Main Content

Ionizing Radiation Detector

This tutorial is for building an ionizing radiation detector with Arduino!

Hello! I decided to build this project because ionizing radiation can be dangerous, and it is very hard to know if it’s there. I am hoping this project will help people be able to create their own ionizing radiation detectors for relatively cheap!

How Ionizing Radiation Works
The definition of ionizing radiation is “radiation consisting of particles, X-rays, or gamma rays with sufficient energy to cause ionization in the medium through which it passes.” This includes air, water, and living tissue. Ionizing radiation can travel unseen and pass through these materials.

Overview
Things
Story
The Story
How Ionizing Radiation Works
The Parts
DFRobot
Wiring
Code Description
How To Use The Device
How to Add Data to Google Earth
How to Add Data to Numbers (MacOS
SlideShow
Wrapping Up
Schematics
Code
Credits
Comments(0)

4

K Gray
K Gray
Created November 19, 2022 © MIT
Ionizing Radiation Detector
This tutorial is for building an ionizing radiation detector with Arduino!

Beginner
Full instructions provided
1.5 hours
78
Ionizing Radiation Detector
Things used in this project
Hardware components
DFRobot Beetle CM-32U4
× 1
DFRobot MicroSD Card Breakout
× 1
DFRobot MicroSD Card
× 1
DFRobot GPS Module
× 1
DFRobot Vibration Motor Module
× 1
DFRobot I2C 16x2 LCD
× 1
DFRobot Geiger Counter Module
× 1
DFRobot DC-DC Converter
Only needed if you power this device from a 12v source.
× 1
Rechargeable Battery, 3.7 V
Rechargeable Battery, 3.7 V
× 1
Plastic Enclosure, Project Box
Plastic Enclosure, Project Box
× 1
Gravity: Digital Capacitive Touch Sensor For Arduino
DFRobot Gravity: Digital Capacitive Touch Sensor For Arduino
× 1
Hand tools and fabrication machines
Multitool, Screwdriver
Multitool, Screwdriver
Story
The Story
Hello! I decided to build this project because ionizing radiation can be dangerous, and it is very hard to know if it’s there. I am hoping this project will help people be able to create their own ionizing radiation detectors for relatively cheap!

How Ionizing Radiation Works
The definition of ionizing radiation is “radiation consisting of particles, X-rays, or gamma rays with sufficient energy to cause ionization in the medium through which it passes.” This includes air, water, and living tissue. Ionizing radiation can travel unseen and pass through these materials.

Ionizing radiation is on the right of the scale below:

A easily recognizable form of ionizing radiation today, is that of x-rays, which can penetrate our body and reveal pictures of our bones. Ionizing activity can alter molecules within the cells of our body. That action may cause eventual harm (such as cancer). Intense exposures to ionizing radiation may produce skin or tissue damage.

There are 5 types of ionizing radiation:

- alpha particles
- beta particles
- positrons
- gamma rays
- X-rays

Alpha particles are “positively charged particles consisting of two protons and two neutrons emitted from the nucleus of some radioactive atoms. An alpha particle is the nucleus of a helium atom. Unstable atoms with a low neutron-to-proton ratio may emit alpha particles.”(Osha)

Beta particles are “negatively-charged, fast-moving electrons emitted from the nucleus of various radionuclides. Unstable atoms with a high neutron-to-proton ratio emit negatively-charged beta particles.”(Osha)

Positrons are similar to Beta particles, but are positively charged. They are “positively-charged, fast-moving electrons emitted from the nucleus of certain radionuclides. Unstable atoms with a low neutron-to-proton ratio can emit positrons.”(Osha)

Gamma rays are “high-energy electromagnetic photons emitted from the nucleus of an unstable, excited atom. Gamma rays are pure energy and can travel great distances at high speed.”(Osha)

X-rays are “High-energy electromagnetic photons emitted from outside the nucleus. The primary difference between X-rays and gamma rays is that X-rays are emitted from processes outside the nucleus, but gamma rays originate inside the nucleus.”(Osha)

Ionizing radiation particles (e.g., alpha, beta) or high-energy photons (gamma rays, X-rays) can travel different distances and interact with the atoms of absorbing materials in their paths, causing excitation or ionization of the atoms. As shown in the graphic below, while alpha and beta particles are not very penetrating through other materials, gamma and X-rays are quite penetrating, as are neutrons. (Osha)

The Parts
There are many awesome parts that I used in this project. I made sure it has all of the functionality that I would want.

- 1x DFRobot Beetle CM-32U4
- 1x DFRobot MicroSD Card breakout
- 1x Sandisk MicroSD Card
- 1x DFRobot GPS Module with Enclosure
- 1x DFRobot Vibration Motor Module
- 1x DFRobot I2C 16x2 LCD with RGB Backlight
- 1x DFRobot Geiger counter Module
- 1x DFRobot DC-DC Converter (only needed if you would power this project from 12V)
- 1x 3.7V 1200mAh Lithium Battery
- 1x Plastic Project Box
- 1x Touch Sensor
- Extra Male Pin Headers
- Phillips Screwdriver”

Link to article