Larson et al. (2019/0127034) (Larson et al.; “…project a matrix or array of points of light 260 within field 255 in front of the AUV in a direction of the centerline of the AUV 200, but angled downward toward the sea floor within the field of view of the digital camera. The GPU/CPU unit may be programmed to recognize the individual points of light based on their color and shape”, see P[0044]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vosburgh et al. with the teachings of Larson et al., and wherein the processor comprises a graphics processing unit, as rendered obvious by Larson et al., in order to perform recognition of a feature or object in a captured image and “have the ability to perform object and color recognition” (Larson et al.; see P[0099]).
Claim 41 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vosburgh et al. (2009/0241826) in view of Pham et al. (11,881,017) further in view of Hatanaka et al. (JP2021179360A).
Regarding Claim 41, Vosburgh et al. does not expressly recite the claimed method according to claim 40, wherein the supervised machine learning algorithm model is selected from the group consisting of:
a Support Vector Machine, a Convolutional Neural Network and a Vision Transformers algorithm.
However, Hatanaka et al. (JP2021179360A) teaches wherein the supervised machine learning algorithm model is selected from the group consisting of: a Support Vector Machine, a Convolutional Neural Network and a Vision Transformers algorithm (Hatanaka et al.; see P[0084]-P[0085]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vosburgh et al. with the teachings of Hatanaka et al., and wherein the supervised machine learning algorithm model is selected from the group consisting of: a Support Vector Machine, a Convolutional Neural Network and a Vision Transformers algorithm, as rendered obvious by Hatanaka et al., in order to evaluate “water clarity” and “turbidity” (Hatanaka et al.; see P[0106]).
Conclusion
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.
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/ISAAC G SMITH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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