Unmanned Aerial System Integrated Sensor for Remote Gamma and Neutron Monitoring

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-27-2020

Publication Title

Sensors

Volume

20

Issue

19

First page number:

1

Last page number:

14

Abstract

Tools for remote radiation sensing are essential for environmental safety and nuclear power applications. The use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) equipped with sensors allows for substantially reducing the radiation exposure of personnel. An ambient temperature Cs2LiYCl6:Ce3+ (CLYC) elpasolite scintillation sensor for simultaneous gamma and neutron measurements was designed as a user-friendly “plug and fly” module integrated into an octocopter robotic platform. Robot Operating System (ROS) was used to analyze the sensor’s data. The measured CLYC’s energy resolution was <5% at 662 keV gamma rays; neutron flux was measured using6Li(n,α)t reaction. Time and GPS data were combined with radiation data in the ROS, supporting real time monitoring and assessment tasks, as well as radiation source search missions. Because UASs can be irradiated, radiation damage of the sensor and robot’s electronics was estimated using FLUKA code.

Keywords

Gamma spectroscopy; Neutrons; Plug and fly CLYC sensor; Remote sensing; UAS

Disciplines

Mechanical Engineering

Language

English

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