DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 8-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kundu et al. (US 2020/0250984 A1, hereinafter referred to as “Kundu”).
Regarding claim 1, Kundu discloses a vehicular driving assist system, the vehicular driving assist system comprising: a sensor (Fig. 34a, element 10f, 11f, 12L, 12R) disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driving assist system, the sensor sensing exterior of the vehicle (front road), wherein the sensor is operable to capture (Fig. 3, step 301) sensor data (paragraphs 0001, 0006-0007, 0010, 0047-0048, 0051, 0136-0139); an electronic control unit (ECU) (Fig. 34a, element 1) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (paragraphs 0005, 0010, 0136-0139, 0144, 0169); wherein sensor data captured by the sensor (Fig. 3, step 301) is transferred to and is processed (Fig. 3, steps 302-307; Fig. 11) at the ECU (paragraph 0006-0007, 0051, 0073-0074); wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing at the ECU of sensor data captured by the sensor and transferred to the ECU, detects a pothole (Fig. 3, step 303, 305, 320; Fig. 11, step 1130) ahead of the vehicle (paragraphs 0005-0007, 0010, 0051, 0072-0073, 0136-0139); wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to detecting the pothole, determines severity (depth, size and shape; Fig. 33 showing increased severity leading to more aggressive avoidance action) of the detected pothole based at least in part on geographic-linked data (paragraph 0091-0112, 0128, 0135, 0144-0147, 0161, 0164-0165), and wherein the geographic-linked data comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) size of the detected pothole (“depression size”), (ii) depth of the detected pothole (“depression depth”) and (iii) shape of the detected pothole (Fig. 33; paragraph 0128, 0144-0145, 0161, 0163); and wherein, at least partially based on the determined severity of the detected pothole, at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) a driver of the vehicle is alerted (paragraph 0125-0126, 0135, 0142), (ii) steering of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate a wheel of the vehicle traveling over the detected pothole (paragraph 0134-0135, 0141, 0145, 0161; Fig. 33) and (iii) braking of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate the wheel of the vehicle traveling over with the detected pothole (paragraph 0134-0135; Fig. 33).
Regarding claim 2, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines severity of the detected pothole based at least in part on depth of the detected pothole (Fig. 33, depression depth, Class 1 (too deep); paragraph 0129, 0134-0135).
Regarding claim 3, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines severity of the detected pothole based at least in part on size of the detected pothole (Fig. 33, depression size, (big, medium, small); paragraph 0126, 0134-0135).
Regarding claim 4, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines severity of the detected pothole further based at least in part on shape of the detected pothole (paragraph 0128, 0161).
Regarding claim 5, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one camera (Fig. 34a, element 10f; paragraph 0139).
Regarding claim 6, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one radar sensor (Fig. 34a, element 11f; paragraph 0139).
Regarding claim 8, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the determined severity of the detected pothole comprises one selected from the group consisting of (i) a minor pothole (Fig. 33, depth class 3 too small with size class 3 too small), (ii) a major pothole (Fig. 33, depth class 1 too big with size class 1 too big), and (iii) a critical pothole (Fig. 33, depth class 2 intermediate with size class 2 intermediate).
Regarding claim 9, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system, at least partially based on the determined severity of the detected pothole, generates an alert for the driver of the vehicle (via Fig. 34a, element 26), and wherein the alert comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) an audible alert, (ii) a visual alert, and (iii) a haptic alert (paragraph 0142).
Regarding claim 10, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein, at least partially based on the determined severity of the detected pothole, at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) steering of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate impact with the detected pothole (Fig. 33, steering control) and (ii) braking of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate impact with the detected pothole (Fig. 33, speed control; paragraph 0134).
Regarding claim 11, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the detected pothole is full of water (paragraph 0146).
Regarding claim 12, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 11, wherein the geographic-linked data is representative of the detected pothole when the detected pothole was not full of water (paragraph 0146, snow or leaves filling in the depression).
Regarding claim 13, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system retrieves (via Fig. 34b, element 100) the geographic-linked data from a database (Fig. 34b, element 103) based on a current geographical location (via Fig. 34a, element 6) of the vehicle (paragraph 0136, 0144-0148).
Regarding claim 14, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system updates the geographic-linked data at a database (Fig. 34b, element 103) based at least in part on the captured sensor data (paragraphs 0144-0148).
Regarding claim 15, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 14, wherein the database is stored remotely (Fig. 34b, element 102) from the vehicle, and wherein the vehicular driving assist system updates the geographic-linked data via wireless communication (Fig. 34b, element 100; paragraph 0144-0153).
Regarding claim 16, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 14, wherein the vehicular driving assist system updates the geographic-linked data to indicate presence of a pothole (paragraph 0144-0148).
Regarding claim 17, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines a location (via Fig. 34a, element 6) of the detected pothole, and wherein the vehicular driving assist system retrieves (via Fig. 34b, element 100) the geographic-linked data from a database (Fig. 34b, element 103) based on the determined location of the detected pothole (paragraph 0136, 0144-0146, 0163-0164).
Regarding claim 18, Kundu discloses a vehicular driving assist system, the vehicular driving assist system comprising: a forward-viewing camera (Fig. 34a, element 10f) disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driving assist system, the forward-viewing camera viewing exterior (front road) of the vehicle, wherein the forward-viewing camera is operable to capture image data (paragraphs 0001, 0006-0007, 0010, 0047-0048, 0051, 0136-0139); an electronic control unit (ECU) (Fig. 34a, element 1) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (paragraphs 0005, 0010, 0136-0139, 0144, 0169); wherein image data captured by the forward-viewing camera (Fig. 3, step 301) is transferred to and is processed (Fig. 3, steps 302-307; Fig. 11) at the ECU (paragraphs 0006-0007, 0051, 0073-0074); wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing at the ECU of image data captured by the forward-viewing camera and transferred to the ECU, detects a pothole (Fig. 3, step 303, 305, 320; Fig. 11, step 1130) ahead of the vehicle (paragraphs 0005-0007, 0010, 0051, 0072-0073, 0136-0139); wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to detecting the pothole, determines severity (depth, size and shape; Fig. 33 showing increased severity leading to more aggressive avoidance action) of the detected pothole based at least in part on geographic-linked data, and wherein the geographic-linked data comprises depth of the detected pothole (paragraphs 0091-0112, 0128, 0135, 0146-0147, 0161, 0164-0165); and wherein, at least partially based on the determined severity of the detected pothole, at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) a driver of the vehicle is alerted (paragraphs 0125-0126, 0135, 0142), (ii) steering of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate a wheel of the vehicle traveling over the detected pothole (paragraphs 0134-0135, 0141, 0145, 0161; Fig. 33) and (iii) braking of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate the wheel of the vehicle traveling over with the detected pothole (paragraphs 0134-0135; Fig. 33).
Regarding claim 19, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 18, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines severity of the detected pothole based at least in part on size of the detected pothole (Fig. 33, depression size, (big, medium, small); paragraphs 0126, 0134-0135).
Regarding claim 20, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 18, wherein the vehicular driving assist system determines severity of the detected pothole further based at least in part on shape of the detected pothole (paragraphs 0128, 0161).
Regarding claim 21, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 18, wherein the determined severity of the detected pothole comprises one selected from the group consisting of (i) a minor pothole (Fig. 33, depth class 3 too small with size class 3 too small), (ii) a major pothole (Fig. 33, depth class 1 too big with size class 1 too big), and (iii) a critical pothole (Fig. 33, depth class 2 intermediate with size class 2 intermediate).
Regarding claim 22, Kundu discloses a vehicular driving assist system, the vehicular driving assist system comprising: a sensor (Fig. 34a, element 10f, 11f, 12L, 12R) disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular driving assist system, the sensor sensing exterior of the vehicle (front road), wherein the sensor is operable to capture (Fig. 3, step 301) sensor data (paragraphs 0001, 0006-0007, 0010, 0047-0048, 0051, 0136-0139); an electronic control unit (ECU) (Fig. 34a, element 1) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (paragraphs 0005, 0010, 0136-0139, 0144, 0169); wherein sensor data captured by the sensor (Fig. 3, step 301) is transferred to and is processed (Fig. 3, steps 302-307; Fig. 11) at the ECU (paragraphs 0006-0007, 0051, 0073-0074); wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to processing at the ECU of sensor data captured by the sensor and transferred to the ECU, detects a pothole (Fig. 3, step 303, 305, 320; Fig. 11, step 1130) ahead of the vehicle (paragraphs 0005-0007, 0010, 0051, 0072-0073, 0136-0139); wherein the detected pothole is full of water (paragraphs 0146); wherein the vehicular driving assist system, responsive to detecting the pothole, determines severity (depth, size and shape; Fig. 33 showing increased severity leading to more aggressive avoidance action) of the detected pothole based at least in part on geographic-linked data (paragraphs 0091-0112, 0128, 0135, 0146-0147, 0161, 0164-0165), and wherein the geographic-linked data is representative of the detected pothole when the detected pothole was not full of water (paragraphs 0144-0145), and wherein the geographic-linked data comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) size of the detected pothole (“depression size”), (ii) depth of the detected pothole (“depression depth”) and (iii) shape of the detected pothole (Fig. 33; paragraphs 0128, 0144-0145, 0161, 0163); and wherein, at least partially based on the determined severity of the detected pothole, a driver of the vehicle is alerted (paragraphs 0125-0126, 0135, 0142).
Regarding claim 23, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 22, wherein the sensor comprises one selected from the group consisting of (i) a camera (Fig. 34a, element 10f; paragraphs 0139), (ii) a radar sensor (Fig. 34a, element 11f; paragraphs 0139) and (iii) a lidar sensor.
Regarding claim 24, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 22, wherein, at least partially based on the determined severity of the detected pothole, at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) steering of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate a wheel of the vehicle traveling over the detected pothole (paragraphs 0134-0135, 0141, 0145, 0161; Fig. 33) and (ii) braking of the vehicle is controlled to mitigate the wheel of the vehicle traveling over with the detected pothole (paragraphs 0134-0135; Fig. 33).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kundu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of RoyChowdhury et al. (US 2022/0044034 A1, hereinafter referred to as “RoyChowdhury”).
Regarding claim 7, Kundu discloses the vehicular driving assist system of claim 1. Kundu is silent regarding the sensor comprising at least one lidar sensor. RoyChowdhury teaches a vehicle safety driver assistance system for automated road damage detection, including potholes. The system comprises processing circuitry coupled to a camera unit and at least one LIDAR sensor (paragraphs 0022-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to Applicant’s effective filing date to apply the well-known LIDAR technique taught by RoyChowdhury to the prior art system of Kundu. That is, it would have been obvious to configure the sensors taught by RoyChowdhury to include a LIDAR sensor by applying the well-known technique taught by Kundu. Application of the well-known technique taught by RoyChowdhury to the prior art system taught by Kundu would have been obvious because such application would have been well within the level of skill of the person having ordinary skill in the art and because such application would have yielded predictable results. The predictable results including: the sensor comprising at least one lidar sensor.
Conclusion
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/Dale Moyer/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3656
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