Background
Modern tablets (Android, iOS, Windows) have the screen size and processing power to enable real-time data entry into Mosaic Vivarium in the animal room. While the device camera permits barcode scanning, high-volume operations like census-taking are still faster with a dedicated scanner. This article describes some example hardware for a tablet plus scanner setup.
Tablet
If you are doing data entry on the tablet, a modern processor and sufficient screen size should guide your choices. Choose comparable to the following:
Consider a rugged case to protect your investment.
Scanner
Scanners can be connected as keyboard devices to tablets. If you have Zebra LI4278 devices, you can use these instructions to connect to your tablet of choice:
Another convenient linear scanner:
Pro Tip: The Virtual Keyboard
When a scanner is attached, the tablet interprets it as a keyboard. The default behavior is to hide the tablet's virtual keyboard. On Android, you can turn the virtual keyboard back on. Visit:
Settings : System/Language : Physical Keyboard : Use on-screen keyboard (turn that setting on)
