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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of the application’s status as a continuation of KR10-2024-0063210
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 10/11/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Status
Claim(s) 1, 7, 10, 11, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karlsson (US 20210190505 A1) in view of Vandenbrouck (US 20200193700 A1).
Claims 2-6, 8-9, 12-16, and 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 7, 10, 11, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karlsson (US 20210190505 A1) in view of Vandenbrouck (US 20200193700 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Karlsson discloses A topology map generation apparatus, comprising: (Karlsson: ¶2 “A first map is generated for the first floor based on the floor plan.” ¶71“In some implementations, the topology generation sub-module in the topology construction module 213 may generate topology information by adding vertices and edges to the third map based on heuristics”)
an image processor configured to: (Karlsson: ¶27 “one or more processors”)
detect a polygon from a guide map image, and (Karlsson: ¶45 “The definition of the MapGraph similar to a vectorgraph and stores outlines of physical objects (such as a room, a door and so on) of different shapes on the floor”)
generate a vertex and an edge based on the detected polygon; and (Karlsson: ¶2 “The first map includes a plurality of vertices and edges,”)
Karlsson fails to specifically disclose a character processor configured to:
identify a character and a character position from the guide map image by using an optical character recognition (OCR), and
associate the character with the polygon based on the character position,
wherein the image processor is configured to store location information matched to the character in a vertex closest to the character.
In related art Vandenbrouck discloses a character processor configured to: (Vandenbrouck: ¶36 “An optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm may also be applied to recognize text in the raster image 240.”)
identify a character and a character position from the guide map image by using an optical character recognition (OCR), and (Vandenbrouck: ¶36 “generating a new space model 102 from a map file 104… An optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm may also be applied to recognize text in the raster image 240.”)
associate the character with the polygon based on the character position, (Vandenbrouck: ¶36 “Step 244 may involve known image analysis operations such as recognizing lines, edges, points, polygons, objects, and so forth. An optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm may also be applied to recognize text in the raster image 240.” ¶38 “For example, if the map file includes a label “room 33” in association with a polygon…”)
wherein the image processor is configured to store location information (Vandenbrouck: ¶37 “at step 246 the geometric-spatial data in the map file is analyzed to identify space elements, containment relationships, objects, metadata, and so forth. The map file may have a mix of geometric cues (corners, shape of object, etc.) that can inform how to map to a graph.”) matched to the character in a vertex closest to the character. (Vandenbrouck: ¶38 “For example, if the map file includes a label “room 33” in association with a polygon, an external source can be queried for information about room 33. This information can in turn help decide the space/node type of the corresponding space node being added to the space model (e.g., media room, teleconference room)”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the character recognition and storing spatial information based on the character information disclosed by Vandenbrouck into the method of topology generation based on a floor plan disclosed by Karlsson to apply character recognition to map generation for generating a descriptive map.
Regarding claim 7, Karlsson, as modified by Vandenbrouck disclose wherein comprising an interface provider configured to provide, to a user, an interface for issuing a generation command or a modification command with respect to the topology map comprising the vertex and the edge. (Karlsson: ¶95 “the example user interface 1600 may be composed of a map display panel 1610, a building selection panel 1620, a floor selection panel 1630 and a destination panel 1640…This will trigger the path construction module 219 in the map construction sub-system 210 as described above to construct a shortest path to the destination based on the topology map”)
Regarding claim 10, Karlsson, as modified by Vandenbrouck disclose wherein the image processor is configured to generate a dependency tree of the detected polygon. (Vandenbrouck: ¶21 “the space hierarchy 120 is a tree or graph that models the relationships between space elements such as buildings, floors, and rooms,”)
Regarding claim 11, Karlsson discloses A topology map generation method, comprising: (Karlsson: ¶2 “A first map is generated for the first floor based on the floor plan.” ¶71“In some implementations, the topology generation sub-module in the topology construction module 213 may generate topology information by adding vertices and edges to the third map based on heuristics”)
receiving a guide map image uploaded by a user; (Karlsson: ¶2 “a floor plan about a first floor of a first building comprising at least one floor is obtained.”)
detecting a polygon from the guide map image; (Karlsson: ¶45 “The definition of the MapGraph similar to a vectorgraph and stores outlines of physical objects (such as a room, a door and so on) of different shapes on the floor”)
Karlsson fails to specifically disclose identifying a character and a character position from the guide map image by using an OCR;
generating a vertex and an edge based on the polygon associated with the character; and
associating the character with the polygon based on the character position;
storing location information matched to the character in a vertex closest to the character.
In related art Vandenbrouck discloses identifying a character and a character position from the guide map image by using an OCR; (Vandenbrouck: ¶36 “generating a new space model 102 from a map file 104… An optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm may also be applied to recognize text in the raster image 240.”)
generating a vertex and an edge based on the polygon associated with the character; and (Vandenbrouck: ¶36 “Step 244 may involve known image analysis operations such as recognizing lines, edges, points, polygons, objects, and so forth. An optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm may also be applied to recognize text in the raster image 240.”)
associating the character with the polygon based on the character position; (Vandenbrouck: ¶36 “Step 244 may involve known image analysis operations such as recognizing lines, edges, points, polygons, objects, and so forth. An optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm may also be applied to recognize text in the raster image 240.” ¶38 “For example, if the map file includes a label “room 33” in association with a polygon…”)
storing location information (Vandenbrouck: ¶37 “at step 246 the geometric-spatial data in the map file is analyzed to identify space elements, containment relationships, objects, metadata, and so forth. The map file may have a mix of geometric cues (corners, shape of object, etc.) that can inform how to map to a graph.”) matched to the character in a vertex closest to the character. (Vandenbrouck: ¶38 “For example, if the map file includes a label “room 33” in association with a polygon, an external source can be queried for information about room 33. This information can in turn help decide the space/node type of the corresponding space node being added to the space model (e.g., media room, teleconference room)”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the character recognition and storing spatial information based on the character information disclosed by Vandenbrouck into the method of topology generation based on a floor plan disclosed by Karlsson to apply character recognition to map generation for generating a descriptive map.
Regarding claim 17, Karlsson, as modified by Vandenbrouck disclose wherein further comprising providing an interface for issuing a generation command or a modification command with respect to the topology map comprising the vertex and the edge to the user. (Karlsson: ¶95 “the example user interface 1600 may be composed of a map display panel 1610, a building selection panel 1620, a floor selection panel 1630 and a destination panel 1640…This will trigger the path construction module 219 in the map construction sub-system 210 as described above to construct a shortest path to the destination based on the topology map”)
Regarding claim 20, Karlsson, as modified by Vandenbrouck disclose wherein detecting the polygon comprises generating a dependency tree of the detected polygon. (Vandenbrouck: ¶21 “the space hierarchy 120 is a tree or graph that models the relationships between space elements such as buildings, floors, and rooms,”)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6, 8-9, 12-16, and 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Tanaka (US 20110178669 A1) discloses an electronic controller defining an autonomous mobile device a self-location estimation unit to estimate a self-location based on a local map that is created according to distance/angle information relative to an object in the vicinity and the travel distance of an omni wheel, an environmental map creation unit to create an environmental map of a mobile area based on the self-location and the local map during the guided travel with using a joystick, a registration switch to register the self-location of the autonomous mobile device as the position coordinate of the setting point when the autonomous mobile device reaches a predetermined setting point during the guided travel, a storage unit to store the environmental map and the setting point, a route planning unit to plan the travel route by using the setting point on the environmental map stored in the storage unit, and a travel control unit to control the autonomous mobile device to autonomously travel along the travel route.
Kwak (US 20170131721 A1) discloses A robot cleaner and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. The robot cleaner includes a main body; a driver configured to move the main body; a storage configured to store a topological map and a grid map generated on the basis of a floor plan of a cleaning space; and a controller configured to control the driver in a manner that the main body travels in the cleaning space on the basis of the topological map and the grid map. The topological map and the grid map are generated prior to initial traveling of the cleaning space.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL KIM MAIDEN whose telephone number is (703)756-1264. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Koziol can be reached at 4089187630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MICHAEL KIM MAIDEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2665
/Stephen R Koziol/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2665
Prosecution Insights