Note: These are shipped assembled and ready to use, both as a portable unit if you connect it to a External Phone battery with USB connector -and- as a fixed monitoring station via its Ethernet internet connection!

Finalist in Hackaday Prize 2017 and successful IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign runner, this is an open source compact radiation dosimeter that has an LCD and thus allows mobile use but also comes with an Ethernet adapter so it can do radiation monitoring (uRADMonitor compatible). Named 'KIT1', it exists due to popular demand. Now, all those asking for a uRADMonitor Kit have a nice alternative in this device. This circuit uses a single layer PCB and only through-hole components, making the construction so much easier for all the DIY enthusiasts. It supports adding more sensors and the backend server offers API for easy data access. Build charts in just a few steps, and see your data change. The units here on Tindie are preassembled.

Short intro

I was amazed of the IOT potential even before this thing had a name. Connecting a gadget to the Internet without a computer was intriguing, and opened new exciting opportunities. Back in 2011 I build my first such device using an enc28j60 to control a power socket via the Internet. Then in 2012 I built the first IOT environmental monitor, just a bunch of sensors connected to the Internet and installed on the outside of my home:

This was featured on Hackaday.com.

The next steps

My idea was to continue building on the potential of this new technology. I designed new devices which could be put into production, equipped with sensors and Internet connectivity to form the World's first "Global radiation monitoring network" or uRADMonitor. So here is the KIT1, an excellent Open Source IOT Dosimeter, that can be used both as a portable detector, but also as a monitoring station to upload readings over the internet. By default, it uses a Geiger tube to detect radiation, but more sensors can be added, making this a general purpose IOT Platform. The design is 100% open source on Github, including the code and circuit diagram. Designed for makers, this circuit will provide excellent performance comparable to commercial detectors or better. And as a bonus, the extension slot allows adding more sensors.

What makes it special? Automated radiation monitoring brings certain advantages over simply using a handheld unit occasionally. First due to long term measurements you get to see the trend even for the smallest changes and can take action in regards to the evolution of numbers rather wrongly interpreting some short time readings. Then with long term continuous monitoring we get a clue on low level values that often evade handheld short readings. Finally having an automated system monitoring radiation 24/7 keeps you informed all the time, not only on occasional situations like when using a handheld for an isolated check.

Intended as open source for those who want to build their own dosimeter with their own tools, this is an IOT device that can take several sensors and have the data centralised online. The readings are accessible via a RESTful API, or by connecting directly to the KIT1 unit, in the local LAN. This is useful when you want to monitor several locations, and plot charts or analyse the data. By default it comes with an SBM20 tube to measure Gamma radiation and has an extension slot (v1.2.105) to add additional sensors. The code on GITHUB offers support for the Bosch BME280 sensor by default. With the integrated Ethernet connectivity will send all measurements automatically via the Internet, to the uRADMonitor server, or to any backend you want. You don't need a computer, these tiny devices speak TCP/IP by itself! Add a battery and it can also be used as a portable dosimeter, showing all measurements on the LCD. The community helped to improve the design, with very many custom variants proving the utility of this IOT device, see the pictures in this project log.

#### The server infrastructure uRADMonitor is Big Data. Hundreds of detectors worldwide are collecting measurements every minute, and the server deals with millions of entries in its database every day. The database holding KIT1 data was designed for efficiency: only the important data goes in. One reason for open sourcing was to allow customising the KIT1 units with additional sensors. I had to adapt the server backend in this regards, and now there’s an expandable list of parameters that can be uploaded.

Then there’s the data accuracy which needs to be guaranteed to a reasonable degree by supervising and testing the hardware, something impossible with open, remote constructions. Making the server decide if the data is genuine or just some random useless bits was not an easy task.

Last but not least, here comes the security. Initially, open source can be a source of vulnerabilities of the exposed system. I had to make sure the new open communication protocol is safe to use. I've implemented API Authorisation for all data uploads generated by the Open Source KIT1 units. Go to the dashboard, and create an account if you don’t have one already. You’ll need to use the user-id and the user-key listed there with your new uRADMonitor KIT1. If you go for the stock firmware, then you won’t need them. Tindie units ship with the stock firmware. You can update it to the latest firmware on Github if you wish. Here's what others did, see the KIT1 forum.

#### Data access The KIT1 is an IOT device, so you can see the data it generates in real time. The advanced firmware and the powerful server implementation allow 3 methods to access the data:

1. Programatically, via the uRADMonitor Cloud API . Please see details on the dashboard or in this quick example.
2. Via the dashboard, in CSV or JSON format, see the DATA tab.
3. The uRADMonitor units with Ethernet or Wifi connectivity (including the A3) come with an embedded micro web server, that can be used to access the readings directly in your LAN, by connecting to the unit. Here's what others did with this feature: Setup 1 Setup 2 Setup 3 Setup 4 Setup 5 Setup 6

#### Thank you The KIT1 and the entire uRADMonitor project is about giving uncensored environmental info back to the people. By purchasing a device you get yourself a nice automated dosimeter to monitor your location 24/7 but you also support the work and research invested in this community project, helping it move further. By ordering this item you will receive a fully assembled and tested unit.