DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FUNCTIONALITY SEQUENCING

• US 20140132389A1
• Filed: 11/14/2012
• Published: 05/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Choi, Jaeho, Jenkins, Ian R., Martin, Richard M., Nair, Chandra M., Tslopanos, Konstantinos D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,113,235 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10118 the sensing being preceded by at least one preliminary step
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1443 locating of the code in an image
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/146 the method including quality enhancement steps
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/00 Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements

Abstract

A device and method automatically executes a predetermined procedure. The method includes receiving input data by a mobile unit (MU), the input data including a request for output data, the MU including a data capture module. The method includes obtaining external data using the data capture module, the external data being indicative of at least one external condition related to the MU. The method includes selecting one of at least one capture engine of the data capturing module as a function of the external data and the input data, the selected capture engine configured to obtain the output data. The method includes automatically executing a predetermined procedure using the MU as a function of the selected capture engine and the external data, the predetermined procedure including a plurality of steps, one of the steps being obtaining the output data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving input data by a mobile unit (MU), the input data including a request for output data, the MU including a data capture module;

obtaining external data using the data capture module, the external data being indicative of at least one external condition related to the MU;

selecting one of at least one capture engine of the data capturing module as a function of the external data and the input data, the selected capture engine configured to obtain the output data; and

automatically executing a predetermined procedure using the MU as a function of the selected capture engine and the external data, the predetermined procedure including a plurality of steps, one of the steps being obtaining the output data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected capture engine is a barcode scanner and the data capture module includes a proximity sensor.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined functionality is determining at least one of an orientation, a grid position, and a size of an object in which a barcode is disposed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected capture engine is an imager and the predetermined procedure includes locating a barcode within an image captured by the imager.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected capture engine is a radio frequency identification (RFID) transceiver and the predetermined procedure is decoding the output data received from at least one RFID tag.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined procedure is a sequence of a plurality of predetermined functionalities.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the sequence includes at least one of capturing an image of a target area having at least one barcode disposed therein, determining whether encoded data of the barcode is capable of being decoded, determining a specific location within a warehouse, projecting the specific location onto the target area, projecting instructions related to an item onto the target area, updating a view on a display device of the MU with at least one of the specific location and the instructions, and determining the selected capture engine as a function of the specific location.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined procedure includes a first functionality of determining a number of a plurality of items within a field of view of the capture engine.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined procedure includes a second functionality of determining a location of a barcode disposed on each item and a third functionality of decoding encoded data for each barcode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the external condition includes at least one of location data of the MU, proximity data between the MU and a target area, motion data of the MU, orientation data of the MU, and ambient lighting data for an environment in which the MU is disposed.

11. A mobile unit (MU), comprising:

a data capture module configured to obtain external data, the external data being indicative of at least one external condition related to the MU, the data capture module including at least one capture engine configured to obtain output data;

a memory arrangement configured to store the external data; and

a processor configured to receive input data including a request for the output data, the processor configured to select one of the at least one capture engine as a function of the external data and the input data, the processor configured to automatically execute a predetermined procedure as a function of the selected capture engine and the external data, the predetermined procedure including a plurality of steps, one of the steps being obtaining the output data.

12. The MU of claim 11, wherein the selected capture engine is a barcode scanner and the data capture module includes a proximity sensor.

13. The MU of claim 12, wherein the predetermined functionality is determining at least one of an orientation, a grid position, and a size of an object in which a barcode is disposed.

14. The MU of claim 11, wherein the selected capture engine is an imager and the predetermined procedure includes locating a barcode within an image captured by the imager.

15. The MU of claim 11, wherein the selected capture engine is a radio frequency identification (RFID) transceiver and the predetermined procedure is decoding the output data received from at least one RFID tag.

16. The MU of claim 11, wherein the predetermined procedure is a sequence of a plurality of predetermined functionalities.

17. The MU of claim 16, wherein the sequence includes at least one of capturing an image of a target area having at least one barcode disposed therein, determining whether encoded data of the barcode is capable of being decoded, determining a specific location within a warehouse, projecting the specific location onto the target area, projecting instructions related to an item onto the target area, updating a view on a display device of the MU with at least one of the specific location and the instructions, and determining the selected capture engine as a function of the specific location.

18. The MU of claim 11, wherein the predetermined procedure includes a first functionality of determining a number of a plurality of items within a field of view of the capture engine.

19. The MU of claim 18, wherein the predetermined procedure includes a second functionality of determining a location of a barcode disposed on each item and a third functionality of decoding encoded data for each barcode.

20. A computer readable storage medium including a set of instructions executable by a processor, the set of instructions operable to:

receive input data by a mobile unit (MU), the input data including a request for output data, the MU including a data capture module;

obtain external data using the data capture module, the external data being indicative of at least one external condition related to the MU;

select one of at least one capture engine of the data capturing module as a function of the external data and the input data, the selected capture engine configured to obtain the output data;

automatically execute a predetermined procedure using the MU as a function of the selected capture engine and the external data, the predetermined procedure including a plurality of steps, one of the steps being obtaining the output data.