DO-RA: universal dosimeter in a cellular phone
Vladimir A. Elin graduated magna *** laude with a B.S. in Technical Sciences from the faculty of Instrumentation with specialization in radio electronic systems and devices at the Moscow State Technical University
n.a. N.E. Bauman (MSTU) in 1984.
In 1988, Vladimir A. Elin decided to give up scientific research in favour of business, and he went on to create the medical- technology company “Bioteks.” 1989-1991 he worked as a director of scientific and technological laboratory “Infotech-Inter”, and as a director
of the Russian- German joint venture “Shanse”. In 1993, together with the partners Vladimir A. Elin established the company “BBB”.
In 1995, Vladimir A. Elin and his partners set up a management company - JSC Corporation “EMSTS” - (a unified international system of bonded warehouses).
In 2007, Vladimir A. Elin together with Vladimir A. Afanasenko established a new logistics holding company JSC “Smart Logistic Group”.
March 29th, 2011, in the process of working on a column on a situation at Fukushima nuclear power plant, an idea was born.
It might be a good idea to have every person in the world own a mobile dosimeter that will be built into a cellular phone or a Smartphone. The idea might have stayed on paper, but for a letter from a nuclear engineer complementing me
after the column came out. I revisited the column and realized that a dosimeter in a cellular phone needs to be produced.
I decided to name the future model Do-Ra (from first letters of the phrase dosimeter- radiometer). The future model was prioritised on June 24th 2011 and after a year and a half, a patent was received from the Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks Federal agency in Russia. Patent applications
were also filed in the US, Japan, China, European Union and
Ukraine.A team of developers from the
RFNC- (Russian Federal Nuclear Center, Russian research and development institute for experimental physics) in Sarov city lead by the Doctor of Science Alexei Kibalko as well as a group of professional programmers worked on this project.
DO-RA
The Do-Ra device connects to a Smartphone through an audio jack and works in conjunction with a mobile software DO-RA.Soft, easy to download to any mobile device from the Internet. After clicking on the Do-Ra icon, a software program launches and the Do- Ra device starts to function. Measuring ionizing radiation takes place every 4 seconds and for 60 seconds the Do-Ra device constantly checks the results for
accuracy. After 60 seconds, the results with potential accuracy are displayed on the Smartphone screen informing about radioactivity level (dose rate) at the location, of the studied object, food, etc.
The DO-RA.Classic can easily be used as an individual emergency indicator by the personal of nuclear power plants, while the DO-RA.uni with its silicon (Si) sensor is suitable for use as an individual dosimeter and, of course, as an individual emergency indicator of ionizing radiation.
The DO-RA. Classic is designed to:
periodic or continuous 24-hour recording and indication of equivalent dose of gamma-radiation (“DEP”) of
its holder;
periodic or continuous 24-hour
recording and indication of ambient equivalent dose of gamma-radiation (“DP”) of its holder;
measurement of period of accumulation of DP gamma-radiation of its holder;
digital transfer of the accumulated and stored data in the memory of the device thorough an audio channel to the smartphone processor for subsequent display or transmission through a mobile service provider to the center of the radiation situation monitoring.
The DO-RA.Classic can be used to assess the radiation environment and alarm the user of any radiation risk (above threshold), as well as to identify areas of contamination or radioactive sources of gamma radiation.
At present, the current configuration of the DO-RA.Classic allows it to be used as a detection device, not as a measuring tool. For this reason, its readings cannot be used in official reports.
To ensure accurate interpretation of the results generated by the DO-RA. Classic, users are recommended to contact professional organizations.
The DO-RA.Classic is best operated in the following conditions:
ambient air temperature from-20° C
to + 55° С;
relative air humidity up to 95% at
temperature of + 40° С.
The DO-RA software also allows users to photograph the source of ionizing radiation. This can be done using the
smartphone’s built-in camera. In this case, the image of the source of ionizing radiation will contain the following information related to it: geographical coordinates, the time the image was taken and radiation level. The image can be sent via e-mail.
The DO-RA.Classic is currently fitted with the traditional Geiger-Muller (GM) meter, which, according to its Russian manufacturer, is capable of measuring hard gamma radiation in the range from 60 keV to 3 MeV.
SBM-21-1DO-RA.Classic with GM meter may: Operate in the following range of dose rate measurement of ionization radiation.
From 1.5 mSv/h to 14.4 mSv/h with relative efficiency +/- 15%,
And with less efficiency in a range of natural background
radiation.The device has radiation calibration.
Sources from set of reference spectrometric gamma-radiation sources manufactured by Khlopin Institute are used for calibration. Also, we use personal spectrometer /radiation detector АT1321
as reference instrument for calibration. АТ1321 has been certified under NSS1 and IEC 62327:2006. Both devices are similar. Differences in readings by 10- 15% are allowed.
The certification of the device is expected to be conducted either at the Specialized Scientific Research Institute for Instrumentation Engineering or a similar state agency. Currently, the DO-RA already has the Certificate of Conformity from an accredited body obtained under the voluntary certification program.
Starting from October 2011, the DO- RA.Soft application has been available through all major online stores, including App Store, Android Market, WP7 Market, etc. , at no extra cost. A total of 11,000 downloads of the DO-RA.Soft app have been made so far, with 8000 downloads going to Android-run devices, 2500 to iOS-run devices and 800 to WP7-run devices.
Right from the beginning, the DO-RA.Soft app has been available in Russian, English and Japanese, with support for many more languages being planned. When you switch a phone or any other device with installed DO-RA.Soft, the software will automatically adjust itself to the new user.
We have plans to test it in Chernobyl in the future.
Sale and distribution
We are currently holding talks with several Japanese companies. The results of the talks are expected to be finalised soon.
In the middle of 2012, we will have finished developing engineering documentation for the Do-Ra device. A prominent company in Eastern Europe specializing in promo-design is working on preparing to help advance Do-Ra’s mass production.
Do-Ra contact: Julia Davydova, Intersoft Eurasia; email: davydova@ intersofteurasia.ru.
Nuclear Plant Journal believes that enablement of the general public with a radiation detection device similar to Do- ra will be very beneficial to the industry. It is also acknowledged that currently the developers have taken the first step. Comments from the industry expert on these devices, on how to make these devices optimally beneficial to the general
public as well as to the workers engaged in nuclear environment will be helpful. The comments may be sent to the listed contact person with a copy of the email to newal@goinfo.com.
There are two additional organizations, worldwide providing/ developing a similar devices. Nuclear Plant Journal is in process of obtaining direct information from the respective organizations.
1. United States’ Scosche’s Model RDTX
http://www.scosche.com/consumer- tech/product/2254
2. Japan’s Softbank’s model Pantone 5 107 SH.
Source: nuclearplantjournal.com