Introducing LABDOS01: The Ionizing Radiation Dosimeter and Spectrometer

LABDOS01 is a versatile ionizing radiation dosimeter and spectrometer built on a crystalline silicon (c-Si) semiconductor detector. It's designed for laboratory and experimental settings, offering a wide range of applications.

Key Features:

• Simultaneous spectrometry and accurate dosimetric measurements
• High sensitivity to ionizing radiation particles
• Data logging via smartphone or SD card
• Extremely low power consumption
• Customizable open-source firmware through Arduino IDE

LABDOS01A is an open-source dosimeter and ionizing radiation spectrometer developed for scientific use. It's part of our successful open-source UST dosimeters series, including the SPACEDOS, AIRDOS, and GEODOS dosimeters. LABDOS01A complements the UST dosimeters series with a portable device designed for preliminary or laboratory experiments.

LABDOS01A operates as an ionizing radiation detector, dosimeter-spectrometer, using a semiconductor PIN diode to collect ions created by deposited energy. It's classified as a Liulin-type detector. The semiconductor-based detection principle ensures sensitivity to almost all types of ionizing radiation, except high-energy gamma and neutrons.

Versatile Applications:

• Aerospace or terrestrial radiation monitoring
• Aircraft onboard radiation monitoring
• Scientific high-altitude balloons (e.g., Pfotzer Maximum measurement)
• Educational toolkit for cosmic ray monitoring
• 3D radiation mapping with GNSS and UAV
• Space weather monitoring at high-altitude observatories
• Open science
• Citizen science

LABDOS01A is built on the USTSIPIN02 core, which is also used in other UST dosimeters specialized for specific applications like AIRDOS, SPACEDOS, and GEODOS.

Please refer to the LABDOS documentation for additional examples and details.

Aircraft Fly-Crew Cosmic Ray Dosimeter

LABDOS01A is perfect for measuring mixed radiation fields caused by secondary cosmic rays at higher altitudes. Flight altitudes in the atmosphere are a typical example of a mixed radiation field. A silicon semiconductor detector is an almost ideal device for measuring the parameters of such ionizing radiation. In addition, LABDOS can be easily connected to a smartphone, allowing data recording and visualization during the entire flight.

Radiation spectra measurement

Because LABDOS is also a spectrometer, it enables different radioisotopes to be distinguished by measuring the deposited energy in silicon. Here is an example of spectra Am-241 and Pu-239.

Parameters

The LABDOS01A is standardly packed in a user-modifiable 3D-printed plastic box that provides mechanical durability and compactness for the device. At the same time, it can be mounted into the MLAB base plate (ALBASEx) after a screw replacement.

The detector is equipped with indication LEDs that show the status of the device. LABDOS contains 2 LEDs indicating USB communication, 1 indicating the presence of a power supply, and 3 user LEDs, which can have different meanings according to the used firmware.

The default energy range is selected to best match the alpha particle radiation of radon progenies.

Connection

LABDOS01A can be connected to a logging or display device in several ways. Firstly, it is possible via the USB-C interface, which can fully power the device and download measured data. Firmware can also be updated via the USB-C interface.

UART

Another data output in the form of a UART is in a separate connector. Data output is the same as in the case of the USB interface. Connecting via this interface is recommended for long-term measurements. The connector belongs to the JST-GH series. UART connector is compatible with the Dronecode DS-009 standard.

3v3

The 3v3 power supply is reserved for use in very specific situations, especially in consumption-sensitive applications. Under normal circumstances, it is not needed. Check the schematic for possible uses.

Auxiliary input

The auxiliary input is used to connect support devices that can provide additional information for measurement, for example, GPS position, PPS timestamps, or other data.

Firmware

LABDOS is based on Arduino and therefore can be equipped with many firmware versions that provide different types of data outputs. The firmware can be easily customized by using the Arduino IDE. If your experiment requires a specific type of data, please feel free to contact us.

Generic firmware

The LABDOS01A is standardly shipped with generic firmware. On the output serial interface, a string is sent every 10s. This ASCII line contains a spectrum of the detected particles integrated over the last 10s. The output is simple, human-readable, and ready to be machine-processed.

Shipment content:

• LABDOS01A - Laboratory semiconductor dosimeter
  • Firmware variant: Generic firmware with CSV, UART/USB-C output
• High-quality USB-C cable, 0.5m