A Hands-on Introduction to Radiation Detection: Getting to know our Radioactive World
This course is an introduction to basic concepts in radiation detection and radioactivity, electrical circuits, and data analytics. Lectures provide the theoretical foundation of the work being performed in the accompanying laboratory. The course will contain three sections: introduction to how radiation interacts with matter and radiation detection technologies; development of the tools (mathematical and computational) needed for analyzing various types of radiation and environmental data; and building of a basic radiation sensor system.
Weekly schedule for the semester, including the basic lecture and lab content and links to weekly reading assignments.
| Week | Lecture | Lab |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | No class - Course introduction during the lab sections | Course survey (required) |
| 2 | Getting to know our radioactive world
|
Introduction to programming
|
| 3 | Radioactivity basics
|
Working with micro-controllers
|
| 4 | Statistics and modeling I
|
Programming tools
|
| 5 | No class | Programming for data analysis I
|
| 6 | Statistics and modeling II
|
Programming for data analysis II
|
| 7 | Electrical circuits I
|
Electronics lab I
|
| 8 | Electrical circuits II
|
Electronics lab II
|
| 9 | Electrical circuits III
|
Radiation sensor integration
|
| 10 | No class - spring break | No class - spring break |
| 11 | Interactions of radiation with matter
|
Radiation data collection/analysis
|
| 12 | Radiation absorption
|
Intro to soldering:
|
| 13 | Radiation detection and instrumentation
|
Sensor system field-work
|
| 14 | Lecture material review
|
Lab Project work
|
| 15 | Graduate student research presentations | Final project work |
| 16 | Group project presentations will be held from 10 am – 4 pm on the Friday of RRR week with a 1-hour break for lunch from 12 – 1 pm.
|
|
| Finals | No final exam |
|
Students will work in groups of two or three to develop the data acquisition software for their Raspberry Pi based environmental and radiation sensor system. Each week groups will work through how to interface with one of the sensor types to be integrated. Groups will then have a couple of weeks to work independently to integrate the primary sensor - a radiation sensor - into their systems. We will end by working through the full assembly of your sensor system and testing of all of the software components you have developed throughout the semester, including comparisons of your software with that produced by the other groups. You will then take your devices into the field to collect data, which will be discussed in a field data lab report.
Students will work in groups of two or three (this can be the same group chosen for your lab work) to come up with a research project using data collected with their portable radiation and environmental sensor devices, or collected through the larger sensor network these devices are modeled after, to explore a questions related to radiation in our environment.
The course grade will be based on homework plus take-home midterm (30%), lab work (25%), a final project and group presentation (30%), and a final written report (15%).
There will be a pre-recorded portion of the lecture and a reading assignment each week. This asynchronous lecture recording will be required to participate in the classroom activities that take place during the scheduled lecture period. We will have group activities during the scheduled lecture that contribute to the homework grade each week.
Lab participation will include interactive programming work carried out during the first couple of weeks which will contribute to your homework grade for those weeks. If you are not present for the lab sections during these activities, or have not completed the necessary preparation indicated in the syllabus, you will not be able to make these activities up. Special arrangments will be made if there are extenuating circumstances.
Lab participation is an important factor in this course. Work related to device development will make up a large part of the final grade, and will including presentations made during the lab sections related to overviews of sensors being integrated and device preparation. Viewer feedback on presentations and device results will also contribute to this lab participation grade. Similarly, a portion of the final project presentation grade will come from your feedback on other presentations.
There is a significant amount of programming involved in this course. For this reason, access to a personal laptop that you can bring to class will greatly aid in your progress. That said, if you do not have access to a personal computer, we can make arrangements to provide you with a Raspberry Pi for use during class. Please contact the instructor prior to the start of the term if you will not have access to a personal laptop during class.
All other required materials, including electronics and soldering equipment, sensor components, and any related supplied, will be provided in class. You will have the option to keep the radiation and sensor devices you build in class. You may also elect to donate them to the DoseNet program for installation in a school, including one of your choosing.