U.S. Patent No. 10,144,342 B2 (‘342), issued on December 4, 2018, for “Mobile Robot.” The inventors are Ze Ji of Portsmouth, Great Britain, and Christopher Andrew Smith of Bristol, Great Britain. The applicant and assignee is Dyson Technology Ltd., of Malmesbury, Great Britain, the tech-focused appliance company. The ‘342 specification discloses a smart vacuum cleaner with a camera system and a lighting system for better navigation. The lights act as sensors that will provide information to the vacuum as to navigating to areas on the floor that would require more vacuuming. As described, the camera also assist navigation in an omni-directional manner, by providing the sensors with images that need to be vacuumed. The ‘342 claims are directed to these system encompassing the smart vacuum product, including the parts – the vision system comprising the camera, the control system comprising a processor to navigate and process the camera images, and the lights.
Figure 2 illustrates the system of the vacuum robot:
The Cooperative Patent Classifications are B60Q (arrangement of signaling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles for lighting other areas than only the way ahead (1/24)); B60R (vehicles, namely, optical viewing arrangements (1/00)); G05D (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables, namely, control of position or course in two dimensions using a video camera in combination with image processing means (1/0246)); and H04N (pictorial communication, namely, closed circuit television systems for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources (7/181)).
Dyson recently announced that it relocate its headquarters from Great Britain to Singapore in order to facilitate production of its new electric car product. Vacuum cleaners, however, was its first, and most well-known, consumer product, although the company also makes other appliances, including fans, air purifiers, and hair and hand dryers. In response to Dyson’s planned move, Conservative Member of Parliament Sam Gyimah tweeted that Dyson’s relocation would result, in part, to a transfer of British intellectual property to Singapore. Sam Gyimah was the most recent Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation.
Dyson’s decision to move his HQ to Singapore reflects his narrow business interest. This is not just a transfer of two people. When HQs move, so does the intellectual property. Betrayal of the public who put their faith in him as a British business advocating a No Deal Brexit.
— Sam Gyimah (@SamGyimah) January 22, 2019
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