DETAILED ACTION
This is the first Office action on the merits. Claims 1-19 are currently pending and addressed below.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 10/10/2024 has been received and considered. Legible copies of the cited foreign patent documents have been attached.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 7, 10-11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bosse et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0001934 A1 (hereinafter Bosse), in view of Sikand et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0236589 A1 (hereinafter Sikand).
Regarding claim 1, Bosse teaches a method of generating and following an autonomous parking route by use of a vehicle center and a direction vector (Bosse Fig. 4A-4B), the method comprising:
generating, by a processor, a parking route including coordinates of route points indicating locations to which a center of a vehicle moves until the vehicle reaches a parking end point, and a direction angle at each route point (see at least Bosse [0074]: “In some instances, the planner 536 can determine a route to travel from a first location (e.g., a current location) to a second location (e.g., a target location). For the purpose of this discussion, a route can be a sequence of waypoints for traveling between two locations. As non-limiting examples, waypoints include streets, intersections, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, etc.”; [0030]: “In examples of the disclosure, a first velocity (e.g., speed and direction) may be determined with respect to the first turn maneuver, and a second velocity (e.g., speed and direction) may be determined with respect to the second turn maneuver (as well as, in some examples, velocities of the vehicle when transitioning from the first velocity to the second velocity).”; Bosse [0013] teaches embodiments include parking);
and iteratively performing, by the processor, until the vehicle reaches the parking end point, steps of (see at least Bosse [0014]: “In examples of the present disclosure, the vehicle velocity (e.g., speed and direction) may be continuously determined as the vehicle executes driving maneuvers, and a vehicle velocity may be used to iteratively update the position of the vehicle.”):
determining a turning center point of the vehicle based on a first direction vector at a first route point and a second direction vector at a second route point (see at least Bosse [0029]: “That is, when the vehicle 102a/b/c is executing a turn maneuver and each wheel is at a respective angle, an assumption may be made that the vehicle 102a/b/c rotates around a center of a circle (e.g., the turn center) along the arc. Under this assumption, in FIG. 1A, the vehicle 102a rotates along an arc and around a turn center 16 of a first circle 18 (e.g., along a segment of the first circle 18). In addition, the vehicle 102b rotates along an arc and around a turn center 20 of a second circle 22 (e.g., along a segment of the second circle 22).”),
the first direction vector and the second direction vector being determined based on the parking route, and the first direction vector and the second direction vector being unit vectors (see at least Bosse [0031]: “In FIG. 2, a reference point 205 of the vehicle 102 is depicted, and in some examples, the reference point 205 is a known central position on the vehicle 102 (e.g., the center of the vehicle 102) for generally characterizing one or more states of the vehicle 102 (e.g., states of the vehicle relating to localization or other operations, such as a pose of the vehicle at which the vehicle includes a velocity).”; Fig. 2 shows a coordinate system; by definition a coordinate system includes unit vectors),
determining a steering angle for each wheel of the vehicle…of each wheel using the turning center point (see at least Bosse [0037]: “FIG. 2 depicts additional variables with respect to each of the front wheels 120a and 120b. For example, FIG. 2 depicts an estimated wheel angle 136a (Θ.sub.EA) associated with the wheel 120a, as well as a central angle 249 (Θ.sub.CA) between the turn-center reference line 140, the turn center 204, and a radius (R) 247 intersecting the center of the wheel 120a. In addition, FIG. 2 depicts an estimated wheel angle 136b (Θ.sub.EA′) associated with the wheel 120b, as well as a central angle 248 (Θ.sub.CA′) between the turn-center reference line 140, the turn center 204, and a radius (R′) 246 intersecting the center of the wheel 120a.”),
and outputting the steering angle for each wheel to a corresponding steering device of the vehicle (see at least Bosse [0027]: “In additional examples, the vehicle 102 may include various steering components, such as a steering motor 128 and a steering rack 130 that operate to affect a commanded angle of each wheel 120a-120d (e.g., autonomously commanded and/or manually commanded).”)
Bosse fails to expressly disclose determining a power frequency of each wheel using the turning center and applying the power frequency to a corresponding in-wheel motor. However, Sikand teaches
determining…a power frequency of each wheel using the turning center point (see at least Sikand [0049]: “One aspect of the invention is a method for application of angular force around a vertical axis of rotation passing through the center of mass of a four wheeled vehicle by delivering unequal magnitude and phase of electrical voltage to four polyphase Alternating Current (AC) motors (motors) each individually powering a single wheel, the method includes: receiving electrical indicia from a first operator control instrument of a desired vehicle turning radius and vehicle turning rate; receiving electrical indicia from a second operator control instrument of desired vehicle velocity and vehicle acceleration (speed); providing an electrical voltage magnitude and phase to every one of the four motors individually powering a single wheel consistent with desired speed”)
and applying power of the power frequency for each wheel to a corresponding in-wheel motor of the vehicle while the vehicle is moving from the first route point to the second route point (see at least Sikand [0049]: “One aspect of the invention is a method for application of angular force around a vertical axis of rotation passing through the center of mass of a four wheeled vehicle by delivering unequal magnitude and phase of electrical voltage to four polyphase Alternating Current (AC) motors (motors) each individually powering a single wheel, the method includes: receiving electrical indicia from a first operator control instrument of a desired vehicle turning radius and vehicle turning rate; receiving electrical indicia from a second operator control instrument of desired vehicle velocity and vehicle acceleration (speed); providing an electrical voltage magnitude and phase to every one of the four motors individually powering a single wheel consistent with desired speed; and additionally, providing to portside motors an incremental positive electrical voltage magnitude and phase and providing to starboard motors an incremental negative electrical voltage and phase, whereby the vehicle yaws due to unequal power applied to the wheels by the individual motors powering each wheel.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method disclosed by Bosse with the power frequency taught by Sikand with reasonable expectation of success. Sikand is directed towards the related field of a vehicle motor control system and yaw vectoring control. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Bosse with Sikand to improve vehicle response and reduce instability (see at least Sikand [0030]: “If the forces are correctly controlled, the vehicle can be made to respond more quickly to a steering input and instability can be reduced.”).
Regarding claim 7, Bosse in view of Sikand teach all elements of the method according to claim 1 as explained above. Bosse further teaches wherein the determining of the steering angle for each wheel includes:
determining the steering angle for each wheel based on a center position for each wheel of the vehicle and the turning center point (see at least Bosse [0034]: “In some examples, the wheel angles may be combined with vehicle dimensions (e.g., wheelbase) to determine the turn center 204 based on the position at which the radius (R) 247 from the wheel 120a intersects the radius (R′) 246 from the wheel 120b.”).
Regarding claim 10, Bosse in view of Sikand teach all elements of the method according to claim 1 as explained above. Bosse further teaches
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which a program for performing the method of claim 1 is recorded (see at least Bosse [0082]: “The memory 518 computing device 504 and the memory 548 of the computing device(s) 544 are examples of non-transitory computer-readable media. The memory 518 and 548 can store an operating system and one or more software applications, instructions, programs, and/or data to implement the methods described herein and the functions attributed to the various systems.”).
Regarding claim 11, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 1. The combination of Bosse in view of Sikand also teaches an apparatus for performing the method of claim 1 as outlined in the rejection to claim 1 above. Specifically, Bosse teaches a processor (Bosse [0081]) and a memory (Bosse [0082]) that performs the method of claim 1. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 17, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 7 as explained above. Therefore, claim 17 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 7.
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bosse in view of Sikand, and further in view of Niwa et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0018934 A1 (hereinafter Niwa).
Regarding claim 2, Bosse in view of Sikand teach all elements of the method according to claim 1 as explained above. Bosse in view of Sikand fail to expressly disclose generating the parking route based on information on the specifications of the vehicle and parking facility information. However, Niwa teaches wherein the generating of the parking route includes:
generating the parking route based on information on specifications of the vehicle and information on a parking facility (see at least Niwa [0079]: “Examples of various processes to be executed when executing the automated parking control include a process of searching for a target parking position (i.e., an available parking area), a process of generating a target parking route for guiding the vehicle to the parking position found by the search, and a process of calculating vehicle control values (control values for steering control, driving control, braking control, etc.) for movement of the vehicle along the generated target parking route.”),
wherein the information on the parking facility includes at least one of a map of the parking facility, information on a target parking space where the vehicle will be parked, information on obstacles around the target parking space, and information on roads within the parking facility (see at least Niwa [0101]: “The parking position search process is a process of searching for a target parking position (available parking area) of the vehicle M based on a result of recognition of objects such as parking slots and other vehicles.”),
and wherein the parking end point is set based on the information on the target parking space (see at least Niwa [0109]: “In Step S11, the control unit 14 executes the automated parking control process for the vehicle M based on the vehicle control values calculated in Step S10. When the parking of the vehicle M at the target parking position is completed, the series of processes is terminated (END).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method disclosed by Bosse in view of Sikand with the parking information taught by Niwa with reasonable expectation of success. Niwa is directed towards the related field of an automated parking control device. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Bosse in view of Sikand with Niwa to accurately move a vehicle along a target route (see at least Niwa [0008]: “During the automated parking control etc., the vehicle is accurately controlled to move along the generated target route. Therefore, the movement amount of the vehicle is accurately predicted when calculating control values in feedback control and feedforward control for steering, driving, braking, etc.”).
Regarding claim 12, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 2 as explained above. Therefore, claim 12 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 2.
Claims 3-4, 6, 13-14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bosse in view of Sikand, and further in view of Sakai et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0073084 A1 (hereinafter Sakai).
Regarding claim 3, Bosse in view of Sikand teach all elements of the method according to claim 1 as explained above. Bosse further teaches wherein the determining of the turning center point of the vehicle includes:
setting a local coordinate system with the first route point of the vehicle as a reference point (see at least Bosse [0046]: “For example, the process 400a may be for estimating the velocity (v.sub.x, v.sub.y) of the vehicle 102 at the centralized reference position 205. The process includes, at step 402a, determining a trajectory for a vehicle to follow to navigate a turn maneuver.”);
determining, in the local coordinate system, the first direction vector based on coordinates and a direction angle of the first route point (see at least Bosse [0032]: “At least some examples of the present disclosure are directed to estimating a vehicle velocity (v.sub.x, v.sub.y) at the reference position 205 based on velocities at multiple points of the vehicle.”),
and determining, in the local coordinate system, the second direction vector based on coordinates and a direction angle of the second route point (see at least Bosse [0049]: “The process includes, at step 410a, determining, using an optimization and based on at least the yaw rate, the first velocity, the first wheel angle, the second velocity, and the second wheel angle, a velocity of the vehicle at a centralized reference point of the vehicle during the turn maneuver.”).
Bosse in view of Sikand fail to expressly disclose determining the turning center point by performing translation, rotation, and cross product operations on the first and second direction vectors. However, Sakai teaches
and determining the turning center point of the vehicle by performing translation, rotation, and cross product operations on the first direction vector and the second direction vector (This limitation is taught through the combination of Bosse and Sakai. Bosse teaches a cross product between a first and second vector in a wheel velocity equation, which relates to the turn center of the vehicle (Bosse [0032]). Bosse fails to expressly disclose performing translation and rotation to determine the turning center point. However, Sakai teaches performing translation and rotation on the first and second vectors to determine the turning center point (see at least Sakai [0078]: “For example, when “turning” is registered in the error cause information table, the rotation amount of the vehicle travel amount is replaced with the rotation amount of the sensor travel amount, thereby correcting the rotation amount of the own-vehicle, which is calculated from the vehicle information 30, by using the sensor travel amount. Then, the translation amount of the vehicle travel amount is recalculated by using the replaced rotation amount. The recalculation of the translation amount can be performed by, for example, calculating a travel distance from the translation amount in each axis direction, which is calculated from the vehicle travel amount, and converting the distance into a vector in the axis direction by using a rotation amount calculated from the sensor travel amount.”). Therefore, the combination of Bosse and Sakai teach the entirety of this limitation.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method disclosed by Bosse in view of Sikand with the vector operations taught by Sakai with reasonable expectation of success. Sakai is directed towards the related field of a travel amount estimation apparatus. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Bosse in view of Sikand with Sakai to improve vehicle travel accuracy (see at least Sakai [0002]: “An automatic parking system configured to specify a parking position of an automobile, set a path to the parking position, and cause the automobile to autonomously travel without driving operation by a driver has been disclosed. Such an automatic parking system is required to highly accurately estimate the travel amount of the traveling automobile to cause the automobile to accurately autonomously travel in accordance with the path to the parking position.”).
Regarding claim 4, Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai teach all elements of the method according to claim 3 as explained above. Bosse further teaches wherein the determining of the turning center point of the vehicle further includes:
estimating a first pose of the vehicle; obtaining a second pose of the vehicle based on the parking route (see at least Bosse [0030]: “For example, the first velocity may be used by a localization component 26a to determine a pose 28a of the vehicle 102a at time n−3, and the second velocity may be used by a localization component 26b to determine a pose 28b of the vehicle 102b at time n.”);
wherein each of the first pose and the second pose includes information on a position and a direction angle (see at least Bosse [0013]: “In additional examples, such as where a map represents the environment in which the vehicle is maneuvering and a pose (e.g., position and orientation) relative to the map is determined, the sequential positions may be tracked relative to the map in order to monitor the movement of the vehicle through (relative to) the environment.”)
Sakai further teaches
and correcting the turning center point of the vehicle based on the first pose in response that a discrepancy occurs between the first pose and the second pose (see at least Sakai [0078]: “For example, when “turning” is registered in the error cause information table, the rotation amount of the vehicle travel amount is replaced with the rotation amount of the sensor travel amount, thereby correcting the rotation amount of the own-vehicle, which is calculated from the vehicle information 30, by using the sensor travel amount. Then, the translation amount of the vehicle travel amount is recalculated by using the replaced rotation amount. The recalculation of the translation amount can be performed by, for example, calculating a travel distance from the translation amount in each axis direction, which is calculated from the vehicle travel amount, and converting the distance into a vector in the axis direction by using a rotation amount calculated from the sensor travel amount.”)
Regarding claim 6, Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai teach all elements of the method according to claim 4 as explained above. Sakai teaches the method further including:
correcting, by the processor, the parking route in response that the discrepancy between the first pose and the second pose is greater than or equal to a threshold (see at least Sakai [0043]: “Thus, in the present embodiment, turn and level difference travel-over of the vehicle are considered as error causes of the vehicle travel amount. For example, it is determined that the own-vehicle is turning when the turning radius calculated based on the vehicle information 30 is equal to or smaller than a threshold value (for example, 20 m) set in advance”; [0064]: “For example, when Th.sub.d represents the threshold value of the turning radius used in the determination at step 102 and the turning radius of the own-vehicle is smaller than the threshold value Th.sub.d, it is determined that the own-vehicle is turning at step 102, and this situation is detected as a vehicle information change point. In this case, the process proceeds to step 301a. When the turning radius of the own-vehicle is equal to or larger than the threshold value Th.sub.d, it is determined that the own-vehicle is not turning at step 102, and this situation is not detected as a vehicle information change point.”).
Regarding claim 13, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 3 as explained above. Therefore, claim 13 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 4 as explained above. Therefore, claim 14 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 4.
Regarding claim 16, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 6 as explained above. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 6.
Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai, and further in view of Beauvisage et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0365154 A1 (hereinafter Beauvisage).
Regarding claim 5, Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai teach all elements of the method according to claim 4 as explained above. Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai fail to expressly disclose estimating a pose using an unscented Kalman filter. However, Beauvisage teaches
wherein the first pose is estimated by use of an unscented Kalman filter (see at least Beauvisage [0048]: “In several embodiments, the initial longitudinal position, initial later position and initial heading (initial pose) comprised in the positioning data connected to the initial position “A” of the vehicle may be obtained from a satellite positioning module, wherein the satellite positioning module may use a Kalman filter or any variants of a Kalman filter such as an extended Kalman filter, an unscented Kalman filter, or a cubature Kalman filter, to continuously estimate the vehicle's pose with inputs of GNSS data, and a predefined motion model of the vehicle.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method disclosed by Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai with the unscented Kalman filter taught by Beauvisage with reasonable expectation of success. Beauvisage is directed towards the related field of determining a state of a vehicle. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Bosse in view of Sikand and Sakai with Beauvisage to improve accuracy in determining the vehicle state (see at least Beauvisage [0008]: “There is thus a need in the art for new and improved solutions for determining the state of the vehicle on the road with more certainty and accuracy.”).
Regarding claim 15, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 5 as explained above. Therefore, claim 15 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 5.
Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bosse in view of Sikand, and further in view of Zilberman et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0370957 A1 (hereinafter Zilberman).
Regarding claim 8, Bosse in view of Sikand teach all elements of the method according to claim 1 as explained above. Bosse further teaches wherein the determining the power frequency for each wheel of the vehicle includes:
determining a turning radius of the vehicle based on the turning center point and the center of the vehicle (see at least Bosse [0031]: “In FIG. 2, a reference point 205 of the vehicle 102 is depicted, and in some examples, the reference point 205 is a known central position on the vehicle 102 (e.g., the center of the vehicle 102) for generally characterizing one or more states of the vehicle 102 (e.g., states of the vehicle relating to localization or other operations, such as a pose of the vehicle at which the vehicle includes a velocity).”; [0029]: “In one example, each turn maneuver may be associated with a respective arc or circular segment. That is, when the vehicle 102a/b/c is executing a turn maneuver and each wheel is at a respective angle, an assumption may be made that the vehicle 102a/b/c rotates around a center of a circle (e.g., the turn center) along the arc.”);
determining a turning radius for each wheel based on a center position for each wheel of the vehicle and the turning center point (see at least Bosse [0036]: “The turn center 204 and the turn-center reference line 140 may be established using various techniques. For example, if a vehicle is executing a turn using only front-wheel steering (while the rear wheel do not rotate about a steering axis), such as the vehicle 102 in FIG. 2 in which the front left wheel 120b and the front right wheel 120a rotate about a steering axis, then the turn-center reference line 140 is co-axial with a rear axle of the vehicle, and the offset distance may be pre-determined based on vehicle dimensions. In other examples, as explained above, the turn center 204 may also be at an intersection of the radius (R′) 246 (e.g., of the curve or arc traversed by the front left wheel 120b) and the radius (R) 247 (e.g., of the curve or arc traversed by the front right wheel 120a).”);
determining an angular velocity of the vehicle based on the turning radius of the vehicle and a required speed (see at least Bosse [0012]: “Furthermore, a yaw rate (e.g., from an inertial measurement unit, gyroscope, etc.) of the vehicle during the turn maneuver may also be determined. Examples of the present disclosure include, based on the velocities at different points on the vehicle (e.g., based on variables associated with the wheels) and the yaw rate associated with the turn maneuver, estimating a vehicle velocity (e.g., v.sub.x, v.sub.y) during the turn maneuver. In at least some examples, the velocity of the vehicle may be used by various downstream components, such as to determine or update a pose of a vehicle as part of a localization operation.”; [0053]: “At step 404b, the process 400b includes receiving, from a second sensor, a vehicle yaw rate, and the pictorial representation associated with step 404b labels the yaw rate (ω) as the vehicle rotates about the turn center.”; by definition a yaw rate is an angular velocity);
determining a speed for each wheel by use of the angular velocity of the vehicle and the turning radius for each wheel (see at least Bosse [0038]: “In addition, a relationship exists between the radius (R) 247 (e.g., expressed in meters), the linear velocity (V) 243 at the wheel 120a (e.g., expressed in meters/second), and the yaw rate (ω) 218 (e.g., expressed as 1/second or s.sup.−1), where: R=V/ω”);
Bosse in view of Sikand fail to expressly disclose determining the power frequency for each wheel using the speed and radius for each wheel. However, Zilberman teaches
and determining the power frequency for each wheel by use of the speed for each wheel and a radius for each wheel (see at least Zilberman [0003]: “The method also comprises processing, by the processor, the sensor data to determine a rotational frequency of at least one tire of the vehicle. The method further comprises calculating, by the processor, a speed, a tire/wheel diameter, a safety condition, and/or a maintenance condition of the vehicle based on the rotational frequency.”; [0052]: “A UE 105 device equipped with a magnetometer 107 was mounted within the vehicle 101 (e.g., located in a holder in the center of the dashboard) to measure the magnetic signal 115 used to generate the magnetic power spectrum 401. In this example, the vehicle 101 was traveling at a constant speed (e.g., ˜105 km/h), and the resulting peak 403 at ˜15 Hz is in perfect agreement with the expected value based on the speed/frequency relationship equation above given the known tire diameter of the vehicle 101. The peak 403 represents the measured rotational frequency of the tires 113 of the vehicle 101 when the vehicle 101 is traveling at speed (e.g., ˜105 km/h).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method disclosed by Bosse in view of Sikand with the power frequency taught by Zilberman with reasonable expectation of success. Zilberman is directed towards the related field of determining vehicle information using sensor data. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Bosse in view of Sikand with Zilberman to improve vehicle information determination (see at least Zilberman [0002]: “Therefore, there is a need for an approach for determining vehicle speed and/or other vehicle information using alternative sensor technologies, such as ones that are commonly present, but not limited to, cellular phones.”).
Regarding claim 18, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 8 as explained above. Therefore, claim 18 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 8.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bosse in view of Sikand and Zilberman, and further in view of Katsuki, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0176959 A1.
Regarding claim 9, Bosse in view of Sikand and Zilberman teach all elements of the method according to claim 8 as explained above. Bosse in view of Sikand and Zilberman fail to expressly disclose the required speed is a minimum of a speed limit or speed set by a user, and the speed limit is a maximum speed to prevent rollover depending on the turning radius. However, Katsuki teaches
wherein the required speed is a minimum of a speed limit or a speed set by a user (see at least Katsuki [0032]: “Then, the driving control system S uses the driving control unit 6 to determine whether or not the current speed is equal to or higher than the speed limit set by the speed limit setting unit 5 (step S16). When the current speed is equal to or higher than the speed limit, that is, when the determination is YES, the driving control system S performs deceleration of the transport vehicle using the driving control unit 6 (step S17). Further, when the speed is less than the speed limit, that is, when the determination is NO, deceleration is not performed and the speed is maintained.”),
and the speed limit is a maximum speed at which a rollover does not occur depending on the turning radius of the vehicle (see at least Katsuki [0022]: “Then, the speed limit setting unit 5 acquires the center of gravity position and the loaded weight from the center of gravity position estimation unit 3 and the loaded weight estimation unit 4, and sets a speed limit of the transport vehicle on the basis of the above-described mapping of the correlation of the center of gravity position, the loaded weight, and the speed limit that does not cause a load collapse or a rollover.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method disclosed by Bosse in view of Sikand and Zilberman with the speeds taught by Katsuki with reasonable expectation of success. Katsuki is directed towards the related field of a vehicle weight estimation system. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify Bosse in view of Sikand and Zilberman with Katsuki to prevent a load collapse or rollover (see at least Katsuki [0034]: “Further, according to the driving control system S of the present embodiment, a center of gravity position can be estimated by providing the plurality of distance sensors 1 in the transport vehicle. Therefore, a load collapse of the containers C loaded on the transport vehicle or a rollover can be prevented by driving based on the center of gravity position.”).
Regarding claim 19, this claim recites an apparatus that performs the method of claim 9 as explained above. Therefore, claim 19 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Okabe, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0171014 A1, directed towards a parking assistance device.
Dumas et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0286523 A1, directed towards determining the suitability of a target trajectory based on a local coordinate system.
Mizoguchi, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0249677 A1, directed towards a parking assist system along a target guiding route.
Funke et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0192127 A1, directed towards autonomous vehicle trajectory generation using steering limits.
Hashimoto, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0066522 A1, directed towards determining speed and steering angle at multiple points along a parking movement route.
Matsuda et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0064031 A1, directed towards path planning for parking an autonomous vehicle.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH J SLOWIK whose telephone number is (571)270-5608. The examiner can normally be reached MON - FRI: 0900-1700.
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/ELIZABETH J SLOWIK/Examiner, Art Unit 3662
/ANISS CHAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662