Design and Development of a Wireless Robotic System for Radiation Detection and Measurement

Abstract

A wireless robotic system has been proposed for radiation measurement and monitoring around nuclear facilities. The purpose of the robot is to assist the radiation workers from getting unwanted radiation exposure. The system includes a ground vehicle, GM tube-based radiation counting unit, Raspberry Pi, Pi camera module, and web-based controlling and monitoring unit. With the developed robotic system, the robot is controlled from a server to be moved towards the desired location and measure the radiation level. Radiation level of natural back several radioactive point sources (Cs 137, Co 60, Mn 54) located at different places in the laboratory, has been measured and compared with a GM tube-based commercial survey meter Gamma Scout, w/ALERT model. Analyzing the measured data a deviation has been found varying from 0.29 to 2.18. The proposed system is suitable for radiation detection and measurement in absence of radiation workers in nuclear facilities.