Development of A Radiation-Seeking Robot for Locating Misplaced Radiation Sources

Abstract

Locating misplaced radiation source is an important element in radiation industry. In this project, the development of an indoor radiation-seeking robot was constructed. Since the global positioning system (GPS) is not available indoors, a localization method known as dead reckoning is used. The robot uses the Arduino series microcontroller (Arduino Uno) to navigate autonomously with an obstacle avoidance algorithm by using three ultra-sonic sensors. It also uses an Arduino compatible radiation detector module with Geiger Muller tube due to its wide range of detection. On detecting the misplaced radiation source, the robot overrides the pre-programmed path and move towards source. Upon reaching the m is placed source, it would stop 5cm in front of the misplaced source to prevent collision. The location of the robot would then be recorded while the alarm was triggered to alert the working personnel in the workspace. The work demonstrates that it is possible to use autonomous robot to search for misplaced radiation source in the industry