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 .
Status of Claims
This communication is a first office action, non-final rejection on the merits. Claims 1-10 as filed, are currently pending and have been considered below.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toda et al. (US Patent 5,390,288 hereinafter “Toda”) in view of Weiss et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 20210002005 A1 hereinafter “Weiss”).
Regarding Claim 1, Toda discloses in figures 2 and 3
A space robot control apparatus for controlling a space robot, the space robot being a robot to perform a motion attenuation operation to attenuate, with a manipulator, a motion of a spacecraft moving in outer space, the space robot control apparatus being configured to
Toda pertains to the control apparatus (figure 3) for a space robot (22) with manipulator (23) to attenuate the motion of a spacecraft (there flying target).
Toda refers to a sensor that detects the internal state of the manipulator not as a “first sensor” but as a “second sensor”, further disclosing
acquire first sensor information indicating a detection value from a first sensor configured to detect an internal state of the manipulator,
by stating “a second sensor mounted on the manipulator to detect a relative gripper-to-target position and attitude” (col 2 ln 31).
Toda refers to a sensor that detects the internal state and external environmental state of the space robot not as a “third sensor” but as a “first sensor.” Additionally, Toda refers to the “space robot” as the “satellite”, further disclosing
acquire third sensor information indicating a detection value from a third sensor configured to detect an internal state and an external environmental state of the space robot, and
by stating “a first sensor mounted on the satellite to detect a position and velocity of the satellite;” (col 2 ln 29).
Toda refers to a sensor that detects the internal state and external environmental state of the spacecraft as a “visual sensor” and not a numerical label such as “second.” Additionally, Toda refers to the “spacecraft” as the “flying target”, further disclosing
acquire second sensor information indicating a detection value from a second sensor configured to detect an internal state and an external environmental state of the spacecraft,
by stating “The artificial satellite 22 comprises a first sensor 24 for detecting the position and velocity of the satellite, a visual sensor 25 for recognizing a relative position and velocity between a flying target (not shown) to be captured and the artificial satellite 22, and propelling units 26A to 26C for controlling the flight and attitude of the satellite 22” (col 4 ln 1).
Toda refers to “parameter setting circuitry” as “manipulator trajectory generator” and further discloses
the space robot control apparatus comprising:
parameter setting circuitry to set, using the second sensor information, a parameter for controlling the manipulator to perform the motion attenuation operation;
by stating “The control system includes a manipulator trajectory generator 33, a manipulator tip velocity generator 34, a manipulator rotational velocity generator 35, a Jacobian matrix generator 36, a coordinate converter 37 and a rotation matrix generator 38. The manipulator trajectory generator 33 sets an trajectory of the manipulator tip on the basis of the position, attitude and velocity of the flying target detected by the sensor 24 or the proximity sensor 29” (col 4 ln 16, Figure 3). Toda refers to control of the manipulator in terms of joint velocities, but acknowledges that this is comparable to control of joint torques by stating “Although, in the aforementioned embodiment, a control operation has been explained as being made using desired velocity of the manipulator, this can also be carried out using a desired torque of the manipulator”(col 7 ln 14).
Toda refers to the impulsive force model in terms of a dynamic model of tip position and further discloses
impulsive force model adjusting circuitry to generate an impulsive force model defining an impulsive force resulting from a contact of an end-effector in the manipulator against the spacecraft when the manipulator performs the motion attenuation operation based on the first sensor information, the third sensor information, and the second sensor information; and
by stating “In the embodiment shown, the tip velocity of the manipulator 23 is computed from a detected force of the force/torque sensor 28 with the use of a dynamic model in the manipulated tip position corrector 39 and, by controlling the tip velocity of the manipulator 23 so as to correspond to the computed tip velocity of the manipulator 23, it is possible to reduce a vibration of the flying target caused on the capturing of the target by the gripper.” (col 7 ln 4).
Propotional-Intergral-Derivative (PID) and Model Predictive Control (MPC) are common control algorithms used to control a robotic manipulator along a trajectory and are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art of robotic control. Incorporating MPC into a robotic control strategy is a known improvement upon PID resulting in predictable results. Specifically, MPC improves upon PID by allowing for operational constraints and multiple input variables. Toda teaches the use of PID but does not teach MPC. However, Weiss teaches
model predictive controlling circuitry to generate, using the parameter set by the parameter setting circuitry and the impulsive force model generated by the impulsive force model adjusting circuitry, a joint torque command to be provided to joints in the manipulator to perform the motion attenuation operation, and to output the joint torque command to an actuator configured to drive the joints in the manipulator.
Weiss pertains to the control of a robotic chaser spacecraft grasping an uncontrolled target object and discloses nonlinear MPC to generate the commands to control the robotic grasper by stating “According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the objective of the NMPC policy is for the controlled chaser spacecraft and its non-center-of-mass robotic grasper to follow the uncontrolled body's orientation, angular velocity, and orbital position and velocity of the non-center-of-mass rock on the surface, i.e., the objective of the NMPC policy is the regulation of the error coordinate formulation of the joint multi-object celestial system” (0015). Thus, it would have been known to those of ordinary skill in the art of robotic control before the applicant’s effective filing date to improve upon the PID control the joint torques of the manipulator in the system of Toda with the MPC system of Weiss to better account for the multiple inputs and input constraints (see MPEP 2143 I.D for support of this rationale).
Regarding Claim 2, Toda in view of Weiss discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and Toda further discloses controlling circuitry to generate a joint torque command to be provided to the joints in the manipulator to perform an operation on the spacecraft with the motion attenuated by the motion attenuation operation; in elements 34-Manipulator Tip Velocity Generator, and 35- Manipulator Rotational Velocity Generator of figure 4, specifying “From the desired position APmd and the present position APmm of the manipulator 23 in the space, the manipulator tip velocity generator 34 computes the desired velocity AVmd of the manipulator in the inertial coordinate under a PID (proportional plus integral plus derivative) control”(col 5 ln 1) . Again, Toda refers to control of the manipulator in terms of joint velocities, but acknowledges that this is comparable to control of joint torques by stating “Although, in the aforementioned embodiment, a control operation has been explained as being made using desired velocity of the manipulator, this can also be carried out using a desired torque of the manipulator” (col 7 ln 14).
Toda does not teach multiple control algorithms to drive the joints in the manipulator, only PID controlling circuitry. However, Weiss teaches the regulation selecting and command switching between multiple control algorithms (specifically open-loop or MPC) to drive the joints in the manipulator and discloses
regulation selecting circuitry to select one of the model predictive controlling circuitry ; and
Weiss discloses regulation selecting circuitry in element 158-Regulation of figure 1A, specifying “To replace open-loop tracking with close-loop feedback optimization, some embodiments formulate a rendezvous control problem as a regulation problem 158 that minimizes an error between coordinates of a non-center-of-mass point of the spacecraft and a non-center-of-mass point of the celestial body” (0036). Weiss further discloses in element 130 of figure 1C
command switching circuitry to output the joint torque command from the model predictive controlling circuitry or selected by the regulation selecting circuitry to the actuator configured to drive the joints in the manipulator;
Weiss refers to command switching circuitry in terms of determining current control methods, specifying “In at least one embodiment, the processor 113 can determine at least one of the cost function 121, the joint multi-object celestial system model 123, the constraints 129 during the control. For example, the control system 101 can execute method of FIG. 1C that controls iteratively the operation of the spacecraft 152 with control inputs of step 130 of FIG. 1C determined using the model 123 of the joint multi-object celestial system, based on an optimization of a cost function. It is contemplated that method of FIG. 1C could also be executed by the controller 101 based on a previously iteratively operation of the spacecraft 152, i.e. from a previously iterative control operation having a previous control input determined for a previous iteration that is optimized by a previous cost function using a previous model of the spacecraft”(0046).
As addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above, Toda refers to parameter setting circuitry as manipulator trajectory generator and further discloses
wherein the parameter setting circuitry sets, using the second sensor information, a parameter for controlling the manipulator to perform the operation on the spacecraft.
by stating “The control system includes a manipulator trajectory generator 33, a manipulator tip velocity generator 34, a manipulator rotational velocity generator 35, a Jacobian matrix generator 36, a coordinate converter 37 and a rotation matrix generator 38. The manipulator trajectory generator 33 sets an trajectory of the manipulator tip on the basis of the position, attitude and velocity of the flying target detected by the sensor 24 or the proximity sensor 29” (col 4 ln 16, Figure 3).
Therefore, it would have been known to one of ordinary skill in the art of robotic control before the applicant’s filing date to improve the known PID controller of Toda with the known MPC controller of Weiss to yield predictable results. Specifically, it would have been known to include the regulation selecting circuitry and command switching circuitry of the MPC controller of Weiss when improving the PID control system of Toda (see MPEP 2143 I.D for support of this rationale). .
Regarding Claim 3, Toda in view of Weiss discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and Toda further discloses
the parameter setting circuitry stores an initial value and a terminal value of the internal state of the manipulator, initial values and terminal values of the internal state and the external environmental state of the space robot, and terminal values of the internal state and the external environmental state of the spacecraft when the manipulator performs an operation on the spacecraft,
Toda refers to values of the internal state of the manipulator in terms of rotational velocity and values of the external environmental state of the robot and spacecraft in terms of position/attitude. Toda refers to initial values in terms of setting a trajectory sequentially, with the first iteration being the initial value. Toda refers to the terminal values as the planned trajectory generated by the trajectory generator. Toda further specifies “ After the manipulator 23 has reached the flying target capturing position, the manipulator trajectory generator 33 sets the manipulator trajectory to a target capturable position sequentially, in a way responsive to the movement of the flying target, with the use of the relative gripper-to-target position/attitude information items obtained from the proximity sensor 29 and, upon receipt of the information items from manipulator tip velocity generator 34 and manipulator rotational velocity generator 35, the respective shaft motors of the manipulator 23 are driven”(col 5 ln 34).
Toda is silent on the details of the center of gravity of the spacecraft, however Weiss discloses in element 221 of figure 2 the parameter setting circuitry acquires initial values of the internal state and the external environmental state of the spacecraft and a center of gravity of the spacecraft, and further specifying “The chaser's spacecraft center of mass is 221 and has a chaser-fixed frame 204. The controlled chaser spacecraft has a robotic manipulator with an end effector at point 222. The points 212 and 222 are typically known in advance”(0047). Therefore, it would have been known to those of ordinary skill in the art of robotic control before the applicant’s filing date to use the system of Weiss to provide the missing details on the spacecraft center of gravity when using the parameter setting circuity of Toda to attenuate the motion of a spacecraft.
Toda further discloses the parameter set by the parameter setting circuitry
includes the initial value and the terminal value of the internal state of the manipulator, the initial values and the terminal values of the internal state and the external environmental state of the space robot, the initial values and the terminal values of the internal state and the external environmental state of the spacecraft, and the center of gravity of the spacecraft when the manipulator performs an operation on the spacecraft or
includes a target trajectory of the end-effector in the manipulator determined based on the initial values, the terminal values, or the center of gravity.
Toda refers to parameters as position, attitude and velocity and refers to the parameter setting circuitry as the trajectory generator, detailing “The manipulator trajectory generator 33 sets an trajectory of the manipulator tip on the basis of the position, attitude and velocity of the flying target detected by the sensor 24 or the proximity sensor 29” (col 4 ln 20).
Regarding Claim 4, Toda in view of Weiss discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and Toda further discloses in elements 34 and 39 of figure 4
the model predictive controlling circuitry generates, when the motion attenuation operation is performed, a joint torque command for the manipulator to minimize a predetermined performance index within a predetermined constraint based on a group of initial values and a group of terminal values of the space robot, the manipulator, and the spacecraft in the parameter setting circuitry, or
generates a fingertip trajectory command for an end-effector in the manipulator implementable by the joint torque command.
Toda controls the Manipulator Tip Position Corrector (39) and the Manipulator Tip Velocity Generator (34) via PID control and not MPC. However, as discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above, it would have been known to those of ordinary skill in the art of robotic control before the applicant’s effective filing date to improve upon the PID control the fingertip trajectory in the system of Toda with the MPC system of Weiss to better account for the multiple inputs and input constraints (see MPEP 2143 I.D for support of this rationale).
Regarding Claim 5, Toda discloses in figures 2 and 3
A space robot (22) for performing a motion attenuation operation to attenuate, with a manipulator (23), a motion of a spacecraft moving in outer space, the space robot comprising:
a first sensor to detect an internal state of the manipulator;
a third sensor to detect an internal state and an external environmental state of the space robot (24); and
Toda refers to a first sensor as a second sensor and further specifies “a second sensor mounted on the manipulator to detect a relative gripper-to-target position and attitude” (col 2 ln 31).
The remainder of claim 5 pertaining to the space robot control apparatus including the parameter setting circuitry, impulsive force model, and model predictive control is rejected by Toda in view of Weiss in a similar manner as claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 6, Toda discloses in figures 3 and 4
A space robot control method implementable with a space robot control apparatus to control a space robot, the space robot being a robot to perform a motion attenuation operation to attenuate, with a manipulator, a motion of a spacecraft moving in outer space, the method comprising
The remainder of claim 6 pertaining to the method of parameter setting, impulsive force modeling, and model predictive control is rejected by Toda in view of Weiss in a similar manner as claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 7, Toda discloses all the necessary computations to control a space robot to attenuate the motion of a spacecraft with a manipulator but is silent on the details on how those computations are stored and executed. However, Weiss teaches in figure 6 and 0052-0053
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program (612) executable by a computer (611) to control a space robot, the space robot being a robot to perform a motion attenuation operation to attenuate, with a manipulator, a motion of a spacecraft moving in outer space, the program causing the computer to function as:
Therefore, it would have been known to those of ordinary skill in the art of robotic control before the applicant’s effective filing date to use the storage medium and computer of Weiss to provide the missing details on how the computations of Toda were executed.
The remainder of claim 7 pertaining to the program causing the computer to function as a parameter setter, impulsive force model adjuster, and model predictive controller is rejected by Toda in view of Weiss in a similar manner as claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 8, Toda in view of Weiss discloses all the limitations of claim 8 in a similar manner as claim 3 above.
Regarding Claim 9, Toda in view of Weiss discloses all the limitations of claim 9 in a similar manner as claim 4 above.
Regarding Claim 10, Toda in view of Weiss discloses all the limitations of claim 10 in a similar manner as claim 4 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
• Zhang el al Chinese Patent application CN106863297A. This application pertains to MPC control of a space robot to attenuate the motion of a spacecraft but employs a rope system in lieu of a manipulator.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nathan Daniel Neckel whose telephone number is (571)272-9537. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7-3.
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/NATHAN DANIEL NECKEL/Examiner, Art Unit 3656
/WADE MILES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3656
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