https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01276-4
Regular Article
A low-cost radiation detection system to monitor radioactive environments by unmanned vehicles
1
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133, Roma, Italy
2
Joint NBC Defence School of Rieti, 02100, Rieti, Italy
3
Department of Industrial and Civil Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122, Pisa, Italy
4
Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133, Roma, Italy
5
Unicamillus-Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, 00131, Roma, Italy
6
Yale Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response, New Haven, CT, USA
a
a.chierici@studenti.unipi.it
Received:
13
January
2021
Accepted:
24
February
2021
Published online:
12
March
2021
Unconventional scenarios with hazardous radioactive levels are expected as consequences of accidents in the industrial sector of the nuclear energy production or following intentional releases of radioactive materials for terrorist purposes (dirty bombs, indoor contaminations, etc.). Nowadays, the need to balance the high standards of safety and security through an effective detection network is a matter of paramount importance. In this work, the authors’ challenge has been to design, realize and test a low-cost gamma detection and spectroscopy system which may be used in unmanned vehicles in general and/or drones with low payload capabilities. The designed platform may be used to carry out mapping or localization operations in order to reduce the risk factor for first responders or for the population affected by radiological and nuclear events. In this paper, the design process of a gamma ray detection and spectroscopy system based on affordable and commercially available technologies is presented along with the results of our ongoing characterization of the prototype.
© The Author(s) 2021
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