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 . This office action is in response to an application filed on 07/23/2025. The applicant submits an Information Disclosure Statement dated 10/31/2025. The applicant does not make a claim for foreign priority. The applicant does make claims to Domestic priority to an application with a filing dated 07/02/2013.
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 – 14, and 18 - 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Einecke US 2013/0190965 in view of Wong US 2013/0226344.
As per claim 1, An autonomous system, comprising:
a drive system comprising one or more motors and a drive mechanism configured to move the system through an environment; (Einecke paragraph 0052 discloses, “at least one propulsion system, like a motor 2”) and (Einecke paragraph 0053 discloses, “a module 13 for motor control (i.e. control of the mower movement), which uses the output of the grass detection module 11 for issuing motor commands that for example allow the mower to avoid obstacles in its path or to navigate to a certain target, e.g. a home base for recharging the mower.”) and
at least two cameras, wherein the at least two cameras have a combined field of view that is greater than 180 degrees. (Wong paragraph 0115 teaches, “This allows the robot 100 to detect objects and/or obstacles approaching the robot 100 within at least a 180.degree. sensory field of view along the drive direction of the robot 100.” And paragraph 0219 teaches, “In examples, where the viewing angle .theta..sub.V is less than 360 degrees, the imaging sensor 450, 450a, 450b (or components thereof) may rotate with respect to the robot body 110 to achieve a viewing angle .theta..sub.V of 360 degrees.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a field of view greater than 180 degrees. Wong teaches of a field of view greater than 180 degrees. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to perform in environments where obstacles may approach from different angles and blind spots.
As per claim 2, The system of Claim 1, wherein the at least two cameras are 3-D cameras.(Wong paragraph 0105 teaches, “In the example shown, the robot 100 includes a first and second imaging sensors 450a, 450b (e.g., 3D depth imaging sensors) disposed on the torso 140. Both imaging sensors 450a, 450b are arranged to have a field of view 452 along the forward drive direction F.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose 3-D cameras. Wong teaches of using 3-S cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 3, The system of Claim 1, wherein the at least two cameras are 3-D time-of-flight cameras. (Wong paragraph 0118 teaches, “the imaging sensor 450 is a time-of-flight camera (TOF camera), which is a range imaging camera system that resolves distance based on the known speed of light, measuring the time-of-flight of a light signal between the camera and the subject for each point of the image.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose 3-D cameras. Wong teaches of using 3-D cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 4, The system of Claim 1, wherein: one or more cameras are configured to recognize at least one or more of: fiducial markings, people, or one or more objects. (Einecke paragraph 0029 discloses, “If the sensor is a far-infrared (FIR) sensor it can be used to detect heat emitting obstacles, like persons or animals.”) and (Wong paragraph 0188 teaches, “The robot 100 may use the imaging sensor 450 for 1) mapping, localization & navigation; 2) object detection & object avoidance (ODOA); 3) object hunting (e.g., to find a person); 4) gesture recognition (e.g., for companion robots); 5) people & face detection; 6) people tracking; 7) monitoring manipulation of objects by the robot 100; and other suitable applications for autonomous operation of the robot 100.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose 3-D cameras. Wong teaches of using 3-D cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 5, The system of Claim 4, comprising: a computing device configured to: (i) receive data from the one or more cameras, and (ii) compute a distance to the at least one or more of: fiducial markings, people, or one or more objects. (Wong paragraph 0184 teaches, “A larger number of accumulated clock pulses represents a longer TOF, and hence a greater distance between a light reflecting point on the imaged object 12 and the light source 1510. The operations further include determining 1610 a distance between the reflecting surface of the object 12 for each received light pulse reflection and optionally constructing 1612 a three-dimensional object surface. In some implementations, the operations include repeating 1614 operations 1602-1610 and optionally 1612 for tracking movement of the object 12 in the scene 10.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose TOF cameras. Wong teaches of using TOF cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 6, The system of Claim 1, additionally comprising at least one modulated light source; and wherein returning light emitted by the at least one modulated light source is detected by the at least two cameras. (Einecke paragraph 0031 discloses, “Preferably, the at least two cameras are a stereo camera, wherein both are facing in the same direction in this case, preferably to the front.”) and (Wong paragraph 0013 teaches, “the infrared range sensor is a structured-light three dimensional scanner, a time of flight camera, or a three-dimensional light detection and ranging sensor (e.g., Flash LIDAR). In some examples, the infrared range sensor includes one or more triangulation ranging sensors, such as position sensitive devices.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose head lights. Wong teaches of using head lights. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 7, The system of Claim 6, wherein phase differences between emitted light and returning light are used to calculate a distance to an object. (Wong paragraph 0184 teaches, “A larger number of accumulated clock pulses represents a longer TOF, and hence a greater distance between a light reflecting point on the imaged object 12 and the light source 1510. The operations further include determining 1610 a distance between the reflecting surface of the object 12 for each received light pulse reflection and optionally constructing 1612 a three-dimensional object surface. In some implementations, the operations include repeating 1614 operations 1602-1610 and optionally 1612 for tracking movement of the object 12 in the scene 10.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose TOF cameras. Wong teaches of using TOF cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 8, The system of Claim 1, further comprising: a navigation system to direct motion of the autonomous system through a designated environment. (Wong paragraph 0155 teaches, “The controller 500 may use the object map for navigation, obstacle detection, and obstacle avoidance. Moreover, the controller 500 may use sensory inputs from other sensors of the sensor system 400 for creating object map and/or for navigation.” And paragraph 0159 teaches, “The reasoning software processes the data collected from the sensor system 400 and outputs data for making navigational decisions on where the robot 100 can move without colliding with an obstacle, for example.” And paragraph 0188 teaches, “The robot 100 may use the imaging sensor 450 for 1) mapping, localization & navigation; 2) object detection & object avoidance (ODOA); 3) object hunting (e.g., to find a person); 4) gesture recognition (e.g., for companion robots); 5) people & face detection; 6) people tracking; 7) monitoring manipulation of objects by the robot 100; and other suitable applications for autonomous operation of the robot 100.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a navigation system. Wong teaches of using navigation system. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 9, The system of Claim 8, wherein the at least two cameras provide data used by the navigation system. (Wong paragraph 0155 teaches, “The controller 500 may use the object map for navigation, obstacle detection, and obstacle avoidance. Moreover, the controller 500 may use sensory inputs from other sensors of the sensor system 400 for creating object map and/or for navigation.” And paragraph 0159 teaches, “The reasoning software processes the data collected from the sensor system 400 and outputs data for making navigational decisions on where the robot 100 can move without colliding with an obstacle, for example.” And paragraph 0188 teaches, “The robot 100 may use the imaging sensor 450 for 1) mapping, localization & navigation; 2) object detection & object avoidance (ODOA); 3) object hunting (e.g., to find a person); 4) gesture recognition (e.g., for companion robots); 5) people & face detection; 6) people tracking; 7) monitoring manipulation of objects by the robot 100; and other suitable applications for autonomous operation of the robot 100.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a navigation system. Wong teaches of using navigation system. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
10. The system of Claim 9, wherein the data provided by the at least two cameras is matched to a location in a pre-stored electronic map. (Einecke paragraph 0031 discloses, “Preferably, the at least two cameras are a stereo camera, wherein both are facing in the same direction in this case, preferably to the front.”) and (Wong paragraph 0013 teaches, “the infrared range sensor is a structured-light three dimensional scanner, a time of flight camera, or a three-dimensional light detection and ranging sensor (e.g., Flash LIDAR). In some examples, the infrared range sensor includes one or more triangulation ranging sensors, such as position sensitive devices.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose cameras. Wong teaches of using cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 11, The system of Claim 9, wherein the data provided by the cameras is used to construct a navigation map for use by the system as it moves through a designated environment. (Wong paragraph 0155 teaches, “The controller 500 may use the object map for navigation, obstacle detection, and obstacle avoidance. Moreover, the controller 500 may use sensory inputs from other sensors of the sensor system 400 for creating object map and/or for navigation.” And paragraph 0159 teaches, “The reasoning software processes the data collected from the sensor system 400 and outputs data for making navigational decisions on where the robot 100 can move without colliding with an obstacle, for example.” And paragraph 0188 teaches, “The robot 100 may use the imaging sensor 450 for 1) mapping, localization & navigation; 2) object detection & object avoidance (ODOA); 3) object hunting (e.g., to find a person); 4) gesture recognition (e.g., for companion robots); 5) people & face detection; 6) people tracking; 7) monitoring manipulation of objects by the robot 100; and other suitable applications for autonomous operation of the robot 100.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a navigation system. Wong teaches of using navigation system. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 12, The system of Claim 8, additionally comprising:
a chassis; (Einecke paragraph 0002 discloses, “Autonomous or robotic mowers, e.g. lawn mowers, are an increasing market. Such mowers typically mow a lawn autonomously in a random brute-force fashion cutting only small pieces of grass in every run.” It is inherent these machines have a chassis, the claim features does not specify a specific chassis material or construction design.) and (Wong paragraph 0095 teaches, “the base 120 may include a base chassis 122 that supports a base body”)
a power source attached to the chassis; (Einecke paragraph 0052 discloses, “at least one propulsion system, like a motor 2”)
a computing device attached to the chassis; (Einecke paragraph 0053 discloses, “a module 13 for motor control (i.e. control of the mower movement), which uses the output of the grass detection module 11 for issuing motor commands that for example allow the mower to avoid obstacles in its path or to navigate to a certain target, e.g. a home base for recharging the mower.”) and
a coupling attachment for a first additional accessory, comprising a connector for providing electrical power from the power source to the first additional accessory; (Einecke paragraph 0003 discloses, “an onboard energy reservoir to power the drive unit, at least one sensor and a computing unit functionally connected to the sensor(s) and the drive unit.”)
wherein the drive system is attached to the chassis and powered by the power source; (Einecke paragraph 0052 discloses, “at least one propulsion system, like a motor 2”) and (Einecke paragraph 0053 discloses, “a module 13 for motor control (i.e. control of the mower movement), which uses the output of the grass detection module 11 for issuing motor commands that for example allow the mower to avoid obstacles in its path or to navigate to a certain target, e.g. a home base for recharging the mower.”) and
wherein one or more electronic circuit boards used by the navigation system are mounted to supports attached to the chassis. (Wong paragraph 0155 teaches, “The controller 500 may use the object map for navigation, obstacle detection, and obstacle avoidance. Moreover, the controller 500 may use sensory inputs from other sensors of the sensor system 400 for creating object map and/or for navigation.” And paragraph 0159 teaches, “The reasoning software processes the data collected from the sensor system 400 and outputs data for making navigational decisions on where the robot 100 can move without colliding with an obstacle, for example.” And paragraph 0188 teaches, “The robot 100 may use the imaging sensor 450 for 1) mapping, localization & navigation; 2) object detection & object avoidance (ODOA); 3) object hunting (e.g., to find a person); 4) gesture recognition (e.g., for companion robots); 5) people & face detection; 6) people tracking; 7) monitoring manipulation of objects by the robot 100; and other suitable applications for autonomous operation of the robot 100.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a navigation system. Wong teaches of using navigation system. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 13, The system of Claim 1, wherein the drive system comprises a plurality of wheels, with at least one wheel configured to be driven by a motor. (Wong paragraph 0097 teaches, “the drive system 200 includes first, second, and third drive wheels 210a, 210b, 210c equally spaced (i.e., trilaterally symmetric) about the vertical axis”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose wheels. Wong teaches of using wheels. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 14, The system of Claim 1, wherein the drive system comprises a plurality of wheels, and differential drive for the plurality of wheels is used to control motion within the environment. (Wong paragraph 0097 teaches, “the drive system 200 includes first, second, and third drive wheels 210a, 210b, 210c equally spaced (i.e., trilaterally symmetric) about the vertical axis”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose wheels. Wong teaches of using wheels. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 18, An autonomous system, comprising:
at least two sensors, each with a field of view, positioned to allow detection of distances to objects in an environment, (Einecke paragraph 0031 discloses, “Preferably, the at least two cameras are a stereo camera, wherein both are facing in the same direction in this case, preferably to the front.”) and (Wong paragraph 0013 teaches, “the infrared range sensor is a structured-light three dimensional scanner, a time of flight camera, or a three-dimensional light detection and ranging sensor (e.g., Flash LIDAR). In some examples, the infrared range sensor includes one or more triangulation ranging sensors, such as position sensitive devices.”)
wherein combining of the fields of view of the at least two sensors produces a combined field of view greater than 180 degrees. (Wong paragraph 0115 teaches, “This allows the robot 100 to detect objects and/or obstacles approaching the robot 100 within at least a 180.degree. sensory field of view along the drive direction of the robot 100.” And paragraph 0219 teaches, “In examples, where the viewing angle .theta..sub.V is less than 360 degrees, the imaging sensor 450, 450a, 450b (or components thereof) may rotate with respect to the robot body 110 to achieve a viewing angle .theta..sub.V of 360 degrees.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a field of view greater than 180 degrees. Wong teaches of a field of view greater than 180 degrees. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to perform in environments where obstacles may approach from different angles and blind spots.
As per claim 19, The system of Claim 18, wherein one or more of the at least two sensors is a LIDAR system. (Einecke paragraph 0008 discloses, “a mower, which uses laser light to scan the ground for non-grass areas,”) and (Wong paragraph 0013 teaches, “the infrared range sensor is a structured-light three dimensional scanner, a time of flight camera, or a three-dimensional light detection and ranging sensor (e.g., Flash LIDAR). In some examples, the infrared range sensor includes one or more triangulation ranging sensors, such as position sensitive devices.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a lidar system. Wong teaches of using a lidar system. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 20, An autonomous system comprising:
a chassis; (Einecke paragraph 0002 discloses, “Autonomous or robotic mowers, e.g. lawn mowers, are an increasing market. Such mowers typically mow a lawn autonomously in a random brute-force fashion cutting only small pieces of grass in every run.” It is inherent these machines have a chassis, the claim features does not specify a specific chassis material or construction design.) and (Wong paragraph 0095 teaches, “the base 120 may include a base chassis 122 that supports a base body”)
a power source attached to the chassis; (Einecke paragraph 0052 discloses, “at least one propulsion system, like a motor 2”)
a computing device attached to the chassis; (Einecke paragraph 0053 discloses, “a module 13 for motor control (i.e. control of the mower movement), which uses the output of the grass detection module 11 for issuing motor commands that for example allow the mower to avoid obstacles in its path or to navigate to a certain target, e.g. a home base for recharging the mower.”)
a drive system comprising one or more motors and a drive mechanism that allows the system to move through an environment, said drive system attached to the chassis and powered by the power source; (Einecke paragraph 0052 discloses, “at least one propulsion system, like a motor 2”) and (Einecke paragraph 0053 discloses, “a module 13 for motor control (i.e. control of the mower movement), which uses the output of the grass detection module 11 for issuing motor commands that for example allow the mower to avoid obstacles in its path or to navigate to a certain target, e.g. a home base for recharging the mower.”)
a navigation system to direct motion of the autonomous system through the environment, wherein one or more electronic circuit boards used by the navigation system are mounted to supports attached to the chassis; (Wong paragraph 0155 teaches, “The controller 500 may use the object map for navigation, obstacle detection, and obstacle avoidance. Moreover, the controller 500 may use sensory inputs from other sensors of the sensor system 400 for creating object map and/or for navigation.” And paragraph 0159 teaches, “The reasoning software processes the data collected from the sensor system 400 and outputs data for making navigational decisions on where the robot 100 can move without colliding with an obstacle, for example.” And paragraph 0188 teaches, “The robot 100 may use the imaging sensor 450 for 1) mapping, localization & navigation; 2) object detection & object avoidance (ODOA); 3) object hunting (e.g., to find a person); 4) gesture recognition (e.g., for companion robots); 5) people & face detection; 6) people tracking; 7) monitoring manipulation of objects by the robot 100; and other suitable applications for autonomous operation of the robot 100.”)
a coupling attachment for a first additional accessory, comprising a connector for providing electrical power from the power source to the first additional accessory; (Einecke paragraph 0003 discloses, “an onboard energy reservoir to power the drive unit, at least one sensor and a computing unit functionally connected to the sensor(s) and the drive unit.”) and
at least two sensor modules attached to the chassis positioned to allow detection of distances to objects within the environment. (Einecke paragraph 0031 discloses, “Preferably, the at least two cameras are a stereo camera, wherein both are facing in the same direction in this case, preferably to the front.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose a navigation system. Wong teaches of using navigation system. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 21, The system of Claim 20, wherein the at least two sensor modules comprise at least two camera modules, each camera module comprising one or more cameras, and wherein at least two of the cameras of the camera modules are positioned collect images from different directions. (Einecke paragraph 0031 discloses, “Preferably, the at least two cameras are a stereo camera, wherein both are facing in the same direction in this case, preferably to the front.”) and (Wong paragraph 0013 teaches, “the infrared range sensor is a structured-light three dimensional scanner, a time of flight camera, or a three-dimensional light detection and ranging sensor (e.g., Flash LIDAR). In some examples, the infrared range sensor includes one or more triangulation ranging sensors, such as position sensitive devices.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose TOF cameras. Wong teaches of using TOF cameras. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Wong et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 22, The system of Claim 21, wherein each camera module comprises one or more illuminators in addition to the one or more cameras. (Einecke paragraph 0045 discloses, “Fourth, the mower is optionally provided with lighting means, e.g. a head light. The lighting means enable mowing in low-light conditions, like night, where the maximal exposure and gain do not yield a good signal quality.”)
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Einecke US 2013/0190965 in view of Wong US 2013/0226344 in view of Nagai US 20010055063.
As per claim 15, The system of Claim 1, wherein the drive system comprises a plurality of legs. ( paragraph 0124 teaches, “the present invention is particularly suited to a humanoid robot that moves by the use of legs”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose the use of legs. Nagai teaches of the use of legs. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Nagai et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
Claims 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Einecke US 2013/0190965 in view of Wong US 2013/0226344 in view of Schempf US 2012/0303179.
As per claim 16, The system of Claim 1, wherein the drive system comprises a plurality of rotors configured to provide lift. (Schempf paragraph 0011 teaches, “A flying module is configured to be received in the dock. The flying module includes at least one rotor powered by a motor, and a body portion including an imager.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose the use of legs. Schempf teaches of the use of rotors. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Schempf et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
As per claim 17, The system of Claim 16, wherein the plurality of rotors is used to control motion in three-dimensional space. (Schempf paragraphs and 0011 and 0055 teaches, “Autonomy software control module 130 associated with flying module 122 can be configured to signal vehicle controller 132 in order to follow mobile robot 10, detect targets and track the same, provide for automated hovering and flight path generation and tracking, video based target tracking and the like. Autonomy software control module 130 may be configured to provide functionality for automated docking and release and climbing behaviors; automated obstacle avoidance; automated window look in positioning and hovering capabilities; three-dimensional model building; target and/or friend/foe illumination and/or detecting and tracking; higher floor, sniper detection, triangulation and monitoring; and the like.”)
Einecke discloses a system, method, and apparatus for unsupervised adaptation of the perception of an autonomous mower. Einecke does not disclose the use of legs. Schempf teaches of the use of rotors. Therefore, at the time of filing it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to incorporate the teachings of Schempf et.al. into the invention of Einecke. Such incorporation is motivated by the need to ensure the machine is able to identify obstacles.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYLER D PAIGE whose telephone number is (571)270-5425. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am - 6:00pm (mst).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kito Robinson can be reached at 5712703921. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TYLER D PAIGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3664