3D Radiation Mapping Quadcopter
Team Members Heading link
- Tariq Al-Attrash
- Keara Dillon
- Arthur Iordanescu
- Konrad Lach
- Nestor Olivares
- Amir Wan
Project Description Heading link
The NuMI (Neutrinos at the Main Injector) Beamline system, located at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), produces an intense beam of neutrinos, which is used to detect neutrino oscillation, or phase-change from electron, muon, or tau. The NuMI system must periodically be moved and replaced; however, the system becomes hazardously radioactive due to the sub-Mega-Watt power proton beam. Since workers must enter the same room as the NuMI system to test for radiation, it has become a mission to protect these workers from the high radiation levels. The overall objective of this project is to decrease workers’ exposure while being able to obtain accurate radiation measurements. Utilizing a quadcopter UAV paired with a radiation detection device is an ideal solution to minimize exposure and gives the user the freedom to deploy it in any indoor test space. Since GPS signal is often very weak or absent indoors, this UAV uses several ultrasonic beacons that release varied-frequency pulses simultaneously for UAV localization. The UAV is also equipped with a 360-degree RPLiDAR sensor that provides a map with all the objects located in the room, which will be used for object avoidance. The flight log along with the radiation data is combined to create an intensity map that indicates the areas of radiation spikes.