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
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agrawal et al. (US 20200323727 A1), hereinafter Agrawal, in view of Duong et al. (DUONG HUU TOAN ET AL: "Human Gait Estimation Using Multiple 2D LiDARs", IEEE ACCESS, IEEE, USA, vol. 9, 5 April 2021 (2021-04-05), pages 56881-56892, XP011849906), hereinafter Duong, further in view of Xu et al. (BOWEN XU ET AL: "ShanghaiTech Mapping Robot is All You Need: Robot System for Collecting Universal Ground Vehicle Datasets", ARXIV.ORG, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 201 OLIN LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NY 14853, 24 June 2024 (2024-06-24), XP091799527), hereinafter Xu.
Regarding claim 1, Agrawal discloses mobile robot for gait analysis [An instrumented powered platform identified CANINE which stands for cane-like light-touch navigating device, an autonomous person-following robot that acts as a cane-like mobile assistant, see in ¶ 0084; a wheeled mobile unit that serves as a companion and as a monitor during daily activities and a mobile walker with active pelvic support to assist those with gait deficits, see in ¶ 0003] using a rotary LiDAR [The sensing methods may detect user position relative to the companion using combined data from LIDAR, see in ¶ 0075], the robot comprising:
a main body [Mobile base, see bottom of Fig. 16];
a driving unit for moving the main body [Each wheel module includes motors to actuate the drive wheels, see in ¶ 0070];
a controller for controlling the driving unit to follow a target to be measured with a preset distance maintained, by using scanning information of the front LiDAR sensor unit [LIDAR data are sent at 40 Hz to an onboard microcontroller (Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, Raspberry Pi) which runs the person-following program, see in ¶ 0091; CANINE's following distance was set at 0.55 m in the lateral (x) direction and 0.3 m in the posterior direction (y) to maintain a safe distance while ensuring fingertip contact, see in ¶ 0094];
a gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit [LiDAR of Fig. 16 used for gait measurement and evaluation during use of CANINE, see in ¶ 0093] to measure the foot movements of the target to be measured [LIDAR data are sent at 40 Hz to an onboard microcontroller (Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, Raspberry Pi) which runs the person-following program. This sampling rate is sufficient to detect changes in gait, as healthy individuals walk at 1.9 Hz, see in ¶ 0093] being installed to protrude forward from a side of the main body [LiDAR installed protruding forward from the back side of the main body, see in Fig. 16].
Agrawal fails to disclose that the mobile robot also comprises a gait analysis unit for analyzing a gait of the target to be measured, by using the foot movements measured by the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit, the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit being composed of at least two rotary LiDARs, and wherein the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit comprises: a left LiDAR sensor unit where a rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a left side of the main body in order to rotate in a first direction; and a right LiDAR sensor unit where the rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a right side of the main body in order to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction.
However, Duong discloses the use of multiple LiDARs for human gait detection and analysis [see in Fig. 6 and Fig. 12; With the use of multiple LiDARs, the losing data, which are caused by the occlusion between legs, is compensated and the tracking range can be increased, see on pg. 56891].
Agrawal and Duong are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of LiDARs systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Duong to include that the mobile robot also comprises a gait analysis unit for analyzing a gait of the target to be measured, by using the foot movements measured by the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit, as well as using at least two rotary with the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit in order to increase the accuracy of calibration and human leg center points estimation [see Duong in Abstract].
Agrawal, as modified by Duong, still fails to disclose wherein the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit comprises: a left LiDAR sensor unit where a rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a left side of the main body in order to rotate in a first direction; and a right LiDAR sensor unit where the rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a right side of the main body in order to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction.
However, Xu discloses a left LiDAR sensor unit [the left Robosense Ruby LiDAR, see Figs. 1, 20, 4] where a rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a left side [Examiner notes that this direction can be arbitrarily chosen in the wording of the claim] of the main body in order to rotate in a first direction [rotation axis is horizontal to the left, see Fig. 20]; and
a right LiDAR sensor unit [the right Robosense Bpearl LiDAR, see Figs. 1, 20, 4]
where the rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a right side of the main
body in order to rotate in a second direction opposite [rotation axis is horizontal to the
right, see Fig. 20] to the first direction.
Agrawal and Xu are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of mobile robotics utilizing LiDAR. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Xu and include that the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit comprises: a left LiDAR sensor unit where a rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a left side of the main body in order to rotate in a first direction; and a right LiDAR sensor unit where the rotary LiDAR is installed to protrude forward from a right side of the main body in order to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction, in order to strategically place LiDAR systems on both sides to maximize data collection of the lower extremity movements.
Regarding claim 2, Agrawal, as modified, discloses the robot of claim 1.
Agrawal fails to disclose wherein the right LiDAR sensor unit allows the rotary LiDAR to be installed upside down to rotate in the second direction.
However, Xu discloses wherein the right LiDAR sensor unit allows the rotary LiDAR to be installed upside down to rotate in the second direction [both the right and the left LiDARs, see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, may be mounted upside down, with said rotation].
Agrawal and Xu are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of mobile robotics utilizing LiDAR. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Xu and include that the right LiDAR sensor unit allows the rotary LiDAR to be installed upside down to rotate in the second direction in order to allow the sensor unit to record from more angles.
Regarding claim 3, Agrawal, as modified, discloses the robot of claim 1, wherein the controller controls the driving unit such that a distance from the left LiDAR sensor unit to the target to be measured is the same as a distance from the right LiDAR sensor unit to the target to be measured [CANINE's following distance was set at 0.55 m in the lateral (x) direction and 0.3 m in the posterior direction (y) to maintain a safe distance while ensuring fingertip contact, see in ¶ 0094; Examiner notes that right and left sensors are equidistant from the target since the following distance is fixed].
Regarding claim 4, Agrawal, as modified, discloses the robot of claim 1.
Agrawal fails to disclose wherein the front LiDAR sensor unit is installed at a torso height of the target to be measured.
However, Xu discloses wherein the front LiDAR sensor unit is installed at a torso height of the target to be measured [see in Fig. 1, Fig. 20, and Fig. 22, with surrounding environment for scaling purposes].
Agrawal and Xu are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of mobile robotics utilizing LiDAR. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Xu and include that the front LiDAR sensor unit is installed at a torso height of the target to be measured in order to be in an orientation to extract more lower extremity movement data points than just foot movements.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agrawal (US 20200323727 A1) in view of Duong (DUONG HUU TOAN ET AL: "Human Gait Estimation Using Multiple 2D LiDARs", IEEE ACCESS, IEEE, USA, vol. 9, 5 April 2021 (2021-04-05), pages 56881-56892, XP011849906) and Xu (BOWEN XU ET AL: "ShanghaiTech Mapping Robot is All You Need: Robot System for Collecting Universal Ground Vehicle Datasets", ARXIV.ORG, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 201 OLIN LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NY 14853, 24 June 2024 (2024-06-24), XP091799527), further in view of Duong et al. (DUONG HUU TOAN ET AL: "Human Gait Tracking for Normal People and Walker Users Using a 2D LiDAR", IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, IEEE, USA, vol. 20, no. 11, 20 February 2020 (2020-02-20), pages 6191-6199, XP011786773, ISSN: 1530-437X), hereinafter Duong 2.
Regarding claim 5, Agrawal, as modified, discloses the robot of claim 1.
Agrawal fails to disclose wherein the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit measures the foot movements, including changes in position, direction, and shape of the left and right feet, by scanning a plane at a foot height of the target to be measured.
However, Duong 2 discloses the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit measures the foot movements, including changes in position, direction, and shape of the left and right feet, by scanning a plane at a foot height of the target to be measured [foot height is of interest for use of LiDAR, cluster data involving foot movement measurement, see in Fig. 9].
Agrawal and Duong 2 are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of LiDARs systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Duong 2 to include that the gait measurement LiDAR sensor unit measures the foot movements, including changes in position, direction, and shape of the left and right feet, by scanning a plane at a foot height of the target to be measured in order to obtain the required lower extremity values for gait analysis.
Regarding claim 6, Agrawal, as modified, discloses the robot of claim 5, wherein each of the left LiDAR sensor unit and the right LiDAR sensor unit comprises: a first LiDAR sensor unit for collecting a first scanning data by scanning the plane at the foot height of the target to be measured [see in Claim 5 above].
Agrawal fails to disclose that each of the left LiDAR sensor unit and right LiDAR sensor unit further comprises a second LiDAR sensor unit for collecting a second scanning data by scanning a plane at a knee height of the target to be measured.
However, Duong 2 discloses using multiple LiDARs for collecting a second scanning data by scanning a plane at a knee height of the target to be measured [see Figure in abstract; see also Fig. 13 with LiDAR sensor placed at knee height].
Agrawal and Duong 2 are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of LiDARs systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Duong 2 to include that each of the left LiDAR sensor unit and right LiDAR sensor unit further comprises a second LiDAR sensor unit for collecting a second scanning data by scanning a plane at a knee height of the target to be measured in order to further obtain the required lower extremity values for gait analysis.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agrawal (US 20200323727 A1) in view of Duong (DUONG HUU TOAN ET AL: "Human Gait Estimation Using Multiple 2D LiDARs", IEEE ACCESS, IEEE, USA, vol. 9, 5 April 2021 (2021-04-05), pages 56881-56892, XP011849906), Xu (BOWEN XU ET AL: "ShanghaiTech Mapping Robot is All You Need: Robot System for Collecting Universal Ground Vehicle Datasets", ARXIV.ORG, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 201 OLIN LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NY 14853, 24 June 2024 (2024-06-24), XP091799527), and Duong 2 (DUONG HUU TOAN ET AL: "Human Gait Tracking for Normal People and Walker Users Using a 2D LiDAR", IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, IEEE, USA, vol. 20, no. 11, 20 February 2020 (2020-02-20), pages 6191-6199, XP011786773, ISSN: 1530-437X), further in view of Bouazizi et al. (BOUAZIZI MONDHER ET AL: "A Novel Approach for Activity, Fall and Gait Detection Using Multiple 2D LiDARs", GLOBECOM 2023 - 2023 IEEE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE, IEEE, 4 December 2023 (2023-12-04), pages 1997-2002, XP034555383, DOI: 10.1109/GLOBECOM54140.2023.10437886), hereinafter Bouazizi.
Regarding claim 7, Agrawal, as modified, discloses the robot of claim 6.
Agrawal fails to disclose wherein the gait analysis unit analyzes at least one selected from a group consisting of body distortion and gait instability when the target to be measured walks, by combining foot position, knee position, and torso position of the target to be measured.
However, Bouazizi discloses analyzing at least one selected from a group consisting of body distortion and gait instability when the target to be measured walks, by combining foot position, knee position, and torso position of the target to be measured [an approach that uses multiple 2D LiDARs whose data are combined to run 3 classification tasks: activity, fall, and unsteady gait detection, see in Introduction, pg. 1997; Examiner notes that Bouazizi discloses relying on activity detection to detect unsteady gate, in which positioning of the lower extremity, including feet, knees, and torso, are considered as user data points during analysis, see on pg. 1999].
Agrawal and Bouazizi are both analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of LiDARs systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Agrawal to incorporate the teachings of Bouazizi and include that the gait analysis unit analyzes at least one selected from a group consisting of body distortion and gait instability when the target to be measured walks, by combining foot position, knee position, and torso position of the target to be measured in order to recognize when results of gait analysis are abnormal and require further treatment.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HY KHANH DOAN whose telephone number is (703)756-5434. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5 p.m..
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/HY KHANH DOAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3791 /TSE CHEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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