System, method and apparatus for collecting inventory scan data

1. A method of collecting inventory scan data at a mobile scanner, comprising:

obtaining a location identifier corresponding to a location containing a plurality of inventory tags for wireless scanning;

obtaining scan criteria corresponding to the location identifier, the scan criteria indicating at least one of a target position and a target orientation for the mobile scanner;

determining whether at least one of a current position and a current orientation of the mobile scanner match the at least one of the target position and the target orientation in the scan criteria;

when the determination is affirmative, initiating a wireless scan of the inventory tags; and

collecting and storing inventory scan data from the inventory tags responsive to initiating the wireless scan.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the location identifier includes capturing the location identifier from a location indicator deployed at the location.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the location indicator is one of a short-range wireless beacon, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and a machine-readable graphic.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the scan criteria includes sending the location identifier from the mobile scanner to a server, and receiving the scan criteria from the server.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the scan criteria includes storing the scan criteria in a memory of the mobile scanner, and retrieving the scan criteria responsive to obtaining the location identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to initiating the wireless scan, collecting motion data from a motion sensor of the mobile scanner; and

when the motion data indicates movement of the mobile scanner that exceeds a threshold, aborting the wireless scan.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

when the determination is negative, presenting a further positioning instruction, and repeating the determination.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to completion of the wireless scan, transmitting the inventory scan data to a server.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scan criteria indicates at least one of a plurality of target positions and a plurality of target orientations at the location containing the plurality of inventory tags.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

initiating an additional scan of the inventory tags corresponding to at least one of an additional target position and an additional target orientation responsive to a determination that the inventory scan data does not satisfy a threshold.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the threshold is a minimum number of unique inventory tags.

12. A mobile scanner for collecting inventory scan data, comprising:

a tag reader;

a memory

a processor connected with the tag reader and the memory, the processor configured to:

obtain a location identifier corresponding to a location containing a plurality of inventory tags for wireless scanning;

obtain scan criteria corresponding to the location identifier, the scan criteria indicating at least one of a target position and a target orientation for the mobile scanner;

determine whether at least one of a current position and a current orientation of the mobile scanner match the at least one of the target position and the target orientation in the scan criteria;

when the determination is affirmative, control the tag reader to initiate a wireless scan of the inventory tags; and

collect and store inventory scan data from the inventory tags in the memory responsive to initiating the wireless scan.

13. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain the location identifier by capturing the location identifier from a location indicator deployed at the location.

14. The mobile scanner of claim 13 , wherein the location indicator is one of a short-range wireless beacon, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and a machine-readable graphic.

15. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , further comprising a communications interface connected with the processor; wherein the processor is configured to obtain the scan criteria by controlling the communications interface to:

send the location identifier to a server; and

receive the scan criteria from the server.

16. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain the scan criteria by:

storing the scan criteria in the memory; and

retrieving the scan criteria from the memory responsive to obtaining the location identifier.

17. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , further comprising a motion sensor; wherein the processor is further configured to:

responsive to initiating the wireless scan, collect motion data from the motion sensor; and

when the motion data indicates movement of the mobile scanner that exceeds a threshold, aborting the wireless scan.

18. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

when the determination is negative, present a further positioning instruction, and repeat the determination.

19. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , further comprising a communications interface connected with the processor; wherein the processor is further configured to:

responsive to completion of the wireless scan, transmit the inventory scan data to a server via the communications interface.

20. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , wherein the scan criteria indicates at least one of a plurality of target positions and a plurality of target orientations at the location containing the plurality of inventory tags.

21. The mobile scanner of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

initiate an additional scan of the inventory tags corresponding to at least one of an additional target position and an additional target orientation responsive to a determination that the inventory scan data does not satisfy a threshold.

22. The mobile scanner of claim 21 , wherein the threshold is a minimum number of unique inventory tags.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for collecting inventory scan data at a mobile scanner, the instructions comprising:

obtaining a location identifier corresponding to a location containing a plurality of inventory tags for wireless scanning;

obtaining scan criteria corresponding to the location identifier, the scan criteria indicating at least one of a target position and a target orientation for the mobile scanner;

determining whether at least one of a current position and a current orientation of the mobile scanner match the at least one of the target position and the target orientation in the scan criteria;

when the determination is affirmative, initiating a wireless scan of the inventory tags; and

collecting and storing inventory scan data from the inventory tags responsive to initiating the wireless scan.