Methods and system for performance assessment of cleaning operations
The present disclosure relates to a process and a system for assessing the performance of cleaning operations by utilizing an automatic read out routine for test strips subjected to a cleaning operation. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a computer program product capable of performing the process.
1. An imaging box for use in an image capture procedure for the performance assessment of cleaning operations, comprising:
a housing defined by a front surface and a back surface and forming an interior cavity when the housing is placed on a substantially flat surface, the front surface having a receptacle configured to receive a mobile device,
the front surface further including at least one camera aperture configured to correspond to the position of a camera lens of the mobile device when the mobile device is received in the receptacle,
the back surface including a test strip slot configured to receive and hold a chemical test strip comprising a carrier and an indicator means in a substantially flat position,
the back surface further including a test strip aperture configured to correspond to the position of the chemical test strip when received into the test strip slot, such that an image of the chemical test strip may be captured by the camera of the mobile device when the chemical test strip is inserted into the test strip slot such that the indicator means is facing the interior cavity of the housing,
the housing including at least one diffusing rib positioned within the interior cavity of the housing to diffuse light emitted from a light emitting flash of the mobile device.
2. The imaging box of claim 1 , wherein the front surface of the housing further includes a flash aperture configured to correspond to the position of the light emitting flash of the mobile device when the mobile device is received in the receptacle.
3. The imaging box of claim 1 further comprising a light source positioned within the interior cavity of the housing.
4. The imaging box of claim 3 further comprising a cord management slot in the front surface of the housing configured to receive a charging cable of the mobile device.
5. The imaging box of claim 1 further comprising a light covering sticker sized to cover at least part of the front surface of the housing and having an aperture positioned to correspond to the camera aperture in the front surface of the imaging box.
6. The imaging box of claim 5 wherein the light covering sticker covers the device receiving receptacle and at least a portion of a top surface of the housing.
7. The imaging box of claim 1 wherein the receptacle is configured to receive and hold the mobile device in a consistent and fixed position during image capture.
8. The imaging box of claim 1 wherein the front surface of the housing further includes a slot configured to receive and hold the mobile device 152.
9. The imaging box of claim 1 wherein the front surface of the housing further includes a display aperture sized to expose at least a touch screen display portion of the mobile device.
10. A system comprising:
an imaging box for use in an image capture procedure for the performance assessment of a cleaning process, the imaging box comprising:
a housing defined by a front surface and a back surface and forming an interior cavity when the housing is placed on a substantially flat surface, the front surface having a receptacle configured to receive a mobile device,
the front surface further including at least one camera aperture configured to correspond to the position of a camera lens of the mobile device when the mobile device is received in the receptacle,
the back surface including a test strip slot configured to receive and hold a chemical test strip comprising a carrier and an indicator means in a substantially flat position,
the back surface further including a test strip aperture configured to correspond to the position of the chemical test strip when received into the test strip slot, such that an image of the chemical test strip may be captured by the camera of the mobile device when the chemical test strip is inserted into the test strip slot such that the indicator means is facing the interior cavity of the housing;
a computing device configured to receive and evaluate the image of the chemical test strip and generate an assessment of the performance of the cleaning process; and
a cleaning assessment application running on the mobile device configured to display the assessment of the performance of the cleaning process.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the computing device is located remotely with respect to the mobile device.
12. The system of claim 10 wherein the application running on the mobile device is further configured to guide a user through a chemical test strip image capture procedure.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is configured to evaluate the digital image of the chemical test strip according to:
c1) color-to-greyscale image data transformation;
c2) glare detection;
c3) greyscale-to binary image data transformation;
c4) image pixel-area normalization; and step
c5) pixel-counting, wherein the number of black and white pixels of the test strip image data after the cleaning process are counted and the counting result is compared to the quantitative evaluation result of the test strip prior to the cleaning process.
14. The system of claim 10 wherein the application running on the mobile device is further configured to display the assessment of the performance of the cleaning process on a user interface of the mobile device.
15. The system of claim 10 wherein the assessment of the performance of the cleaning process includes a quantitative value which is proportional to the performance of overall cleaning process.
16. The system of claim 10 wherein the application running on the mobile device is further configured to display an action plan selected based on the assessment of the performance of the cleaning process.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the action plan includes one or more of instructions to increase or lower a detergent concentration, raise or lower a temperature, raise or lower a process time, use a different detergent, control or change a water quality, and control or change a water hardness.
18. The system of claim 10 wherein the computing device is further configured to select an action plan based on the assessment of the performance of the cleaning process.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the action plan includes one or more of instructions to increase or lower a detergent concentration, raise or lower a temperature, raise or lower a process time, use a different detergent, control or change a water quality, and control or change a water hardness.
20. The system of claim 10 wherein the application running on the mobile device is further configured to display the image of the chemical test strip.