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
This Office action is in response to the amendment filed on 08/19/2026. Claims 1-15 are currently pending with claims 1, 5, and 6 being amended, and claims 7-15 being newly added.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/30/2026 has been received. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendments to the claims submitted on 08/19/2026 overcome the claim objections set forth in the previous Office action except for those set forth in the claim objection section.
Response to Arguments
Examiner notes wherein Applicant argues the newly amended limitations, which have not been addressed by the prior art of record. As such, Examiner has augmented the below rejection(s) in view of the prior art of record to address the newly amended limitations.
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) 1-8 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ebrahimi Afrouzi et al. (US 20220187841 A1), hereinafter Ebrahimi Afrouzi in view of Panzica et al. (US 20220179418 A1), hereinafter Panzica and Fei et al. (US 20240133709 A1), hereinafter Fei.
Regarding claim 1, Ebrahimi Afrouzi teaches:
1. (Currently Amended) A management device comprising:
a memory (Paragraph 0792, "In some embodiments, the robot may include, … a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor effectuates robotic operations") configured to store map information for each area (Paragraph 0798, "In some embodiments, Light Weight Real Time SLAM Navigational Stack may include a state machine portion, a control system portion, a local area monitor portion, and a pose and maps portion. … The local area monitor 1102 may generate a high resolution map based on short range sensor measurements and control speed of the robot. … SLAM 1106 may build a map based on scan matching. ") where a robot, which autonomously travels outdoors and indoors, travels; (Paragraph 0004, "Robotic devices are increasingly used within commercial and consumer environments. Some examples include robotic lawn mowers, robotic surface cleaners, autonomous vehicles, robotic delivery devices, robotic shopping carts, etc.” as well as Paragraph 0798 "In other indoor embodiments, the coverage tracker may run at between 1-50 Hz. For outdoor robots, the frequency may increase depending on the speed of the robot and the speed of data collection. " Please also see paragraph 1021) and
processing circuitry (Paragraph 0792, "Some embodiments may provide a robot including … processing elements. In some embodiments, the robot may include, … a processor, …") configured to:
collect external information; (Paragraph 0793, "In some embodiments, at least a portion of the sensors of the robot are provided in a sensor array, … a microprocessor or a microcontroller of the robot may poll a variety of sensors at intervals.")
receive a current position of the robot or a travel route of the robot from a control device controlling the robot; (Paragraph 0877, "In some embodiments, a neural network may be used to … adjudicate location (i.e., localization), extract dynamic obstacles and separate them from structural points, and actuate the robot such that the trajectory of the robot better matches the planned path.")
detect an occurrence of an event and an event occurrence area where the event occurs, based on the external information; (Paragraph 01239, "In some embodiments, the processor of the robot determines areas of the environment to avoid based on certain conditions (e.g., human activity, cleanliness, weather, etc.). In some embodiments, the conditions are chosen by a user using the application of the communication device." Please also see paragraph 01247)
… [[and]]
transmit … to a terminal device to cause the information about the new travel route … to be displayed in a screen of the terminal device; (Paragraph 1258, "In some embodiments, the user may use the application to view a current, previous, or planned path of the robot." Please also see paragraph 1248) and
control at least one robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area to follow the new travel route. (Paragraph 0741, "The processor of the robot may continuously send information relating to the robot to markers in one pass for use in a later pass, future runs, or future passing robots." Please also see paragraph 1250)
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss identifying devices which are or are predicted to be in the event area and determining an updated trajectory for each device or the display of event information. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… identify the robot located in the event occurrence area or the robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on the current position of the robot or the travel route of the robot; (Paragraph 0052, "The systems, methods, and vehicles described herein have an additional technical effect and benefit of providing more efficient navigation while simultaneously enhancing the safety and security of autonomous vehicles, passengers and/or cargo. By providing a mechanism to obtain constraint data, autonomous vehicles can benefit from the knowledge of when and where potential problem areas may exist for travel routes. A vehicle computing system can determine optimized travel routes or update travel routes in an enhanced manner by evaluating map data relative to current constraint data in order to avoid exclusion areas. By planning ahead to avoid such areas, the potential for navigational back-tracking is reduced. In addition, by avoiding exclusion areas that are identified because of certain events (e.g., traffic accidents, protestor demonstrations, parades, bridge closures, etc.), and by enabling the autonomous vehicle to drive out of a depart constraint area, the safety of vehicles, passengers, and/or cargo can be increased.")
determine information about a new travel route for each robot located in the event occurrence area or each robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on the external information and the map information; … information about the new travel route … (Paragraph 0049, "For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system. As such, map data can be evaluated relative to constraint data and travel routes can be determined with increased computational efficiency.")
However, Fei, in the same field of endeavor of mapping for use in route planning and self driving cars, teaches:
… and information about the event … and the information about the event … (Paragraph 0253, "The attribute of the event may include an accident event, a traffic flow event, a weather type, and the like; and may further include a road-level event or a lane-level event. For another example, the attribute of the event may be determined based on time change frequency. For example, the determined attribute of the event is a fast-updated event or a slow-updated event based on a speed at which the event changes with time. The location information corresponding to the event may also be correspondingly set based on the attribute of the event that changes with different time." as well as Paragraph 0409, "As shown in FIG. 10b, in this case, the first location information of the first event may be displayed. Alternatively, when a distance between the vehicle and the first event is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the first location information of the first event is displayed, and a reminder indicating that congestion occurs ahead is displayed.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to identify devices which are or are predicted to be in the region and to determine an updated path for travel as taught by Panzica as well as with the ability to display event information and recommendations as suggested by Fei. This would allow the devices to efficiently avoid regions which may cause delays in travel or damage to the system.
Regarding claim 2, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
2. (Original) The management device according to claim 1, wherein
when the robot does not retain information about the travel route, the processing circuitry is further configured to identify the robot located in the event occurrence area based on the current position, (Paragraph 0877, "In some embodiments, neural network may be advantageous for older, manually constructed features that are human understandable and, to some extent, in removing the human middleman from the process. In some embodiments, a neural network may be used to adjudicate depth sensing, extract movement (e.g., angular and linear) of the robot, combine iterations of sensor readings into a map, adjudicate location (i.e., localization), extract dynamic obstacles and separate them from structural points, and actuate the robot such that the trajectory of the robot better matches the planned path.") and
when the robot retains information about the travel route, identify the robot that retains the travel route included in the event occurrence area. (Paragraph 0990, "Based on control commands issued to the robot to execute a planned path, the processor may predict the vicinity in which the robot is located. In some embodiments, a best guess of a location of the robot may include a last known localization. In some embodiments, determining a next best guess of the location of the robot may include a search of other last known places of the robot, otherwise known as rendezvous points (RP). In some embodiments, the processor may use various methods in parallel to determine or predict a location of the robot.")
Regarding claim 3, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
3. (Original) The management device according to claim 1, wherein
the external information includes a result of event occurrence prediction based on one or more of (Paragraph 0793, "In some embodiments, at least a portion of the sensors of the robot are provided in a sensor array, wherein the at least a portion of sensors are coupled to a flexible, semi-flexible, or rigid frame. In some embodiments, the frame is fixed to a chassis or casing of the robot. In some embodiments, the sensors are positioned along the frame such that the field of view of the robot is maximized while the cross-talk or interference between sensors is minimized. In some cases, a component may be placed between adjacent sensors to minimize cross-talk or interference. In some embodiments, the robot may include sensors to detect or sense objects, acceleration, angular and linear movement, temperature, humidity, water, pollution, particles in the air, supplied power, proximity, external motion, device motion, sound signals, ultrasound signals, light signals, fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, global-positioning-satellite (GPS) signals, radio-frequency (RF) signals, other electromagnetic signals or fields, visual features, textures, optical character recognition (OCR) signals, spectrum meters, and the like. In some embodiments, a microprocessor or a microcontroller of the robot may poll a variety of sensors at intervals.") information about a disaster in each area, (Paragraph 1370, "For example, this capability may be useful in situations such as natural disaster aftermaths (e.g., earthquakes or hurricanes) where first responders may be provided environmental information such as area maps, temperature maps, oxygen level maps, etc. on their phone or headset camera. Examples of other use cases may include situations handled by police or fire fighting forces. For instance, an autonomous robot may be used to enter a dangerous environment to collect environmental data such as area maps, temperature maps, obstacle maps, etc. that may be overlaid with a video feed of a camera of the robot or a camera of another device. ") information acquired by the robot, (Paragraph 0006, "generating, by the processor, a partial map of visible areas of the environment in real-time at a first position of the wheeled device based on the primary sensor data and at least some secondary sensor data, wherein: the partial map is a bird's eye view of the environment; and the processor iteratively completes a full map of the environment based on new sensor data captured by sensors as the wheeled device performs work within the environment and new areas become visible to the sensors; and executing, by the wheeled device, a movement path to a second position.") information about human flow, information about weather, (Paragraph 1239, "In some embodiments, the processor of the robot determines areas of the environment to avoid based on certain conditions (e.g., human activity, cleanliness, weather, etc.). In some embodiments, the conditions are chosen by a user using the application of the communication device.") and information about traffic, (Paragraph 0757, "For example, traffic data associated with a particular location historic number of robot accidents, historic battery use, etc. may be aggregated and used to improve performance of robots.") and
the processing circuitry (Paragraph 0792, " In some embodiments, the robot may include, … a processor …") is further configured to … that avoids the event indicated by the result of the event occurrence prediction. (Paragraph 01239, "In some embodiments, the processor of the robot determines areas of the environment to avoid based on certain conditions (e.g., human activity, cleanliness, weather, etc.). In some embodiments, the conditions are chosen by a user using the application of the communication device." Please also see paragraph 01247)
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss determining an updated trajectory for each device. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… determine information about the new travel route (Paragraph 0049, "For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system. As such, map data can be evaluated relative to constraint data and travel routes can be determined with increased computational efficiency.") …
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to identify devices which are or are predicted to be in the region and to determine an updated path for travel as taught by Panzica. This would allow the devices to efficiently avoid regions which may cause delays in travel or damage to the system.
Regarding claim 4, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
4. (Original) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry (Paragraph 0792, "In some embodiments, the robot may include, … a processor, …" Please also see paragraph 1261) is further configured to …
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss determining new trajectories for each device in the area or expected to be in the area. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… determine information about new travel routes (Paragraph 0049, "For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system. As such, map data can be evaluated relative to constraint data and travel routes can be determined with increased computational efficiency.") that differ among robots located in the event occurrence area. (Paragraph 0064, "Further sample embodiments include a computing device for controlling one or more autonomous vehicles. The computing device receives from one or more networks traffic flow constraint information from at least one of a central planning resource or a traffic monitoring resource. Based on the traffic flow constraint information, autonomy map constraints for autonomous vehicles operating in a given region are updated. The autonomy map includes constraint data defining constraints descriptive of one or more geographic areas or geographic identifiers for which associated navigational constraints are defined, and the constraint data includes a depart constraint that specifies an area that an autonomous vehicle may not enter but may exit if inside the area when the depart constraint is imposed. The data indicating the autonomy map constraints is transmitted over the one or more networks to the one or more autonomous vehicles. In sample embodiments, the data indicating the autonomy map constraints is selectively transmitted to the one or more autonomous vehicles based on the one or more autonomous vehicles each being on a current route converging towards or intersecting with a road segment closure defined by the autonomy map constraints." as well as Paragraphs 0095 and 0116)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to identify devices which are or are predicted to be in the region and to provide the information to each device as well as to determine an updated path of travel for each device as taught by Panzica. This would allow the devices to efficiently avoid regions which may cause delays in travel or damage to the system.
Regarding claim 5, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
5. (Currently Amended) A management method executed by a management device, the management method comprising:
collecting external information; (Paragraph 0793, "the robot may include sensors to detect or sense objects, acceleration, angular and linear movement, temperature, humidity, water, pollution, particles in the air, supplied power, proximity, external motion, device motion, sound signals, ultrasound signals, light signals, fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, global-positioning-satellite (GPS) signals, radio-frequency (RF) signals, other electromagnetic signals or fields, visual features, textures, optical character recognition (OCR) signals, spectrum meters, and the like. In some embodiments, a microprocessor or a microcontroller of the robot may poll a variety of sensors at intervals.")
receiving a current position of a robot or a travel route of the robot from a control device controlling the robot; (Paragraph 0877, "In some embodiments, a neural network may be used to … adjudicate location (i.e., localization), extract dynamic obstacles and separate them from structural points, and actuate the robot such that the trajectory of the robot better matches the planned path.")
detecting an occurrence of an event and an event occurrence area where the event occurs based on the external information; (Paragraph 01239, "In some embodiments, the processor of the robot determines areas of the environment to avoid based on certain conditions (e.g., human activity, cleanliness, weather, etc.). In some embodiments, the conditions are chosen by a user using the application of the communication device." Please also see paragraph 01247)
… [[and]]
transmitting … to a terminal device to cause the information about the new travel route … to be displayed in a screen of the terminal device; (Paragraph 1258, "In some embodiments, the user may use the application to view a current, previous, or planned path of the robot." Please also see paragraph 1248) and
controlling at least one robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area to follow the new travel route. (Paragraph 0741, "The processor of the robot may continuously send information relating to the robot to markers in one pass for use in a later pass, future runs, or future passing robots." Please also see paragraph 1250)
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss identifying devices which are or are predicted to be in the event area and determining an updated trajectory for each device or the display of event information. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… identifying the robot located in the event occurrence area or the robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on the current position of the robot or the travel route of the robot; (Paragraph 0052, "The systems, methods, and vehicles described herein have an additional technical effect and benefit of providing more efficient navigation while simultaneously enhancing the safety and security of autonomous vehicles, passengers and/or cargo. By providing a mechanism to obtain constraint data, autonomous vehicles can benefit from the knowledge of when and where potential problem areas may exist for travel routes. A vehicle computing system can determine optimized travel routes or update travel routes in an enhanced manner by evaluating map data relative to current constraint data in order to avoid exclusion areas. By planning ahead to avoid such areas, the potential for navigational back-tracking is reduced. In addition, by avoiding exclusion areas that are identified because of certain events (e.g., traffic accidents, protestor demonstrations, parades, bridge closures, etc.), and by enabling the autonomous vehicle to drive out of a depart constraint area, the safety of vehicles, passengers, and/or cargo can be increased.")
determining information about a new travel route for each robot located in the event occurrence area or each robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on the external information and the map information; … information about the new travel route … (Paragraph 0049, "The systems, methods, and vehicles described herein may provide a number of technical effects and benefits. For instance, the vehicle computing system can locally (e.g., on-board the vehicle) obtain constraint data, evaluate map data relative to the constraint data, and determine a travel route for navigating the autonomous vehicle in compliance with the constraint data. By performing such operations on-board the autonomous vehicle, the vehicle computing system can avoid certain latency issues that arise by reliance on a remote computing system for off-board operations. For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system. As such, map data can be evaluated relative to constraint data and travel routes can be determined with increased computational efficiency.")
However, Fei, in the same field of endeavor of mapping for use in route planning and self driving cars, teaches:
… and information about the event … and the information about the event … (Paragraph 0253, "The attribute of the event may include an accident event, a traffic flow event, a weather type, and the like; and may further include a road-level event or a lane-level event. For another example, the attribute of the event may be determined based on time change frequency. For example, the determined attribute of the event is a fast-updated event or a slow-updated event based on a speed at which the event changes with time. The location information corresponding to the event may also be correspondingly set based on the attribute of the event that changes with different time." as well as Paragraph 0409, "As shown in FIG. 10b, in this case, the first location information of the first event may be displayed. Alternatively, when a distance between the vehicle and the first event is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the first location information of the first event is displayed, and a reminder indicating that congestion occurs ahead is displayed.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to identify devices which are or are predicted to be in the region and to determine an updated path for travel as taught by Panzica as well as with the ability to display event information and recommendations as suggested by Fei. This would allow the devices to efficiently avoid regions which may cause delays in travel or damage to the system.
Regarding claim 6, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
6. (Currently Amended) A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing therein a management program that causes a computer to execute a process comprising:
collecting external information; (Paragraph 0793, "In some embodiments, the robot may include sensors to detect or sense objects, acceleration, angular and linear movement, temperature, humidity, water, pollution, particles in the air, supplied power, proximity, external motion, device motion, sound signals, ultrasound signals, light signals, fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, global-positioning-satellite (GPS) signals, radio-frequency (RF) signals, other electromagnetic signals or fields, visual features, textures, optical character recognition (OCR) signals, spectrum meters, and the like. In some embodiments, a microprocessor or a microcontroller of the robot may poll a variety of sensors at intervals.")
receiving a current position of a robot or a travel route of the robot from a control device controlling the robot; (Paragraph 0877, "In some embodiments, a neural network may be used to … adjudicate location (i.e., localization) … ")
detecting an occurrence of an event and an event occurrence area where the event occurs based on the external information; (Paragraph 01239, "In some embodiments, the processor of the robot determines areas of the environment to avoid based on certain conditions (e.g., human activity, cleanliness, weather, etc.). In some embodiments, the conditions are chosen by a user using the application of the communication device." Please also see paragraph 01247)
… [[and]]
transmitting information … to a terminal device to cause the information about the new travel route … to be displayed in a screen of the terminal device; (Paragraph 1258, "In some embodiments, the user may use the application to view a current, previous, or planned path of the robot." Please also see paragraph 1248) and
controlling at least one robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area to follow the new travel route. (Paragraph 0741, "The processor of the robot may continuously send information relating to the robot to markers in one pass for use in a later pass, future runs, or future passing robots." Please also see paragraph 1250)
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss identifying devices which are or are predicted to be in the event area and determining an updated trajectory for each device or the display of event information. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… identifying the robot located in the event occurrence area or the robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on the current position of the robot or the travel route of the robot; (Paragraph 0052, "The systems, methods, and vehicles described herein have an additional technical effect and benefit of providing more efficient navigation while simultaneously enhancing the safety and security of autonomous vehicles, passengers and/or cargo. By providing a mechanism to obtain constraint data, autonomous vehicles can benefit from the knowledge of when and where potential problem areas may exist for travel routes. A vehicle computing system can determine optimized travel routes or update travel routes in an enhanced manner by evaluating map data relative to current constraint data in order to avoid exclusion areas. By planning ahead to avoid such areas, the potential for navigational back-tracking is reduced. In addition, by avoiding exclusion areas that are identified because of certain events (e.g., traffic accidents, protestor demonstrations, parades, bridge closures, etc.), and by enabling the autonomous vehicle to drive out of a depart constraint area, the safety of vehicles, passengers, and/or cargo can be increased.")
determining information about a new travel route for each robot located in the event occurrence area or each robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on the external information and the map information; … about the new travel route …
(Paragraph 0049, "The systems, methods, and vehicles described herein may provide a number of technical effects and benefits. For instance, the vehicle computing system can locally (e.g., on-board the vehicle) obtain constraint data, evaluate map data relative to the constraint data, and determine a travel route for navigating the autonomous vehicle in compliance with the constraint data. By performing such operations on-board the autonomous vehicle, the vehicle computing system can avoid certain latency issues that arise by reliance on a remote computing system for off-board operations. For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system. As such, map data can be evaluated relative to constraint data and travel routes can be determined with increased computational efficiency.")
However, Fei, in the same field of endeavor of mapping for use in route planning and self driving cars, teaches:
… and information about the event … and the information about the event … (Paragraph 0253, "The attribute of the event may include an accident event, a traffic flow event, a weather type, and the like; and may further include a road-level event or a lane-level event. For another example, the attribute of the event may be determined based on time change frequency. For example, the determined attribute of the event is a fast-updated event or a slow-updated event based on a speed at which the event changes with time. The location information corresponding to the event may also be correspondingly set based on the attribute of the event that changes with different time." as well as Paragraph 0409, "As shown in FIG. 10b, in this case, the first location information of the first event may be displayed. Alternatively, when a distance between the vehicle and the first event is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the first location information of the first event is displayed, and a reminder indicating that congestion occurs ahead is displayed.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to identify devices which are or are predicted to be in the region and to determine an updated path for travel as taught by Panzica as well as with the ability to display event information and recommendations as suggested by Fei. This would allow the devices to efficiently avoid regions which may cause delays in travel or damage to the system.
Regarding claim 7, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
7. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
… and
identify the robot predicted to be located in the event occurrence area based on a travel period assigned to the travel route of the robot (Paragraph 1247, "Other examples of commands specified via the user interface may include commands that schedule when modes of operations are to be applied to areas. Such scheduling may include scheduling when a task is to occur or when a task using a designed mode is to occur. Scheduling may include designating a frequency, phase, and duty cycle of the task, e.g., weekly, on Monday at 4, for 45 minutes. Scheduling, in some cases, may include specifying conditional scheduling, e.g., specifying criteria upon which modes of operation are to be applied.") …
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss determining event information indicative of the time period of an event. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… detect an event occurrence period during which the event is predicted to occur based on the external information; … and the event occurrence period. (Paragraph 0048, "Event information can be indicative of whether traffic can be higher or lower at a certain time period (e.g., a time period before the event begins versus a time period when the event is ongoing).")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to identify the time period associated with the event as taught by Panzica. This would allow for the planning of the optimal route while considering the possible effects of the event both during the event and the time surrounding the event.
Regarding claim 8, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
8. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine the information about the new travel route based on a task set for the robot and a type of the robot. (Paragraph 1273, "When a map and virtual reconstruction of the environment is shared with other devices in real time, a virtual object such as rug having one set of corresponding actions for one kind of robot may have a different set of corresponding actions for a different robot. For example, a virtual rug created at a certain place in the map may correspond to actions such as vacuum and sweep the rug but remain distant from the edges of the rug. As described above, this may be to avoid entanglement with the tassels of the rug. This is shown in FIG. 423A. For a mopping robot, the virtual rug may correspond to actions such as avoid the entire rug. This is shown in FIG. 423B. For a service robot, the virtual rug may not correspond to any specific instructions. This example illustrates that a virtual object may have advantages over manually interacting with the map.")
Regarding claim 14, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically teach transmitting alert information about the event to another robot not in the area affected merely for the purposes of information sharing and not for route changing. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
14. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit, to the terminal device, alert information about the event occurrence area for another robot having a travel route that does not include the event occurrence area, (Paragraph 0129, "In some examples, notification signals sent at 1112 can be sent to one or more remote computing devices 150 as depicted in FIG. 2. In some examples, notification signals sent at 1112 can be sent over a network 180 as depicted in FIG. 2. In some implementations, a notification signal sent at 1112 can include one or more of an acknowledgement of receipt of the one or more constraint files received at 1106 and/or a confirmation of modification of constraint data at 1108. In some implementations, a notification signal sent at 1112 can additionally or alternatively include the travel route determined at 1110.") while the travel route of the other robot is maintained. (Paragraphs 0038-0039, "The vehicle computing system can be configured to determine travel routes for the autonomous vehicle based at least in part on the map data. In some examples, travel routes can be determined in accordance with a navigational objective (e.g., traveling to a destination location to perform a service such as a rideshare service, delivery service, courier service, etc.). Because autonomy systems can rely on computer-based determination of travel routes as opposed to human determination, it can sometimes be desirable to implement constraints on particular travel areas that should be either included and/or excluded as permissible for navigation. For example, it may be desirable to exclude specific areas or specific travel ways within an area due to events such as a traffic accident, street fair, construction, or the like. Specific areas may be included as permissible for navigation by particular autonomous vehicles that are assigned to perform services in a given area, thus affording efficient distribution of fleet resources.
In order to implement dynamic navigational constraints, constraint data can provide information descriptive of one or more geographic areas and/or geographic identifiers within map data for which associated navigational constraints are defined. In some examples, the navigational constraints can indicate those areas that should be included and/or excluded from permissible areas for navigation by an autonomous vehicle. In some examples, existing constraint data can be provided at and obtained by one or more computing devices located on-board an autonomous vehicle. In some examples, the constraint data can be received from one or more remote computing devices configured to control operation of a fleet of autonomous vehicles. Constraint data can be the same for some or all vehicles in a fleet, or it can be customized per vehicle depending on factors such as the operation location, operating mode, etc. of each autonomous vehicle.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to send notifications to the entire fleet of vehicles or to subsets as taught by Panzica. Providing all vehicles in the fleet with information on an event would allow for fewer computational resources to be utilized at the remote computing device when determining which vehicles are either in the affected area or expected to be. Further, this would allow vehicles to operate using the most recent information in case a rider requests a sudden or unexpected change that would cause them to enter the affected region.
Regarding claim 15, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
15. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
detect that the event has ended based on the external information; (Paragraph 0747, "A blocked state may end when a timer expires or an event is triggered that causes the state to transition from a blocked state to a ready state.") and
…
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discusstransmitting an indication that an area/region is available after action there is allowed. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
… transmit, to the terminal device, information indicating that travel of the robot is possible and information about a travel route preset for the robot. (Paragraphs 0049 and 0050, "For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system." And "Fleet operators can provide inclusion areas and/or exclusion areas to an autonomous vehicle in real time or near real time to account for numerous dynamically changing events (e.g., a traffic accident, construction, street fair, parade, bridge closure, etc.) and/or specific modes of operation (e.g., operation of the autonomous vehicle with or without human drivers). ")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to send instructions to vehicles or subsets of vehicles indicating regions as inclusion areas as well as exclusion areas as taught by Panzica. Providing vehicles/robots with an indication that an area/region is no longer excluded would ensure that the system identifies and utilizes optimal routes for travel and may perform route planning using the most recent information on an area.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ebrahimi Afrouzi in view of Panzica and Fei and in further view of Münning et al. (WO 2020126437 A1), hereinafter Münning.
Regarding claim 9, where all the limitations of claim 8 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss identifying shaded travel locations based on the content of a delivery being carried. However, Panzica, in the same field of endeavor of autonomous machines, teaches:
9. (New) The management device according to claim 8, wherein … and the processing circuitry is further configured to determine, as the information about the new travel route, … (Paragraph 0049, "For example, the vehicle computing system can be configured to initialize and update its travel route(s) based on obtained constraint data and accessible map data as opposed to waiting for determined travel routes to be approved or disapproved by a central command or other remote computing device/system. ")
However, Münning, in the same field of endeavor of robotics, teaches:
… the task set for the robot is delivery of refrigerated goods or frozen goods, (page 12 Paragraph 3, "In the exemplary embodiment, a priority feature is a “cooling priority” for the individual Products. There are three different values for this: "0" for products that do not require refrigeration, "1" for products that need to be stored in the refrigerator, and "2" for products that need to be stored in the freezer.") … a travel route that includes a shaded travel location. (Page 9 Paragraph 13, "If, for example, it is detected that a cool parking space is available at a pick-up position, for example a parking space in the shade or in a parking garage, this reduces the energy expenditure for operating a cooling device and the pick-up position can preferably be used to pick up products requiring cooling.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to plan a new travel route as taught by Panzica and with the ability to identify a shaded location for the route as taught by Münning. Planning a route with consideration given to the assigned task would ensure that the task is completed effectively. Identifying a shaded route or portion of a route while carrying goods that require cooling would decrease the energy used to maintain the desired temperature in the cargo area.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ebrahimi Afrouzi in view of Panzica and Fei and in further view of Deyle et al. (US 20200050206 A1), hereinafter Deyle.
Regarding claim 10, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
10. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to … and setting a travel direction according to a preset determination rule. (Paragraph 1252, "In some embodiments, service parameters may include, but are not limited to, … a driving direction parameter, a movement pattern parameter …")
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss selecting a route from a plurality of options which were identified previously. However, Deyle, in the same field of endeavor of robotics, teaches:
… determine the information about the new travel route by selecting or modifying one of a plurality of preset travel routes (Paragraph 0135, "While patrolling, the robot can update a map to identify a route patrolled by the robot, beneficially enabling a robot operator to see the path of the robot. In some embodiments, if a path is blocked for a robot patrolling along a predetermined route, the robot can use a previously generated map to identify an alternative route to bypass the blocked path and to continue on the patrol route (for instance, a shortest alternative route). " and Paragraph 0309, "Likewise, the robot can select path 2412, which takes less time to navigate than path 2410. ") …
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to select a route based on previously generated travel information as taught by Deyle. Using previously generated travel information to determine a new/alternate route would decrease the computational resources required for adjusting the route as the new route would only need to be planned a single time rather than being planned each time it is needed.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ebrahimi Afrouzi in view of Panzica and Fei and in further view of Park et al. (US 20190256107 A1), hereinafter Park.
Regarding claim 12, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi further teaches:
12. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the information about the new travel route transmitted to the terminal device includes visualization information in which text (Paragraph 1249, "The state of such areas may be indicated with a distinct visual attribute of the area, its text label, or its perimeters, like color, shade, blinking outlines, and the like.") … and the new travel route for each robot are superimposed on a map of the event occurrence area. (Paragraph 1258, "In some embodiments, the user may use the application to view a current, previous, or planned path of the robot.")
Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss recommending that a change in route should be made. However, Park, in the same field of endeavor of route planning and navigation, teaches:
… recommending a change of the travel route due to the occurrence of the event … (Paragraph 0022, "According to another form of the present disclosure, a method for recommending a function of a vehicle may include: obtaining a message associated with a user of the vehicle from an external device, extracting event information associated with movement of the user from the message associated with the user, and, when a specified condition corresponding to the event information is met, outputting a notification of recommending execution of a task associated with the event information.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to notify a user recommending a task or operation based on event conditions as taught by Park. Triggering a notification to a user containing a recommendation that action be taken based on identified event conditions would ensure that the operator of the vehicle is able to make informed decisions regarding the operation of the vehicle and ensure that an optimal route may be chosen and followed.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ebrahimi Afrouzi in view of Panzica and Fei and in further view of Shin et al. (KR 20200084382 A), hereinafter Shin.
Regarding claim 13, where all the limitations of claim 1 are discussed above, Ebrahimi Afrouzi does not specifically discuss the map including evacuation information and identification of an evacuation route. However, Shin, in the same field of endeavor of route planning and robotics, teaches:
13. (New) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the map information includes a position of an evacuation site preset in the area, (Page 3 Paragraph 6, "The map generation unit 110 may store coordinates such as a person, an emergency exit, and a fire hydrant using the image analysis result received from the image processing unit 130 and display the map on the map.") and the processing circuitry is further configured to determine, as the information about the new travel route, a travel route to the evacuation site. (Page 4 Paragraph 8, "The route search unit 120 may search for an evacuation route in the fire evacuation mode. When the fire evacuation mode is activated, the route search unit 120 may use the first coordinates as a requestor rescue location, and use the second coordinates as an arrival location of the evacuation route. In other words, the evacuation route may include a route moving from the first coordinate to the second coordinate.")
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system and methods of operating autonomous/semi-autonomous machines to identify and avoid regions or sub-regions as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi with the ability to store evacuation locations and guide humans to these locations during an emergency event as taught by Shin. This would ensure that the system identifies a safe location for users and that, in the event of an emergency, all users are guided to a safe location rather than being routed out of the area into a location which may not be defined as part of the emergency area but may not be safe or allow the user to safely exit the building.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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 Examiner has cited particular paragraphs or columns and line numbers in the referencesapplied to the claims above for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations arerepresentative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested of the Applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. See MPEP 2141.02 [R-07.2015] VI. A prior art reference must be considered in its entirety, i.e., as a whole, including portions that would lead away from the claimed Invention. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 220 USPQ 303 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert, denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984). See also MPEP §2123.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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.
/H.J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 3657
/ADAM R MOTT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3657
