Author:
Bomben L.,Capelli S.,Fanzini C.,Lutsenko E.,Mascagna V.,Petroselli C.,Prest M.,Ronchetti F.,Selmi A.,Vallazza E.
Abstract
Abstract
This article describes the design, assembly and
characterization of a portable cosmic ray detector, developed by the
INSULAB group and suitable for teaching activities aimed at high
school students. It consists of a compact aluminum suitcase
containing three plastic scintillator modules coupled to
photomultipliers, readout by a custom compact electronics chain and
powered by a power bank. The modules operate in coincidence and the
system records the arrival time of each particle and the time over
threshold of the signal of each scintillator module. The data are
acquired and processed by a Raspberry PI connected to a touch screen
display for online monitoring. The procedure implemented for the
determination of the detector efficiency is reported, along with the
results of the measurements of the cosmic ray rate as a function of
the altitude and the zenith angle, performed in the laboratory and
in different locations outdoors.
Subject
Mathematical Physics,Instrumentation