Item scanner distance-enabled functioning

1 . A system comprising:

a processor; at least two point-of-sale (POS) terminals comprising a first terminal and a second terminal;

an integrated circuit board that comprises two cameras and each camera comprises at least one time-of-flight (TOF) sensor;

an item scanner deployed at one of the at least two POS terminals, wherein the item scanner includes the integrated circuit board and operates to measure distances between corresponding TOF sensors and a subject captured in an image by at least one of the two cameras;

wherein the item scanner further utilizes distance measurements to optimize focus and adjust lighting elements for enhanced image capture, and wherein the item scanner further adjusts at least two lighting elements that illuminate light in a scan field of the item scanner based on the distance measurements;

at least one memory with instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor to control each POS terminal, the instructions executable with regard to a first terminal to perform:

receiving a first distance measurement from a first TOF sensor of a first camera for an item scanner of the first terminal;

determining data processing activities based on a current operational state of the first terminal and the first distance measurement, wherein the first terminal is in an active mode of operation;

performing or initiating the determined data processing activities; and

transitioning the second terminal from the active mode of operation to a dormant mode of operation to enable freeing up resources of the second terminal and enabling usage of the resources of the second terminal for servicing the determined data processing activities of the first terminal;

wherein the at least two POS terminals are controlled by a single computer, and wherein the resources are resources of the processor.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each TOF sensor includes an infrared laser to measure the distance.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the determined data processing activities include removing the first terminal from the dormant mode of operation to an active mode when the distance measured is within a threshold.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the determined data processing activities include resetting a timeout period, expiration of which initiates data processing to place the first terminal in the dormant mode of operation.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein when the first terminal is in the dormant mode of operation, at least one camera of the two cameras for the item scanner of the first terminal continues capturing images that are provided to the processor for image processing.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the image processing of an image received from the item scanner while the first terminal is in the dormant mode of operation includes at least one of motion detection processing and image recording.

7 . The system of claim 1 , the data processing activities further comprising:

reading a product identifier of an item included within the image.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the data processing activities include deactivating a security device associated with the item.

9 . The system of claim 7 , the determined data processing activities further comprise:

receiving a second distance measurement from a second TOF sensor of a second camera for the item scanner of the first terminal;

calculating size factor data from the first distance measurement and the second distance measurement;

retrieving stored size factor data based on the product identifier;

comparing the calculated size factor data with the retrieved size factor data to determine if there is a size match within a threshold; and

performing exception processing when there is not a size match.

10 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a single computer, a distance measurement from a first time-of-flight (TOF) sensor of an integrated circuit board, wherein the integrated circuit board further includes a first camera having the first TOF sensor and a second camera having a second TOF sensor for an item scanner of a first point-of-sale (POS) terminal;

determining, by the processor, data processing activities to perform or initiate based on a current operational state of the first POS terminal and the received distance measurement;

utilizing, by the processor, the received distance measurement to optimize focus and adjust lighting for enhanced image capture;

adjusting, by the processor, at least two lighting elements that illuminate light in a scan field of the item scanner based on the received distance measurement;

performing or initiating, by the processor, the determined data processing activities; and

transitioning a second POS terminal from an active operational state to a dormant operational state to enable freeing up resources of the second POS terminal and enabling usage of the resources of the second POS terminal for servicing the determined data processing activities of the first POS terminal;

wherein the first POS terminal and the second POS terminal are controlled by the processor, and wherein the resources are resources of the processor.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first TOF sensor includes an acoustic sensor to measure a distance.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the determined data processing activities include removing the first POS terminal from the dormant operational state to the active operational state when the received distance measured is within a threshold.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the determined data processing activities include resetting a timeout period, expiration of which initiates data processing to place the first POS terminal in the dormant operational state.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein when the first POS terminal is in the dormant operational state, at least one camera of the item scanner of the first POS terminal continues capturing images that are provided to a processor to enable image processing.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the image processing of an image received from the item scanner while the first POS terminal is in the dormant operational state includes at least one of motion detection processing and image recording.

16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

reading a product identifier of an item included within an image from at least one camera of the item scanner.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the determined data processing activities include deactivating a security device associated with the item.

18 . The method of claim 16 , the determined data processing activities further comprise:

receiving a second distance measurement from the second TOF sensor of the integrated circuit board, wherein the integrated circuit board further includes the second camera of the item scanner of the first POS terminal;

calculating size factor data from the distance measurement and the second distance measurement;

retrieving stored size factor data based on the product identifier;

comparing the calculated size factor data with the retrieved size factor data to determine if there is a size match within a threshold; and

performing exception processing when there is not a size match.

19 . A method comprising:

reading, by a processor of a single computer, a product identifier of an item presented to a product scanner of a first point-of-sale (POS) terminal;

receiving, by the processor, a distance measurement from a first time-of-flight (TOF) sensor of an integrated circuit board for the product scanner of the POS terminal, wherein the first TOF sensor associated with a first camera of the product scanner, and wherein the integrated circuit board further includes a second camera having a second TOF sensor;

utilizing, by the processor, the received distance measurement to optimize focus and adjust lighting for enhanced image capture;

adjusting, by the processor, at least two lighting elements that illuminate light in a scan field of the product scanner based on the received distance measurement;

performing, by the processor, data processing activities based on a current operational state of the first POS terminal and the received distance measurement; and

transitioning, by the processor, a second POS terminal from an active operational state to a dormant operational state to enable freeing up resources of the second POS terminal and enabling usage of the resources of the second POS terminal for servicing the data processing activities of the first POS terminal;

wherein the first POS terminal and the second POS terminal are controlled by the single computer, and wherein the resources are resources of the single computer.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the data processing activities include sending a command to a security tag deactivation device to transmit a signal to deactivate a security tag within proximity of the first POS terminal.