Method and system for measuring a colorimetric characteristic of a sample and calibration of same

A chemical measurement apparatus for measuring a chemical characteristic of a sample of a material in a container, the apparatus comprising:

• a calibration unit comprising:
• a front portion and a rear portion configured to hold the container, and
• an imaging background extending along the rear portion so as to be positioned behind the container when mated with the calibration unit and viewable through the container and the sample of the material contained therein, wherein a portion of the sample of the material is positioned in front of the imaging background so as to form a sample imaging region, and
• a calibration strip extending along the front portion, the calibration strip comprising a location marker and a plurality of calibration indicia juxtaposed in relation to the location marker, each of the plurality of calibration indicia having a different color;
• and
• a computing device comprising
• image capture means for capturing an image comprising the location marker, the plurality of calibration indicia, and the sample imaging region,
• memory means for storing the image, and
• processing means programmed to
• perform a calibration step comprising
• analyzing the image to determine the location of the location marker within the image,
• calculating, by referencing the location of the location marker, the location within the image of each of the plurality of calibration indicia,
• extracting a non-standardized color value from each of the plurality of the calibration indicia,
• comparing each of the extracted non-standardized color values to previously stored standardized color values for a corresponding calibration indicia, and
• generating a calibration model as a function of comparing the extracted non-standardized color values to the previously stored color standard;
• analyze the sample imaging region from the image to extract a sample color vector;
• apply the calibration model to the sample color vector to generate a calibrated sample color vector;
• and
• analyze, with respect to a chemical characteristic model, the calibrated sample color vector to determine the measurement of the chemical characteristic of the material.