ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 8/09

Homework 10: Patent Liability Analysis

Team Code Name: __HOARD Robotics______Group No. ___2__ Team Member Completing This Homework: __Bradley Nowak______E-mail Address of Team Member: __bnowak______@ purdue.edu

Evaluation:

SCORE DESCRIPTION Excellent – among the best papers submitted for this assignment. Very few 10 corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report. Very good – all requirements aptly met. Minor additions/corrections needed for 9 version submitted in Final Report. Good – all requirements considered and addressed. Several noteworthy 8 additions/corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report. Average – all requirements basically met, but some revisions in content should 7 be made for the version submitted in the Final Report. Marginal – all requirements met at a nominal level. Significant revisions in 6 content should be made for the version submitted in the Final Report. Below the passing threshold – major revisions required to meet report * requirements at a nominal level. Revise and resubmit. * Resubmissions are due within one week of the date of return, and will be awarded a score of “6” provided all report requirements have been met at a nominal level.

Comments:

Grade: 9 Section 1.0: Covers all necessary requirements for section. Section 2.0: Filing date and key claims included for each patent. Using an itemized list (bullets, numbering, etc) would have made this section clearer, especially since the patent abstract and claims are usually distinct enough to put into this format. As it is now, it is difficult to extract the relevant information from a large body of text. Section 3.0: Covers all necessary requirements for section. Section 4.0: Covers all necessary requirements for section. ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 8/09

1.0 Introduction The Hoard Robotics project aims to design and build a group of eight identical robots. Each robot, or agent, will be very simple and will follow a basic set of rules regarding its movements, interaction with its environment, and its current behavior (e.g. light search or predator avoidance). Each agent will contribute to the group and create a collective “swarm intelligence” and together, the robots will be capable of accomplish complex and difficult tasks. Each robot will have the capability to gather data about its surroundings as well as communicate and synchronize with other members of the swarm through a wireless RF network. Swarm robotics its self is an up and coming technology, though currently it is mostly contained in a research setting. Because of this, there are few existing patents covering swarm robotics, but because of the inherent simplicity of each agent, these few patents cover a vast portion of swarm robotics projects, including the HOARD Robotics project.

2.0 Results of Patent and Product Search Three primary aspects of the HOARD Robotics project most at risk for patent infringements are the agents themselves, the IR sensor array for obstacle and collision avoidance, and the behavioral software each agent runs to navigate its surroundings without collisions. Each of these aspects is common among most, if not all swarm robotics projects, and therefore patents regarding each were found and investigated. The first patent, which regards the agents themselves, is US Patent No. 6,687,571, Cooperating Mobile Robots [1]. The patent, issued on February 3, 2004, was invented by Raymond H. Byrne, et al., and assigned to Sandia Corporation. The patent covers a miniature, relatively inexpensive mobile robot designed with the purpose of working with other identical robots. The patent defines the functionality of the mobile robot to searching an area in a way that multiple robots can cooperate together and accomplish the task faster. While this topic is not what is claimed, it makes it clear that the purpose of the mobile robot (what is claimed) is to be part of a swarm, much like the HOARD Robotics project. The patent goes on to describe an array of sensors that the mobile robot will employ to navigate and explore its surroundings, as well as communicate with other identical robots, or a central station. Finally, the patent describes the flow of the software controlling the behavior of the mobile robot.

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The claims that the Cooperating Mobile Robot patent hold, which concern the HOARD Robotics project, are a miniature mobile robot consisting of a body made of circuit boards, a sensor, a communication system and a processor as well as other claims which add further functionality to the main claim such as being battery powered and having two drive wheels and a ball wheel configured in a tricycle configuration. The second patent, which regards the infrared sensor system, is US Patent No. 5,819,008, Mobile Robot Sensor System [2]. The patent, issued on October 6, 2008, was invented by Hajime Asama, et al., and assigned to Rikagaku Kenkysho of Saitama, Japan. The patent covers a sensor system that provides local communication for exchanging information to avoid collisions between mobile robots or stationary obstacles. The patent describes the sensor system as an array of infrared signal transmitters and an array of infrared receivers. The described usage of the sensor system is to be used in a multi-robot environment where multiple robots operate. Finally, the patent describes each that each mobile robot includes a control unit which prepares for and extracts transmission information from transmitted and received signals, respectively. The main claim that the Mobile Robot Sensor System holds, which concern the HOARD Robotics project, is a mobile robot system comprising of multiple mobile robots, each with an infrared system for sending and receiving data, along with a controller for preparing data to be transmitted and interpreting data received. Other claims of interest to the project are, which extend the main claim are the claim that each mobile robot having its transmitters and receivers spaced around the outside edge of the robot and the claim that each receiver is capable of receiving data from each of the transmitters on another robot. The third patent, which regards the agents themselves, is US Patent No. 5,652,489, Mobile Robot Control System [3]. The patent, issued on July 29, 1997, was invented by Yuichi Kawakami, and assigned to Minolta Corporation, Limited. The patent covers a method for mobile robots in a mobile robot system which allows them to detect and avoid obstacles blocking its current route. The patent describes the mobile robots as having predetermined paths in the same area, it does not elaborate on how the paths are to be determined. It also describes an algorithm to determine whether or not the obstacle is another robot in the system or a wall and the behavior to resolve the inability to move without collision. There are two main claims, as well as multiple other supporting claims, that the Mobile Robot Control System patent holds, which concern the HOARD Robotics project. The first

-3- ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 8/09 claim is a mobile robot moving on a predetermined path that is compromised of a propulsion device, a sensor that detects obstacles, and a controller which controls propulsion when an obstacle is detected and directs the sensor to sense a second time after a time delay and a mobile robot control system. Supporting claims include the controller can initiate a change of direction of movement of the robot to avoid a collision upon detecting it a second time and the controller can initiate forward movement when no obstacle exists on the second sensing. The second main claim is a method for two robots in a mobile robot control system with multiple robots where each robot moves along a predetermined path and can detect all emitted signals from either robot to avoid one another by having the second robot give way to the first when it receives two signals from the first within a predetermined period of time. Supporting claims include the second robot giving way to the first when it receives a signal from the first without emitting a signal.

3.0 Analysis of Patent Liability The potential infringing functions of the HOARD Robotics project are the design of the agents, the use of an infrared sensor array to detect obstacles, and the behavior of the agents when an obstacle is detected. The design of the agents potentially infringes literally with the Cooperating Mobile Robots (CMR) patent. The HOARD agent is a miniature mobile robot with two drive wheels, battery powered, has body mounted sensors, a communication system and a processor, much like what is claimed in the CMR patent. While the HOARD agent infringes on the secondary claims concerning the wheel configurations, battery power, etc., it is immune from any liability because it does not infringe literally, or under the doctrine of equivalents to the first claim upon which all other in the patent are based upon. Because the HOARD agent has a machined steel chassis which the circuit board body attaches to in an “open body” fashion, it is inherently different from the claimed mobile robot with a body comprised of circuit boards directly forming at least four side of and enclosing the body. The use of an infrared sensor array on the HOARD agents for detecting obstacles potentially infringes with the Mobile Robot Sensor System (MRSS) patent. The HOARD agents employ six infrared emitters and six infrared detectors arranged on each of the six sides. This array of sensors allows the agent to detect obstacles via reflection of its own emitter and detect other agents via reception of the other agents signal. While the MRSS patent claims using

-4- ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 8/09 infrared sensors for collision detection, it also claims data is to be transmitted containing identification information unique to the mobile robot that transmits it. One could argue that the HOARD agents transmit “data” from their infrared emitters, albeit a non-clocked data stream consisting of solely ones, it does not contain an identifier unique to the transmitting robot. Therefore, the HOARD agent infrared sensor array does not infringe the MRSS patent literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. The behavioral algorithm used by the HOARD agents to avoid detected obstacles potentially infringes upon the Mobile Robot Control System (MRCS) patent. When a HOARD agent detects an infrared signal in its current route from either its own reflection or from another agent, it takes another reading of the sensor as fast as possible and then decides to either stop and turn until the obstacle is no longer in its route or to continue on its current path. The purpose of the second reading is to confirm the first reading. Also, periodically a “round-robin” status update will be initiated by robot number one (robot ID's are assigned in a first come first serve basis upon robot start-up), all infrared emissions will be stopped, and each individual agent will, in ascending ID order, strobe their infrared emitters. During this status update, each agent will continue to read its infrared sensors. This allows each agent to know its location in relation to the other agents, and to alter its route to avoid an agent- to-agent collision. This behavior is much closer to infringing upon the MRCS patent than the previous two functions discussed. The first claim of the MRCS patent describes a detect and confirm algorithm much like the HOARD agent's operations, except that it states that the mobile robot stops and that there is a predetermined time between the first and second readings. The HOARD agent does not stop, it slows, and the second reading is taken as soon as possible. The second possible infringement of the MRCS patent is the behavior of how two mobile robots in a mobile robot system avoid each other. HOARD agents avoid other agents in two ways: through the individual strobes of the agent during the “round robin” or just simply by infrared emissions during times of normal operation, essentially a “blind” avoidance. Both methods of avoidance do not literally infringe or infringe under the doctrine of equivalents with the MRCS patent because in either case, there is no second reading taken after a predetermined amount of time, and both agent will adjust to avoid the collision.

4.0 Action Recommended

No potential infringement was found during the patent search and investigation. However, this does not mean that any infringement exists; there are many patents that were not investigated that the HOARD Robotics project may infringe upon. If potential infringement was discovered, the infringing function would be carefully evaluated. If the function was found to be easily modified to avoid infringement, the proper modifications would be made. If not, the importance of the function would be considered, and if it was deemed essential to the overall function of the project, terms and cost of licensing the needed function would be investigated and pursued. If it was non-essential, the function would be removed and, in the best case, a new, more useful and unique function would be implemented in its place.

5.0 Summary In summary, though the HOARD Robotics project uses many commonly utilized functions used in swarm robotics today, it was found to be free from any functionality that may infringe upon the patents discussed. While this investigation did not find any infringement, there may be other patents that the project does infringe upon. In the case of a discovery of patent infringement in the future, a plan has been set in place to handle these potential issues.

List of References

[1] Raymond Byrne, et al. “Cooperating Mobile Robots,” U.S. Patent 6 687 571, Feb. 3, 2004

[2] Hajime Asama, et al., “Mobile Robot Sensor System,” U.S. Patent 5 819 008, Oct. 6, 1998

[3] Yuichi Kawakami, “Mobile Robot Control System,” U.S. Patent 5 652 489, Jul. 29, 1997