GAMON-Drone

GAMON-Drone is a compact and light weight spectrometer specifically designed for UAV environmental radiation protection, inspection, and site remediation after the dispersion of radiological or nuclear material. The system can be used as a measurement device for first responders for the exploration of hazardous areas. GAMON-Drone system is designed to offer the best combination of portability, low power consumption and performance. The unit is assembled in a lightweight enclosure that contains both the Scintillator Detector and the Digital Signal Processing Electronics.

GAMON-Drone system is designed to offer the best combination of portability, low power consumption and performance. The unit is assembled in a lightweight enclosure that contains both the Scintillator Detector and the Digital Signal Processing Electronics.

GAMON-Drone is provided with the Horus-Quad UAV platform and uses the radio communication link of the UAV to send real time data to its ground station. Horus-Quad UAV provides 45 min continuous operation with its battery pack and Gamon-Drone payload, guaranteeing a communication range of 10 km in open line of sight.

GAMON-Drone can identify gamma-emitting radionuclides and differentiate them based on the category they belong to, distinguishing between NORM, medical and industrial. GAMON-Drone runs spectrum analysis algorithms that can perform simultaneous identification of multiple radiological sources and provides quantitative measurements in terms of dose and activity per radionuclide with its built-in detector efficiency calibration. The user can select the isotopes to be identified from the library and adjust the thresholds of the isotope related alarms. The spectrum stabilization can be obtained with the identification of natural occurring radionuclides as the 40K, 232Th, etc. The gamma spectrometer is typically composed by an inorganic scintillation crystal of configurable volume. Standard system versions integrate NaI(Tl) 2”x2”, CeBr3 1.5”x1.5” or CeBr3 2”x2”, which are the best compromise between resolution and low background measurements. LaBr3(Ce) and NaIL® detector can be integrated on request, where NaIL® detector can give the possibility of detecting neutrons. Signal from scintillation detector is pre-amplified and the pulse is digitized by a 12 bit 62.5 MHz fADC. Digital signal shaping and pulse height analysis is performed by a digital MCA with 2048 channels. The detector is configured to collect gamma interactions in the energy range from 30 keV to 3 MeV, providing statistically accurate dose rate measurements starting from 1 nSv/h. GAMON-Drone features Ethernet and USB interfaces through waterproof connectors. It can be connected to its ground control station with wired interface as a portable spectrometer and can alternatively switch seamless to the wireless radio communication link of the provided drone.

The GAMON-Drone integrates an ARM based CPU that analyses data and stores the measures in an internal non-volatile memory of 32 GB. The GAMON-Drone is provided with an IP65 tablet that act as its ground control unit and is compliant with MIL-810G standards for drop and vibration resistance. Alternative custom defined ground control units can be provided on request. The ground control unit runs a web interface to allow the user to easily configure the data acquisition and the isotopic analysis.