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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
The following is final office action in response to the communication filed on 07/23/2026.
Claims 1-20 are either amended directly or via a claim they depend from.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
Regarding the Objection to the Claim for Minor Informalities: Applicant’s amendment to claim 13 has rendered the objection moot. Accordingly, the objection has been withdrawn.
Regarding the Rejections to the Claims under 35 § USC 112: Applicant’s amendments to claims 1, 7, 11, 12, 17, and 19 have rendered the previous 112 rejections moot. Accordingly, the rejections have been withdrawn.
Regarding the Rejections to the Claims under 35 § USC 103: Applicant’s respectful arguments
and corresponding amendments, see pages 7-17 filed on 07/23/2026, have been fully considered and are respectfully deemed as not being persuasive.
Regarding the rejection of independent claim 1, Applicant has argued (See Pages 9-11) that Yong in view of Wake, “both does not teach the totality of amended claim limitations or explains why a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to arrive at the claimed invention.” “Examiner respectfully disagrees, citing particularly Paragraphs [0101] and [0105] of Wake to address the amended claim limitations in the subsequent Claim Rejections, 35 USC § 103 section, for Applicant’s consideration. Regarding the motivation to arrive at the claimed invention, Examiner’s argument is particularly that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the inventions in order to yield the known benefits of increased resource replacement time, by having a mobile base station being proximate to drone operations, such as a final location as part of an agricultural spraying process. This motivation is supported by Paragraph [0066] of Wake, which was published before the effective filling date of the claimed invention.
Regarding the rejection of independent claim 11, Applicant has argued Yong in view of Wake does not teach the totality of the claim limitations, the arguments are moot in view of the amendments. Examiner has applied a grounds of rejection in the subsequent, Claim Rejections, 35 USC § 103 section, for Applicant’s consideration. This rejection is applied in a nearly identical manner as to that dependent claim 2, the rejection of which Applicant has not challenged.
Regarding the rejection of independent claim 17, multiple issues has been raised in the subsequent, Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112, section. These issues have rendered Applicant’s arguments/amendments mostly moot. Examiner believes the combination of Yong and Wake is proper for the same reasons as discussed with regard to independent claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Particularly, Claim 17, Lines 10-13 read, “wherein a first number of accelerations and turns required by the first aerial vehicle to approach the first location after the final spray location is greater than a second number of accelerations and turns required by the second aerial vehicle to approach the second location after the final spray location.” With regards to Applicant’s specification, (Paragraph [0099]) reads, “With further reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, based on the application operation conditions, the computing system 30 may utilize any defined algorithm to determine a movement path for each respective base station 32. In some cases, the algorithm may reduce the time that each UAV(s) 12 spends flying to and from the field 14, which can take up to 20% of the total flight time. Additionally or alternatively, the algorithm may reduce a number of accelerations and turns at the boundary 208 of the working area 210, as such operations can take more than 25% of the energy consumption,” and comprises no reference to a first or second number of acceleration or turns in relation to a final spray location. In addition, Applicant has not pointed out what portion of the specification the limitations are derived from and has merely stated that no new mater has been added. Claims 18-20 are rejected based upon their dependency on claim 17. For the purposes of examination, the preceding limitations will be given little patentable weight as there are multiple significant issues raised with regards to 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.
Claims 17-20 are 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.
Particularly, Claim 17, Lines 10-13 read, “wherein a first number of accelerations and turns required by the first aerial vehicle to approach the first location after the final spray location is greater than a second number of accelerations and turns required by the second aerial vehicle to approach the second location after the final spray location.” It is unclear what is meant by the phrase, “number of accelerations.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would define acceleration as the measurement of how fast and what direction an object’s speed and direction of motion in changing over time, not as a number of something occurring. Applicant’s specification provides no indication of being their own lexicographer towards defining this term, therefore significant doubt is raised towards the meets and bounds of the claims.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "the second aerial vehicle" in Line 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, and it is unclear whether this is intended to refer to the “another aerial vehicle” introduced in Line 12.
Claims 18-20 are rejected based upon their dependency on claim 17. For the purposes of examination, the preceding limitations will be given little patentable weight as there are multiple significant issues raised with regards to 35 USC § 112.
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.
Claims 1, 3-9, 17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. (US 2019/0031346 A1, hereinafter Yong) in view of Wake et al. (US 2022/0137644 A1, hereinafter Wake)
Claim 1 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“An agricultural system comprising:”
Yong teaches, (Abstract, Lines 1-2) “a system for managing an agriculture plantation.”
“a first aerial vehicle configured to dispense a first agricultural product from a first set of one or more nozzle assemblies”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0009], Lines 2-3) “a system for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and releasing a payload from the same,” wherein the payload is, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 7-8) “most commonly by releasing precise amounts of fertilizers and pesticides,” and that the UAV comprises, (Paragraph [0154], Line 1) “dispersal nozzles 614a,” and that, (Paragraph [0154], Lines 13-15) “The dispensing mechanism can comprise a centre nozzle for other surrounding nozzles to take reference to.”
“based on a first flight plan that defines one or more spray locations within a field,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation.”
“the first flight plan stored within a first computing device;”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0148], Lines 1-10) “The Main Computer System 100 is a central coordinator of data, information sources and robotic vehicle resources. The Main Computer System comprises a master scheduler 111 (which can be web- or application-based) and a schedule database, hereinafter referred to as a master database 112. The master scheduler 111 plans and schedules all UAV operations and the generation of target areas for intervention by UAVs. The master scheduler 111 generates schedules (master schedules) where at least one schedule can be stored in the master database 112.”
“and a base station comprising: a docking station; a refill tank configured to store an agricultural product transferrable to the first aerial vehicle; and a computing system operably coupled with the first computing device,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0156], Lines 5-6) “each block 1113b may comprise an associated base station,” comprising, (Paragraphs [0161-0162])“a launch/recovery platform that may be integrated with a power re-charging mechanism 512 in connection with a power source 512a, refilling mechanism 513 and storage 515 for supplies 515a (include but are not limited to water, fertilizers and pesticides), to prepare a UAV 600 for its next flight after it has landed; and a local computer system (onboard processor) 514 that runs a local scheduler 514a.”
“the computing system configured to: determine a movement path of the base station positions the docking station proximate to a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle for recovery of the first aerial vehicle after completion of the first flight plan; and generate instructions identifying the movement path.”
Yong does not explicitly teach its computing system determining a movement path of the base station that positions the docking station proximate to a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle for recovery of the first aerial vehicle after completion of the first flight plan, and generating instructions identifying the movement path.
However, Yong does teach its system comprising mobile base stations which are capable of moving and are additionally capable of determining the current location and routing of the UAVs.
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0165], Line 1) “A mobile base station 500B is illustrated in FIG. 12,” and that, (Paragraph [0177], Lines 12-17) “The local scheduler plans routes with contiguous blocks where each block is under the jurisdiction of one local scheduler. In the event that a UAV needs to move from one block to another, the Local Scheduler in the blocks' controlling Base Station (whether Static or Mobile) acts as an arbiter.”
Wake does explicitly teach its computing system determining a movement path of the base station that positions the docking station proximate to a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle for recovery of the first aerial vehicle after completion of the first flight plan, and generating instructions identifying the movement path.
Wake is relevant to the applicant’s disclosure due to teaching that, (Paragraph [0040]) “FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram illustrating a state after the operating segments for drones are redistributed in the embodiment of the chemical agent spreading system illustrated in FIG. 6.,” wherein, (Paragraph [0062], Lines 6-10) “Flight routes (entrance routes) from the takeoff-landing port 406 to the agricultural field 403 as a destination may be stored in advance in the agriculture cloud 405 or the like or may be input by the user 402 before the takeoff,” and that, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 12-17) “the movement of the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c to the other agricultural field is performed while the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c are aboard the movable body 406a in principle, and the movable body 406a transports the drones 100 to a vicinity of an agricultural field where operations are to be performed,” and further that, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a.”
Wake additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0105]) “The stop position determining section 34 may determine the stop position based on an area where the movable body 406a is located. In a case where the movable body 406a is positioned within the movement permitted area 901, the stop position determining section 34 may determine that the movable body 406a is to move to and stop at a closest point in the landing permitted area 902. With this configuration, it is possible to cause the drone 100 returning from the agricultural field 403 to land on the movable body 406a reliably,” and that, (Paragraph [0110]) “The landing position determining section 23 is a functional section that determines a position at which the drone 100 is to make a landing based on the stop position of the movable body 406a. The landing position determining section 23 refers to position coordinates at which the movable body 406a is stopping and determines that the drone 100 is to land on the movable body 406a at the position coordinates.”
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the final spray location, which must occur during the UAV’s flight route in an agricultural field where the spraying in conducted, must at least partially determine the movement path of the movable body to arrive at a “proximate location” in order to recover a first aerial vehicle after completion of the first flight plan.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong with that of capability of a mobile base station to alter its movement path to arrive proximate to a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of, for example, saving UAV battery by moving the mobile base station towards the location of the UAV at the end of its flight plan, so it has a lesser distance to travel, which in turn saves charge. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 17-25) “With this configuration, batteries 502 of the drones 100 can be saved. In addition, since the movable body 406a stores batteries 502 and chemical agent with which the drones 100 can be replenished, a configuration in which the movable body 406a moves to and is on standby at a vicinity of an agricultural field where the drones 100 are in operation, a time necessary for the replenishment of the drones 100 can be shortened.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the inventions in order to yield the known benefits of increased resource replacement time, by having a mobile base station being proximity to drone operations, such as agricultural spraying.
Claim 3 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 2, wherein the base station further comprises a power source station configured to store one or more batteries, the one or more batteries configured to couple with and power the first aerial vehicle.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0156], Lines 5-6) “each block 1113b may comprise an associated base station,” comprising, (Paragraphs [0161])“a launch/recovery platform that may be integrated with a power re-charging mechanism 512 in connection with a power source 512a, refilling mechanism 513 and storage 515 for supplies 515a (include but are not limited to water, fertilizers and pesticides), to prepare a UAV 600 for its next flight after it has landed,” wherein the UAV can, (Paragraph [0124], Lines 5-6) “return to base to recharge batteries.”
Claim 4 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 3, wherein the final spray location is based at least partially on a power level of a battery operably coupled with the first aerial vehicle.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0158], Lines 10-19) “Segregating the plantation into blocks 113b improves efficiency of the system where the UAVs may consume less resources and take less time in delivering their payloads. This translates into better resource management and can reduce complexity in the components of the agriculture plantation system. For example, the UAVs may require a smaller battery (i.e. power source) to operate since their flight path can be confined to the blocks which allows for lighter and more efficient UAVs to be used in the agriculture plantation system.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the flight path which may be embarked upon based upon available battery power/size would include that of a final spray location.
Claim 5 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 1, wherein the instructions are provided to a powertrain control system to move the base station along the movement path.”
Yong does not teach the preceding limitations, but Yong does teach, (Paragraph [0165], Line 1) “A mobile base station 500B is illustrated in FIG. 12.”
Wake does teach the preceding limitations.
Wake teaches, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a,” and that, (Paragraph [0084]) “The movable body 406a illustrated in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 … 406a may be an appropriate land movable body such as a railroad car or may be a boat or an aerial vehicle. A driving source of the movable body 406a may be appropriate one using gasoline, electricity, fuel cells, or the like.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong with the explicit powertrain control system to move the base station along the movement path as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of the well-known methodology of using a powertrain control system to move a vehicle. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0084], Lines 7-9) “The movable body 406a is capable of being driven by the user 402 and may be capable of moving autonomously.”
Claim 6 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 1, wherein the instructions are provided to a user interface to illustrate a movement of the base station along the movement path.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0099], Lines 8-9) “The mobile device for the UAV pilot may further comprise a computing device for the UAV pilot to display the video live stream from the camera and telemetry data required by the UAV pilot 14. In some embodiments, the mobile device may be integrated with the computing device for the display of the video live stream,” and that, (Paragraph [0152], Lines 11-13) “the UVCC interface is shown in FIG. 19 which may be displayed on one or more mobile devices.”
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Figure 19 portrays Mobile Base Stations KL01-525 and KL02-526 to a user, as well as their live movement in the leftmost side of the image.
Claim 7 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“The agricultural system of claim 1, further comprising: a second aerial vehicle configured to dispense a second agricultural product from a second set of one or more nozzle assemblies based on a second flight plan that defines one or more spray locations within the field, the second flight plan stored within a second computing device.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0009], Lines 2-3) “a system for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and releasing a payload from the same,” wherein the payload is, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 7-8) “most commonly by releasing precise amounts of fertilizers and pesticides,” and that the UAV comprises, (Paragraph [0154], Line 1) “dispersal nozzles 614a.”
Yong additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation,” and that, (Paragraph [0152], Lines 1-4) “To efficiently carry out targeted interventions across a sizable area of farm land will require the use of multiple UAVs 600 and supporting Static and Mobile Base Stations 500,” as well as that, (Paragraph [0163], Lines 1-4) “The local scheduler 514a copies, stores and maintains a copy of a master schedule, in a local database 514b so that it can create tasking instructions for the UAVs it communicates with (FIG. 8).”
Claim 8 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 7, wherein the movement path of the base station is further based at least partially on a final spray location of the second aerial vehicle.”
Yong does not explicitly teach the movement path of the base station being at least based partially on a final spray location of the second aerial vehicle.
However, Yong does teach its system comprising mobile base stations which are capable of moving and are additionally capable of determining the current location and routing of the UAVs.
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0165], Line 1) “A mobile base station 500B is illustrated in FIG. 12,” and that, (Paragraph [0177], Lines 12-17) “The local scheduler plans routes with contiguous blocks where each block is under the jurisdiction of one local scheduler. In the event that a UAV needs to move from one block to another, the Local Scheduler in the blocks' controlling Base Station (whether Static or Mobile) acts as an arbiter.
Wake does teach the preceding limitations.
Wake teaches that, (Paragraph [0040]) “FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram illustrating a state after the operating segments for drones are redistributed in the embodiment of the chemical agent spreading system illustrated in FIG. 6.,” wherein, (Paragraph [0062], Lines 6-10) “Flight routes (entrance routes) from the takeoff-landing port 406 to the agricultural field 403 as a destination may be stored in advance in the agriculture cloud 405 or the like or may be input by the user 402 before the takeoff,” and that, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 12-17) “the movement of the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c to the other agricultural field is performed while the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c are aboard the movable body 406a in principle, and the movable body 406a transports the drones 100 to a vicinity of an agricultural field where operations are to be performed,” and further that, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a.” Therefore, the movable body transports multiple drones to a desired region of operation for said drones. As a result, at least a second drone’s final spray location partially effects the movement of the movable body.
Wake additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0109], Lines 14-18) “The movable-body stop position receiving section 22 may receive only information on the position of the movable body on which the drone 100 is to land and the type of the area where the position of the movable body is located.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong with that of capability of a mobile base station to alter its movement path at least partially on a final spray location of the second aerial vehicle as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of, for example, saving UAV battery amongst a fleet of UAVs by moving the mobile base station towards the location of the UAV at the end of its flight plan, so it has a lesser distance to travel, which it turn saves charge. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 17-25) “With this configuration, batteries 502 of the drones 100 can be saved. In addition, since the movable body 406a stores batteries 502 and chemical agent with which the drones 100 can be replenished, a configuration in which the movable body 406a moves to and is on standby at a vicinity of an agricultural field where the drones 100 are in operation, a time necessary for the replenishment of the drones 100 can be shortened.”
Claim 9 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 7, wherein the computing system is configured to modify the first flight plan based on the second flight plan.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0177], Lines 10-24) “The air traffic controller receives scheduling data relating to the targets of each UAV from the local scheduler. The local scheduler plans routes with contiguous blocks where each block is under the jurisdiction of one local scheduler. In the event that a UAV needs to move from one block to another, the Local Scheduler in the blocks' controlling Base Station (whether Static or Mobile) acts as an arbiter. The UAV will query the Local Scheduler to determine whether the desired next block is free of UAVs. If this is confirmed, it can proceed to occupy the next block and continue intervening at its next target. The local scheduler also generates non-overlapping routes for UAVs to return to the base stations. Further, contingency plans are continuously updated in case of global recall of the UAVs (for example due to inclement weather).” Therefore, the first flight plan is effectively updated based upon a second flight plan when non-overlapping routes are continuously updated.
Claim 17 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“An agricultural system”
Yong teaches, (Abstract, Lines 1-2) “a system for managing an agriculture plantation.”
“comprising: a first aerial vehicle configured to dispense an agricultural product from a first set of one or more nozzle assemblies”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0009], Lines 2-3) “a system for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and releasing a payload from the same,” wherein the payload is, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 7-8) “most commonly by releasing precise amounts of fertilizers and pesticides,” and that the UAV comprises, (Paragraph [0154], Line 1) “dispersal nozzles 614a.”
“based on a first flight plan that defines one or more spray locations within a field,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation.”
“the first flight plan stored within a computing device;”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0148], Lines 1-10) “The Main Computer System 100 is a central coordinator of data, information sources and robotic vehicle resources. The Main Computer System comprises a master scheduler 111 (which can be web- or application-based) and a schedule database, hereinafter referred to as a master database 112. The master scheduler 111 plans and schedules all UAV operations and the generation of target areas for intervention by UAVs. The master scheduler 111 generates schedules (master schedules) where at least one schedule can be stored in the master database 112.”
“and a first base station comprising: a first docking station; … and a first computing system operably coupled with the computing device,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0156], Lines 5-6) “each block 1113b may comprise an associated base station,” comprising, (Paragraphs [0161-0162])“a launch/recovery platform that may be integrated with a power re-charging mechanism 512 in connection with a power source 512a, refilling mechanism 513 and storage 515 for supplies 515a (include but are not limited to water, fertilizers and pesticides), to prepare a UAV 600 for its next flight after it has landed; and a local computer system (onboard processor) 514 that runs a local scheduler 514a.”
“a first power source station configured to store one or more batteries, the one or more batteries configured to couple with and power the first aerial vehicle;”
Yong teaches, (Paragraphs [0161]) “a launch/recovery platform that may be integrated with a power re-charging mechanism 512 in connection with a power source 512a, refilling mechanism 513 and storage 515 for supplies 515a (include but are not limited to water, fertilizers and pesticides), to prepare a UAV 600 for its next flight after it has landed,” wherein the UAV can, (Paragraph [0124], Lines 5-6) “return to base to recharge batteries.”
“… the final spray location based at least partially on a power level of a battery operably coupled with the first aerial vehicle,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0158], Lines 10-19) “Segregating the plantation into blocks 113b improves efficiency of the system where the UAVs may consume less resources and take less time in delivering their payloads. This translates into better resource management and can reduce complexity in the components of the agriculture plantation system. For example, the UAVs may require a smaller battery (i.e. power source) to operate since their flight path can be confined to the blocks which allows for lighter and more efficient UAVs to be used in the agriculture plantation system.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the flight path which may be embarked upon based upon available battery power/size would include that of a final spray location.
“wherein a first number of accelerations and turns required by the first aerial vehicle to approach the first location after the final spray location is greater than a second number of accelerations and turns required by the second aerial vehicle to approach the second location after the final spray location;”
The preceding limitations are given little patentable weight. (See Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112)
“the first computing system configured to: determine a first movement path of the first base station from a first location to a second location based at least partially on a final spray location and a presence of another aerial vehicle at the first docking station, … and generate first instructions identifying the first movement path.”
Yong does not explicitly teach its computing system determining a movement path of the base station based at least partially on a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle.
However, Yong does teach its system comprising mobile base stations which are capable of moving and are additionally capable of determining the current location and routing of the UAVs.
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0165], Line 1) “A mobile base station 500B is illustrated in FIG. 12,” and that, (Paragraph [0177], Lines 12-17) “The local scheduler plans routes with contiguous blocks where each block is under the jurisdiction of one local scheduler. In the event that a UAV needs to move from one block to another, the Local Scheduler in the blocks' controlling Base Station (whether Static or Mobile) acts as an arbiter.
Wake does teach the preceding limitations.
Wake is relevant to the applicant’s disclosure due to teaching that, (Paragraph [0040]) “FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram illustrating a state after the operating segments for drones are redistributed in the embodiment of the chemical agent spreading system illustrated in FIG. 6.,” wherein, (Paragraph [0062], Lines 6-10) “Flight routes (entrance routes) from the takeoff-landing port 406 to the agricultural field 403 as a destination may be stored in advance in the agriculture cloud 405 or the like or may be input by the user 402 before the takeoff,” and that, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 12-17) “the movement of the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c to the other agricultural field is performed while the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c are aboard the movable body 406a in principle, and the movable body 406a transports the drones 100 to a vicinity of an agricultural field where operations are to be performed,” and further that, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a.”
Wake additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0105]) “The stop position determining section 34 may determine the stop position based on an area where the movable body 406a is located. In a case where the movable body 406a is positioned within the movement permitted area 901, the stop position determining section 34 may determine that the movable body 406a is to move to and stop at a closest point in the landing permitted area 902. With this configuration, it is possible to cause the drone 100 returning from the agricultural field 403 to land on the movable body 406a reliably,” and that, (Paragraph [0110]) “The landing position determining section 23 is a functional section that determines a position at which the drone 100 is to make a landing based on the stop position of the movable body 406a. The landing position determining section 23 refers to position coordinates at which the movable body 406a is stopping and determines that the drone 100 is to land on the movable body 406a at the position coordinates.”
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the final spray location, which must occur during the UAV’s flight route in an agricultural field where the spraying in conducted, must at least partially determine the movement path of the movable body to arrive at a “proximate location” in order to recover a first aerial vehicle after completion of the first flight plan.
Wake additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0022], Lines 4-12) “at least one takeoff-landing port allowing the plurality of drones to take off or make a landing individually or allowing two or more of the plurality of drones to take off or make a landing simultaneously, and a flight control section controlling flights of the drones along flight routes assigned to the drones, the drone system causing the plurality of drones to perform an operation in a predetermined area in a sharing manner,” and therefore the movable body comprising a base station may move to a particular area to facilitate a simultaneous takeoff for a drone and landing for a secondary drone pertaining to the landing drone’s final spray area.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong with that of capability of a mobile base station to alter its movement path to arrive proximate to a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of, for example, saving UAV battery by moving the mobile base station towards the location of the UAV at the end of its flight plan, so it has a lesser distance to travel, which in turn saves charge. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 17-25) “With this configuration, batteries 502 of the drones 100 can be saved. In addition, since the movable body 406a stores batteries 502 and chemical agent with which the drones 100 can be replenished, a configuration in which the movable body 406a moves to and is on standby at a vicinity of an agricultural field where the drones 100 are in operation, a time necessary for the replenishment of the drones 100 can be shortened.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the inventions in order to yield the known benefits of increased resource replacement time, by having a mobile base station being proximity to drone operations, such as agricultural spraying.
Claim 19 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“The agricultural system of claim 17, further comprising: a second aerial vehicle configured to dispense a second agricultural product from a second set of one or more nozzle assemblies based on a second flight plan that defines one or more spray locations within the field.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation,” and that, (Paragraph [0152], Lines 1-4) “To efficiently carry out targeted interventions across a sizable area of farm land will require the use of multiple UAVs 600 and supporting Static and Mobile Base Stations 500,” as well as that, (Paragraph [0163], Lines 1-4) “The local scheduler 514a copies, stores and maintains a copy of a master schedule, in a local database 514b so that it can create tasking instructions for the UAVs it communicates with (FIG. 8),” and further that the UAVs comprise, (Paragraph [0154], Line 1) “dispersal nozzles 614a.”
Claim 20 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 19, further comprising: a second base station comprising: a second docking station; a second power source station configured to store one or more batteries, the one or more batteries configured to couple with and power the first aerial vehicle; and a second computing system operably coupled with the computing device,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation,” and that, (Paragraph [0152], Lines 1-4) “To efficiently carry out targeted interventions across a sizable area of farm land will require the use of multiple UAVs 600 and supporting Static and Mobile Base Stations 500,” as well as that, (Paragraph [0163], Lines 1-4) “The local scheduler 514a copies, stores and maintains a copy of a master schedule, in a local database 514b so that it can create tasking instructions for the UAVs it communicates with (FIG. 8),” wherein each mobile base station comprises, (Paragraphs [0161])“a launch/recovery platform that may be integrated with a power re-charging mechanism 512 in connection with a power source 512a, refilling mechanism 513 and storage 515 for supplies 515a (include but are not limited to water, fertilizers and pesticides), to prepare a UAV 600 for its next flight after it has landed,” wherein the UAVs can, (Paragraph [0124], Lines 5-6) “return to base to recharge batteries.”
“the second computing system configured to: determine a second movement path of the second base station based at least partially on a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle and the second aerial vehicle; and generate second instructions identifying the second movement path.”
Yong does not teach the preceding limitations; however Wake does teach the preceding limitations.
Wake teaches that, (Paragraph [0040]) “FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram illustrating a state after the operating segments for drones are redistributed in the embodiment of the chemical agent spreading system illustrated in FIG. 6.,” wherein, (Paragraph [0062], Lines 6-10) “Flight routes (entrance routes) from the takeoff-landing port 406 to the agricultural field 403 as a destination may be stored in advance in the agriculture cloud 405 or the like or may be input by the user 402 before the takeoff,” and that, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 12-17) “the movement of the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c to the other agricultural field is performed while the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c are aboard the movable body 406a in principle, and the movable body 406a transports the drones 100 to a vicinity of an agricultural field where operations are to be performed,” and further that, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a.” Therefore, the movable body approaches a region where multiple drones are conducting operations and may further request docking.
Wake additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0109], Lines 14-18) “The movable-body stop position receiving section 22 may receive only information on the position of the movable body on which the drone 100 is to land and the type of the area where the position of the movable body is located.”
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the final spray location, which must occur during a first and second UAV’s flight route in an agricultural field where the spraying is conducted, must at least partially determine the movement path of the movable body.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong which comprises multiple mobile base stations, with that of capability of a mobile base station to alter its movement path at least partially on a final spray location of the first and second aerial vehicle as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of, for example, saving UAV battery by moving the mobile base station towards the location of the UAV at the end of its flight plan, so it has a lesser distance to travel, which it turn saves charge. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 17-25) “With this configuration, batteries 502 of the drones 100 can be saved. In addition, since the movable body 406a stores batteries 502 and chemical agent with which the drones 100 can be replenished, a configuration in which the movable body 406a moves to and is on standby at a vicinity of an agricultural field where the drones 100 are in operation, a time necessary for the replenishment of the drones 100 can be shortened.”
Claims 2, 11-12, 15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong in view of Wake, further in view of McCann. (US 2024/0253828 A1, hereinafter McCann)
Claim 2 Discloses: (Original)
Yong and Wake do not explicitly teach the preceding limitations.
However, Yong does teach capability to understand and deliver, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 16-18) “precise amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and/or irrigation (e.g. water), in solid and/or liquid forms to one or more specific targets at one or more target destinations.”
McCann does teach a UAV pesticide spraying system wherein the final spray location is based at least partially on a volume of the agricultural product within a tank of the first aerial vehicle.
McCann teaches, (Paragraph [0176]) “ The prioritization subsystem processes the target list including target information and target tracking data, to determine if there are targets that should be grouped together and the relative order or sequence in which the targets should be sprayed. The drone 202, 1200 includes multiple spray nozzles 520 … The prioritization subsystem acts as a mission optimization frontend for the spray vector computation subsystem by adjusting the target list received by the prioritization subsystem to create a second target list that is the input to the spray vector computation subsystem. Thus, the spray vector computation subsystem achieves resource efficiencies by having a predetermined target order that optimizes the timing of each spray relative to the time and resources required for each spray vector calculation. The spray vector computation subsystem also achieves resource efficiencies by calculating fewer spray vectors because of the target groupings,” and that, (Paragraph [0178], Lines 16-25) “the conditions of the drone 202, 1200 and the components 600 may be used to modify the prioritization such as a life of the battery 618, the amount of spray remaining in the canister 406, the achievable spray pressure, etc. Further, a complete or partial failure of a drone component 600 may be the basis for modifying the prioritization rules or the spray vector algorithm. For example, a lower than expected tank pressure resulting from a pump problem or a leak in the dispensing mechanism 500 may cause a modification.” Therefore, the spray remaining in the canister alters the prioritization, having the effect of altering which target is finally sprayed.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the explicit alteration towards the order in which location are sprayed (including the final location) as taught by McCann, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of optimizing the flight plan of the UAV based upon current operating parameters. As McCann describes, (Paragraph [0176], Lines 15-16) “The prioritization subsystem acts as a mission optimization frontend.”
Claim 11 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“A method for an agricultural operation,”
Yong teaches, a (Abstract, Lines 1-2) “system for managing an agriculture plantation,” comprising, (Paragraph [0001], Lines 1-2) “a system and method for controlling an unmanned vehicle.”
“the method comprising: receiving, from a first computing device, a first flight plan of a first aerial vehicle, the first aerial vehicle configured to dispense a first agricultural product from a first set of one or more nozzle assemblies based on the first flight plan that defines one or more spray locations within a field, … wherein the final spray location is the last of the one or more spray locations defined in the first flight plan;”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0009], Lines 2-3) “a system for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and releasing a payload from the same,” wherein the payload is, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 7-8) “most commonly by releasing precise amounts of fertilizers and pesticides,” and that the UAV comprises, (Paragraph [0154], Line 1) “dispersal nozzles 614a.”
Yong additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation,” wherein, (Paragraph [0198]) “Once an intervention has been attempted and/or completed, the UAV proceeds to its next target. When all targets on its list have been attempted, the UAV returns to its assigned base station.”
“the first flight plan stored within the first computing device;”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0148], Lines 1-10) “The Main Computer System 100 is a central coordinator of data, information sources and robotic vehicle resources. The Main Computer System comprises a master scheduler 111 (which can be web- or application-based) and a schedule database, hereinafter referred to as a master database 112. The master scheduler 111 plans and schedules all UAV operations and the generation of target areas for intervention by UAVs. The master scheduler 111 generates schedules (master schedules) where at least one schedule can be stored in the master database 112.”
“determining, with a computing system, a movement path of a base station based at least partially on a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle … and generating, with the computing system, instructions identifying the movement path.”
Yong does not explicitly teach determining, with a computing system, a movement path of a base station based at least partially on a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle and generating, with the computing system, instructions identifying the movement path.
However, Yong does teach its system comprising mobile base stations which are capable of moving and are additionally capable of determining the current location and routing of the UAVs.
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0165], Line 1) “A mobile base station 500B is illustrated in FIG. 12,” and that, (Paragraph [0177], Lines 12-17) “The local scheduler plans routes with contiguous blocks where each block is under the jurisdiction of one local scheduler. In the event that a UAV needs to move from one block to another, the Local Scheduler in the blocks' controlling Base Station (whether Static or Mobile) acts as an arbiter.”
Wake does explicitly teach determining, with a computing system, a movement path of a base station based at least partially on a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle and generating, with the computing system, instructions identifying the movement path.
Wake is relevant to the applicant’s disclosure due to teaching that, (Paragraph [0040]) “FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram illustrating a state after the operating segments for drones are redistributed in the embodiment of the chemical agent spreading system illustrated in FIG. 6.,” wherein, (Paragraph [0062], Lines 6-10) “Flight routes (entrance routes) from the takeoff-landing port 406 to the agricultural field 403 as a destination may be stored in advance in the agriculture cloud 405 or the like or may be input by the user 402 before the takeoff,” and that, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 12-17) “the movement of the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c to the other agricultural field is performed while the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c are aboard the movable body 406a in principle, and the movable body 406a transports the drones 100 to a vicinity of an agricultural field where operations are to be performed,” and further that, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a.”
Wake additionally teaches, (Paragraph [0105]) “The stop position determining section 34 may determine the stop position based on an area where the movable body 406a is located. In a case where the movable body 406a is positioned within the movement permitted area 901, the stop position determining section 34 may determine that the movable body 406a is to move to and stop at a closest point in the landing permitted area 902. With this configuration, it is possible to cause the drone 100 returning from the agricultural field 403 to land on the movable body 406a reliably,” and that, (Paragraph [0110]) “The landing position determining section 23 is a functional section that determines a position at which the drone 100 is to make a landing based on the stop position of the movable body 406a. The landing position determining section 23 refers to position coordinates at which the movable body 406a is stopping and determines that the drone 100 is to land on the movable body 406a at the position coordinates.”
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the final spray location, which must occur during the UAV’s flight route in an agricultural field where the spraying in conducted, must at least partially determine the movement path of the movable body to arrive at a “proximate location” in order to recover a first aerial vehicle after completion of the first flight plan.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong with that of capability of a mobile base station to alter its movement path to arrive proximate to a final spray location of the first aerial vehicle as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of, for example, saving UAV battery by moving the mobile base station towards the location of the UAV at the end of its flight plan, so it has a lesser distance to travel, which in turn saves charge. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 17-25) “With this configuration, batteries 502 of the drones 100 can be saved. In addition, since the movable body 406a stores batteries 502 and chemical agent with which the drones 100 can be replenished, a configuration in which the movable body 406a moves to and is on standby at a vicinity of an agricultural field where the drones 100 are in operation, a time necessary for the replenishment of the drones 100 can be shortened.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the inventions in order to yield the known benefits of increased resource replacement time, by having a mobile base station being proximity to drone operations, such as agricultural spraying.
“vehicle and a volume of the agricultural product within a tank of the first aerial vehicle,”
Yong and Wake do not explicitly teach the preceding limitations.
However, Yong does teach capability to understand and deliver, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 16-18) “precise amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and/or irrigation (e.g. water), in solid and/or liquid forms to one or more specific targets at one or more target destinations.”
McCann does teach a UAV pesticide spraying system wherein the final spray location is based at least partially on a volume of the agricultural product within a tank of the first aerial vehicle.
McCann teaches, (Paragraph [0176]) “ The prioritization subsystem processes the target list including target information and target tracking data, to determine if there are targets that should be grouped together and the relative order or sequence in which the targets should be sprayed. The drone 202, 1200 includes multiple spray nozzles 520 … The prioritization subsystem acts as a mission optimization frontend for the spray vector computation subsystem by adjusting the target list received by the prioritization subsystem to create a second target list that is the input to the spray vector computation subsystem. Thus, the spray vector computation subsystem achieves resource efficiencies by having a predetermined target order that optimizes the timing of each spray relative to the time and resources required for each spray vector calculation. The spray vector computation subsystem also achieves resource efficiencies by calculating fewer spray vectors because of the target groupings,” and that, (Paragraph [0178], Lines 16-25) “the conditions of the drone 202, 1200 and the components 600 may be used to modify the prioritization such as a life of the battery 618, the amount of spray remaining in the canister 406, the achievable spray pressure, etc. Further, a complete or partial failure of a drone component 600 may be the basis for modifying the prioritization rules or the spray vector algorithm. For example, a lower than expected tank pressure resulting from a pump problem or a leak in the dispensing mechanism 500 may cause a modification.” Therefore, the spray remaining in the canister alters the prioritization, having the effect of altering which target is finally sprayed.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the explicit alteration towards the order in which location are sprayed (including the final location) as taught by McCann, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of optimizing the flight plan of the UAV based upon current operating parameters. As McCann describes, (Paragraph [0176], Lines 15-16) “The prioritization subsystem acts as a mission optimization frontend.”
Claim 12 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving, from a second computing device, a second flight plan of a second aerial vehicle, the second aerial vehicle configured to dispense a second agricultural product from a second set of one or more nozzle assemblies based on the second flight plan that defines one or more spray locations within the field, the second flight plan stored within the second computing device,”
Yong teaches, (Paragraph [0153], Lines 14-23) “Given an appropriate data input captured by the UAV's onboard camera system, the UAV is capable of executing routines on the input and determine when the onboard solid or liquid payload should be released. Given a georeferenced base map of its assigned operating area, a list of targets with latitude and longitude coordinates, and knowledge of other important parameters such as its own operating capabilities (including but not limited to flying endurance and payload capacity), the UAV is able to plan a flight path in support of autonomous flying operation,” and that, (Paragraph [0152], Lines 1-4) “To efficiently carry out targeted interventions across a sizable area of farm land will require the use of multiple UAVs 600 and supporting Static and Mobile Base Stations 500,” as well as that, (Paragraph [0163], Lines 1-4) “The local scheduler 514a copies, stores and maintains a copy of a master schedule, in a local database 514b so that it can create tasking instructions for the UAVs it communicates with (FIG. 8).”
“wherein the movement path of the base station is based at least partially on the first flight plan and the second flight plan.”
Wake teaches that, (Paragraph [0040]) “FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram illustrating a state after the operating segments for drones are redistributed in the embodiment of the chemical agent spreading system illustrated in FIG. 6.,” wherein, (Paragraph [0062], Lines 6-10) “Flight routes (entrance routes) from the takeoff-landing port 406 to the agricultural field 403 as a destination may be stored in advance in the agriculture cloud 405 or the like or may be input by the user 402 before the takeoff,” and that, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 12-17) “the movement of the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c to the other agricultural field is performed while the drones 100a, 100b, and 100c are aboard the movable body 406a in principle, and the movable body 406a transports the drones 100 to a vicinity of an agricultural field where operations are to be performed,” and further that, (Paragraph [0101], Lines 3-7) “The movement control section 30 can cause the movable body 406a to move and stop autonomously within the automatic-driving permitted area based on, for example, information on position coordinates and an ambient environment of the movable body 406a.”
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the first and second flight plans of each UAV, which must occur during the UAV’s flight route in an agricultural field where the spraying in conducted, must at least partially determine the movement path of the movable body.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Yong with that of capability of a mobile base station to alter its movement path at least partially on a first and second flight plans of the first and second aerial vehicles, as taught by Wake, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of, for example, saving UAV battery by moving the mobile base station towards the location of the UAV at the end of its flight plan, so it has a lesser distance to travel, which it turn saves charge. As Wake describes, (Paragraph [0066], Lines 17-25) “With this configuration, batteries 502 of the drones 100 can be saved. In addition, since the movable body 406a stores batteries 502 and chemical agent with which the drones 100 can be replenished, a configuration in which the movable body 406a moves to and is on standby at a vicinity of an agricultural field where the drones 100 are in operation, a time necessary for the replenishment of the drones 100 can be shortened.”
Claim 15 Discloses: (Original)
“The method of claim 12, further comprising: updating, with at least one of the first computing device or the computing system, the first flight plan based on a charge level of one or more replacement batteries within the base station.”
Yong and Wake do not teach the preceding limitations.
McCann does teach the preceding limitations.
McCann teaches, (Paragraph [0252], Lines 9-15) “The base station controller 308 may determine which of the battery compartments 2206 has a battery that is the most charged. This battery compartment 2206 may be aligned with a scissor lift 2210 that retrieves the battery from the battery compartment 2206 and raises the battery to be deposited in the battery receiver 2220 of the drone 202,” and that, (Paragraph [0226], Lines 12-15) “When the mission exceeds either the battery capacity or spray capacity (or both), the drone 202, 1200 may execute as much of the mission as possible while ensuring the drone 202, 1200 has enough battery capacity to return to the base station 204. Once the drone 202, 1200 reaches the battery capacity necessary to return to the base station 204, the drone 202, 1200 stops treatment, records a return position, and returns to the base station 204. The drone 202, 1200 then swaps the batteries 618 and/or spray canister 302. The drone 202, 1200 returns to the return position and resumes the mission.” Therefore, the battery received from the base station effectively updates the first flight plan, at least partially, by the amount of charge it provides. The charge amount may be sufficient for the UVA to finish operations, or may require the UAV to return to the base station once again.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the swappable battery system wherein the charge level of said batteries effectively updates the UAV’s flight plan as taught by McCann, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of providing the battery with the most charge available to mitigate the amount of trips a UAV needs to take to the base station before completing all spraying operations. As McCann describes … (Paragraph [0252], Lines 9-15) “The base station controller 308 may determine which of the battery compartments 2206 has a battery that is the most charged,” and that, (Paragraph [0226], Lines 12-15) “When the mission exceeds either the battery capacity or spray capacity (or both), the drone 202, 1200 may execute as much of the mission as possible while ensuring the drone 202, 1200 has enough battery capacity to return to the base station 204.”
Claim 18 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 17, further comprising: a refill tank configured to store the agricultural product transferrable to the first aerial vehicle, wherein the final spray location is based at least partially on a volume of the agricultural product within a tank of the first aerial vehicle.”
Yong teaches, (Paragraphs [0161])“a launch/recovery platform that may be integrated with a power re-charging mechanism 512 in connection with a power source 512a, refilling mechanism 513 and storage 515 for supplies 515a (include but are not limited to water, fertilizers and pesticides), to prepare a UAV 600 for its next flight after it has landed.”
“wherein the final spray location is based at least partially on a volume of the agricultural product within a tank of the first aerial vehicle.”
Yong and Wake do not explicitly teach the preceding limitations.
However, Yong does teach capability to understand and deliver, (Paragraph [0145], Lines 16-18) “precise amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and/or irrigation (e.g. water), in solid and/or liquid forms to one or more specific targets at one or more target destinations.”
McCann does teach a UAV pesticide spraying system wherein the final spray location is based at least partially on a volume of the agricultural product within a tank of the first aerial vehicle.
McCann teaches, (Paragraph [0176]) “ The prioritization subsystem processes the target list including target information and target tracking data, to determine if there are targets that should be grouped together and the relative order or sequence in which the targets should be sprayed. The drone 202, 1200 includes multiple spray nozzles 520 … The prioritization subsystem acts as a mission optimization frontend for the spray vector computation subsystem by adjusting the target list received by the prioritization subsystem to create a second target list that is the input to the spray vector computation subsystem. Thus, the spray vector computation subsystem achieves resource efficiencies by having a predetermined target order that optimizes the timing of each spray relative to the time and resources required for each spray vector calculation. The spray vector computation subsystem also achieves resource efficiencies by calculating fewer spray vectors because of the target groupings,” and that, (Paragraph [0178], Lines 16-25) “the conditions of the drone 202, 1200 and the components 600 may be used to modify the prioritization such as a life of the battery 618, the amount of spray remaining in the canister 406, the achievable spray pressure, etc. Further, a complete or partial failure of a drone component 600 may be the basis for modifying the prioritization rules or the spray vector algorithm. For example, a lower than expected tank pressure resulting from a pump problem or a leak in the dispensing mechanism 500 may cause a modification.” Therefore, the spray remaining in the canister alters the prioritization, having the effect of altering which target is finally sprayed.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the explicit alteration towards the order in which location are sprayed (including the final location) as taught by McCann, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of optimizing the flight plan of the UAV based upon current operating parameters. As McCann describes, (Paragraph [0176], Lines 15-16) “The prioritization subsystem acts as a mission optimization frontend.”
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong in view of Wake, further in view of EP 3708001 A, which doesn’t appear to have an explicitly name author, and therefore will be referred to as Bayer.
Claim 10 Discloses: (Original)
“The agricultural system of claim 7, wherein the computing system is configured to modify the second flight plan when the first aerial vehicle is present at the docking station.”
Yong and Wake do not teach the preceding limitations.
However, Bayer does teach the preceding limitations.
Bayer teaches, (Page 4, Column 6, Lines 40-48 & Page 5, Column 7, Line 1) “ the sensor information of the at least one sensor unit of the base station is forwarded to the processing unit and the processing unit is configured to determine an instruction to the UAV(s), base station and/or service unit(s) wherein the determination comprises utilization of the sense information. In other words, if e.g. the base station is informed about the functioning status of the UAV prior to the docketing of the UAV and the base station does not have the resources to service the UAV and/or does not have any space available for the UAV to dock to the base station this information is sensed with the at least one sensor unit of the base station and this information is used through the processing unit to steer the UAV to another base station which does have the resources to service the UAV or - e.g. if no airfield capacity is left on the base station for the time being but the resources to provide the required service to the UAV are available on this base station - to delay docketing of the UAV to the base station until free space is available on the base station.”
Despite not explicitly referring to an aerial vehicle being present at the docking station, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that space availability of the base station would be dictated by currently docked UAVs. Thus, the flight paths of UAVs are effectively altered by other UAVs taking up space on currently existing base station.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the ability to alter flight paths amongst a plurality of UAVs based upon whether other UAVs are currently docked upon a base station as taught by Bayer, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of allowing a UAV to fly to a different unoccupied base station if the original base station is occupied, in order to receive maintenance/repair/refilling in a timelier manner. As Bayer describes, (Page 5, Column 6, Lines 50-56) “this information is used through the processing unit to steer the UAV to another base station which does have the resources to service the UAV.”
Claims 13-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong in view of Wake, further in view of McCann, further in view of Bayer.
Claim 13 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“The method of claim 12, further comprising :updating, with at least one of the first computing device or the computing system, the first flight plan based on the second aerial vehicle being present at a docking station of the base station.”
Yong, Wake, and McCann do not teach the preceding limitations.
However, Bayer does teach the preceding limitations.
Bayer teaches, (Page 4, Column 6, Lines 40-48 & Page 5, Column 7, Line 1) “ the sensor information of the at least one sensor unit of the base station is forwarded to the processing unit and the processing unit is configured to determine an instruction to the UAV(s), base station and/or service unit(s) wherein the determination comprises utilization of the sense information. In other words, if e.g. the base station is informed about the functioning status of the UAV prior to the docketing of the UAV and the base station does not have the resources to service the UAV and/or does not have any space available for the UAV to dock to the base station this information is sensed with the at least one sensor unit of the base station and this information is used through the processing unit to steer the UAV to another base station which does have the resources to service the UAV or - e.g. if no airfield capacity is left on the base station for the time being but the resources to provide the required service to the UAV are available on this base station - to delay docketing of the UAV to the base station until free space is available on the base station.”
Despite not explicitly referring to an aerial vehicle being present at the docking station, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that space availability of the base station would be dictated by currently docked UAVs. Thus, the flight paths of UAVs are effectively altered by other UAVs taking up space on currently existing base station.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong, Wake, and McCann with the ability to alter flight paths amongst a plurality of UAVs based upon whether other UAVs are currently docked upon a base station, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of allowing a UAV to fly to a different unoccupied base station if the original base station is occupied, in order to receive maintenance/repair/refilling in a timelier manner. As Bayer describes, (Page 5, Column 6, Lines 50-56) “this information is used through the processing unit to steer the UAV to another base station which does have the resources to service the UAV.”
Claim 14 Discloses: (Original)
“The method of claim 12, further comprising: updating, with at least one of the first computing device or the computing system, the first flight plan based on a volume of agricultural product supported by the second aerial vehicle.”
Yong and Wake do not teach the preceding limitations.
However, Bayer does teach the preceding limitations.
Bayer teaches, (Paragraph [0260]) “When the mission exceeds either the battery capacity or spray capacity (or both), the drone 202, 1200 may execute as much of the mission as possible while ensuring the drone 202, 1200 has enough battery capacity to return to the base station 204. Once the drone 202, 1200 reaches the battery capacity necessary to return to the base station 204, the drone 202, 1200 stops treatment, records a return position, and returns to the base station 204. The drone 202, 1200 then swaps the batteries 618 and/or spray canister 302 … In some aspects, the treatment path may be transmitted to one or more other drones 202, 1200 in order to perform treatment on the field 2300.” Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the volume of a spray canister for an additional drone would at least partially contribute to the flight plan of a first drone by determining whether it needs to return to a base station to finish the mission.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the ability to update a flight plan of a first UAV based upon the volume supported by a second UAV as taught by Bayer, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the well-known benefits of utilizing multiple drones, which in turn provides more total pesticide carrying capacity, in order to apply more pesticide onto a field in a given amount of time. As Bayer describes, (Paragraph [0260]) “the determination of the treatment path may be determined at least in part based on … spray available ... the treatment path may be transmitted to one or more other drones 202, 1200 in order to perform treatment on the field 2300.”
Claim 16 Discloses: (Currently Amended)
“The method of claim 11, further comprising: updating, with at least one of the first computing device or the computing system, the first flight plan based on an unavailability of a docking station of the base station.”
Yong, Wake, and McCann do not teach the preceding limitations.
However, Bayer does teach the preceding limitations.
Bayer teaches, (Page 4, Column 6, Lines 40-48 & Page 5, Column 7, Line 1) “ the sensor information of the at least one sensor unit of the base station is forwarded to the processing unit and the processing unit is configured to determine an instruction to the UAV(s), base station and/or service unit(s) wherein the determination comprises utilization of the sense information. In other words, if e.g. the base station is informed about the functioning status of the UAV prior to the docketing of the UAV and the base station does not have the resources to service the UAV and/or does not have any space available for the UAV to dock to the base station this information is sensed with the at least one sensor unit of the base station and this information is used through the processing unit to steer the UAV to another base station which does have the resources to service the UAV or - e.g. if no airfield capacity is left on the base station for the time being but the resources to provide the required service to the UAV are available on this base station - to delay docketing of the UAV to the base station until free space is available on the base station.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the UAV pesticide spraying systems of Yong and Wake with the ability to alter flight paths amongst a plurality of UAVs based upon whether base stations are available as taught by Bayer, in order to yield predictable results.
Combining the references would yield the benefits of allowing a UAV to fly to a different unoccupied base station if the original base station is occupied or otherwise un available, in order to receive maintenance/repair/refilling in a timelier manner. As Bayer describes, (Page 5, Column 6, Lines 50-56) “this information is used through the processing unit to steer the UAV to another base station which does have the resources to service the UAV.”
RELEVANT, BUT NOT CITED PRIOR ART
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Wu et al., (US 2019/0138013 A1) teaches, (Abstract, Line 1) “A method for supporting aerial operation over a surface,” wherein, (Paragraph [0068], Lines 1-4) “Another factor that may result in adjustment of the flight path is the actual location of the surface. For instance, on a ground there are trees or crops for the purpose of spraying a pesticide,” and that, (Paragraph [0113], Lines 3-8) “the method further comprises moving the power supply refilling station to a direction closer to a subsequent location on the flight path where the aircraft is estimated to depart to receive refilling. In some embodiments, the method further comprises obtaining the updated location of the power supply refilling station.”
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER V. GENTILE whose telephone number is (703)756-1501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9-5.
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/ALEXANDER V GENTILE/Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/KITO R ROBINSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
