Improvement of Radiation Data Recognition and Data Transmission for Personal Radiation Detector

Personal radiation detectors (PRDs) are small electronic devices that play a crucial role in the detection of nuclear and other radioactive materials. Various models and brands of PRDS have been used and deployed globally. Some of PRDs deployed and on duty however lack a capability of real-time radiation data monitoring and transmission. This is one of main issues that affect the effectiveness of nuclear and radioactive material detection. An IoT-based device, called PRD data transmission device, has been developed and designed for Polimaster PM1703GNM to enhance its ability to transmit radiation and geolocation data to a command centre in real-time. In this work, the PRD data transmission device is re-designed. The radiation data including gamma and neutron values displayed on the PRD screen are determined using digital image processing techniques applied to the PRD screen image. The geolocation information of the PRD, i.e., the latitude and longitude, is acquired from a GPS module. Both radiation and geolocation data are transmitted from the PRD data transmission device to the command centre via a cellular network. A package of the PRD data transmission device is produced using a 3D printing technology. From the experimental results, it is shown that the performance on radiation data recognition algorithm is improved and more robust compared to the previous algorithm. The radiation data and the corresponding geolocation data can be monitored and visualised in real-time at the command centre. In addition, the Polimaster PM1703GNM equipped with the PRD data transmission device remains portable and cost-effective.