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 .
This application has been examined. Claims 1-19 are pending.
The prior art submitted on 5/22/25 and 7/9/26 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1,3-6,8-13,15-17, and 19, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gillett (US 2017/0106738 A1).
As per claim 1, Gillett discloses a humanoid robot, comprising:
a main body, two mechanically actuated legs attached to the main body at a lower part of the main body and configured to provide locomotion of the robot over ground (see at least the abstract disclose a self-balancing robot system comprising artificial intelligence characterized in that the robot is comprising a humanoid body, and the lower portion of the body utilizing uni-robotic omniwheel or utilizing legs), wherein each of the legs: is attached to the main body by a hip joint providing movement of an upper part of the leg relative to the main body, comprises a knee joint providing movement of a lower part of the leg relative to the upper part of the leg (see at least [0070-0071] disclose the robot body 119 is configured with jointed upper leg 126 sections working as hips connecting to the mid-section 129 accordingly the top leg portion comprising actuators 120 (H) to rotate fore and aft to lift leg upward and the downward for achieving biped walking motion and also the knee section joint actuator 120(K) comprise actuators 120 to engage biped motion), and comprises a wheel at a distal end away from the knee joint for contacting the ground in order to provide the locomotion (see at least [0071] disclose omniwheel 103a and 103b),
two mechanically actuated arms attached to the main body at an upper part of the main body and configured to move relative to the main body (see at least [0033] disclose plurality of arms 124), and a mechanically actuated, head attached to the main body at the top of the main body (see at least [0034] disclose articulated head 122), wherein the robot is configured to provide the locomotion in a walking mode by stepped motion of the legs and in a driving mode by rolling on the wheels (see at least [0071-0073] disclose biped walking motion and omniwheel 103a and 103b …the robot 101 can travel by gliding and skating motion), wherein one of the two legs comprises a battery compartment arranged between the knee joint and the hip joint and configured to accommodate a swappable battery such that the battery when accommodated in the battery compartment provides electrical energy to be used for driving a motion of the robot, in particular a motion of one the two legs and/or one of the two arms, wherein the robot is configured to provide for a battery replacement for the battery compartment during continuous operation of the robot, particularly during motion by the two arms (see at least [0031-0032] disclose a batter bank with battery charger 140 which are situated on the robot body 119).
As per claim 3, Gillett discloses to use one of the arms to autonomously remove a battery located in the battery compartment and to autonomously place a battery into the battery compartment, particularly
wherein the battery compartment comprises a quick release mechanism configured to be activated by the robot (see at least [0113] disclose a process to engage power ON to drive through environment and a process calibrate mapping path to drive and to autonomously self-dock to charge, and subsequently shut OFF power).
As per claim 4, Gillett discloses wherein each of the hip joints provides movement in two rotational degrees of freedom relative to the main body and each of the knee joints provides movement in one rotational degree
of freedom (see at least [0035], and [0070-0071], all para. disclose joint motion control of rotation).
As per claim 5, Gillett discloses the robot is configured that each of the knee joints is driven by a respective electric motor located away from the knee joint, wherein each of the legs comprises a mechanical transmission element driven by the respective electric motor, in particular a belt or a chain, to provide mechanical actuation of the movement about the respective knee joint (see at least [0070-0072] disclose the track belt 107).
As per claim 6, Gillett discloses each of the arms is attached to the main body by a shoulder joint, wherein the shoulder joint provides movement in one rotational degree of freedom, particularly two rotational
degrees of freedom, relative to the main body, and each of the arms comprises: the elbow joint, wherein the elbow joint provides movement in one rotational degree of freedom, and a hand joint arrangement configured for performing a gripping operation (see at least [0035] disclose an arm 124 using actuator 120 for 270 degree rotation at the shoulder, and “elbow” actuators 120 for 90 degree bending).
As per claim 8, Gillett discloses wherein at least one of the arms, in particular at a distal end away from an attachment point of the arm, comprises a probing sensor arrangement or an optical sensor configured to provide optical sensor data and/or a tactile sensor configured to provide tactile scanning (see at least [0043] disclose optical sensor 174).
As per claim 9, Gillett discloses wherein the robot comprises a scanning lidar unit arranged in an upper part of the robot and configured to provide - during movement of the robot over ground - a scanning movement of a laser measurement beam relative to two rotation axes, and, based thereof, to generate light detection and ranging data for generating a three-dimensional point cloud, wherein the lidar unit is located in the head, wherein the head comprises a top side opposite an attachment point of the head to the main body, a front side adjacent to the top side and a back side opposite the front side and being adjacent to the top side, and two opposite
transverse sides respectively adjacent to the top side and the front and back sides, wherein one of the two rotation axes of the lidar unit runs through the front side and the back side and the lidar unit is configured to provide - with the front side facing in the direction of travel during forward locomotion - a forward-looking field of view around the one of the two rotation axes (see at least [0043] disclose LIDAR sensor).
As per claim 10, Gillett discloses wherein the robot comprises a ToF unit arranged in an upper part of the robot and comprising an arrangement of time-of-flight sensors and being configured to provide – during movement of the robot over ground - 3D imaging data of the environment for generating a 3D model of the environment, wherein the ToF unit is located in the head and the head comprises a top side opposite an attachment point of the head to the main body, a front side adjacent to the top side and a back side opposite the front side and being adjacent to the top side, and two opposite transverse sides respectively adjacent to the top side and the front and back sides, wherein the ToF unit is arranged to provide - with the front side facing in the direction of travel during locomotion – a forward-looking field of view (see at least [0122-0123] disclose one or more GPS satellites 194 used to estimate the robot 101 and the robot vehicle 102 position and velocity using three-dimensional triangulation and time estimation, and point cloud of the LIDAR data captured by the location system 152).
As per claim 11, Gillett discloses the head comprises a top side opposite an attachment point of the head to the main body, a front side adjacent to the top side and a back side opposite the front side and being adjacent to the top side, and two opposite transverse sides respectively adjacent to the top side and the front and back sides, wherein each of the transverse sides comprises an imaging camera such that the two imaging cameras are arranged opposite each other and provide opposite field-of-views, particularly wherein each of the two cameras provide a fully spherical 360° field-of-view (see at least [0033-0034], and [0043], all para. disclose articulated head 122).
As per claim 12, Gillett discloses the main body comprises a structured light scanner configured to provide – during movement of the robot over ground - a 3D scanning of the environment for generating a 3D model of the environment (see at least [0106] disclose laser range finder).
As per claim 13, Gillett discloses wherein the robot comprises a simultaneous localization and mapping unit, SLAM unit, configured to carry out a simultaneous localization and mapping process, denoted as SLAM
process, wherein the SLAM process comprising reception of perception data providing a representation of the surroundings of the robot at a current position, use of the perception data to generate a map of an environment, and localization of the robot within the map of the environment (see at least [0106-0109] disclose SLAM generates real time localization and mapping process).
As per claims 15-16, Gillett discloses wherein the robot comprises a charging element or a wired connector, wherein the charging element is configured to provide electrical energy during the battery replacement, wherein the robot is configured to autonomously connect the charging
element to a charging position during the battery replacement, and wherein the robot comprises a backup battery configured to provide electrical energy
during the battery replacement (see at least [0039-0040], and [0074-0075] disclose battery charging and replacement).
As per claim 17, Gillett discloses wherein each of the legs comprises a plurality of wheels for contacting the ground in order to provide the locomotion (see at least [0033-0034]).
As per claim 19, Gillett discloses the robot is configured to provide self-balancing movement control for movement of the arms during locomotion that supports the robot being balanced in a defined upright position, for which the robot comprises an inertial sensor, particularly a tilt sensor, and a gyroscopic sensor and a control algorithm to automatically adjust the relative pose of the two mechanically actuated arms based on the inertial sensor and the gyroscopic sensor (see at least [0037-0038]).
Claims 2, 7, 14, and 18, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
. Rose et al. (US 2015/0019013 A1)
. Belson et al. (US 2026/0174386 A1)
. Balasubramanian (US 2022/0395974 A1)
. Hu et al. (US 2012/0283746 A1)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DALENA TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-6968. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7AM-5PM.
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/DALENA TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657
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