Designing a radiation sensing UAV system

Gathering radiation information in the event of a nuclear disaster is limited by the vulnerability of static sensor networks and the safety of human data collectors. A remotely controlled drone that can combine locational and radiological data gives emergency responders a safe and efficient alternative in the event of damaged or destroyed static sensor networks. The goal of this project is to develop a prototype radiation detection and mapping unmanned aerial vehicle system to safely identify irradiated areas in the event of a nuclear emergency. The UAV platform for this project is the EDF-8, a small ducted-fan UAV, developed by AVID LLC. Our team is responsible for developing the hardware necessary to integrate the radiation sensor into the EDF-8 platform. The main tasks in this project include programming microcontrollers to communicate with the radiation sensor as well as EDF-8's on board communication protocols, building housings for both the sensor and circuit boards, building simulation programs for testing, and the manipulation of collected data for presentation in a GIS software program. Upon project completion, AVID will have a prototype system for adapting EDF-8 into a radiological detection system for commercial or governmental use.