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DO-RA: Dosimeter-Radiometer in a mobile phone

The idea to create an individual dosimeter that would connect or be built into a mobile gadget (such as a phone, smart-phone, tablet computer, etc.) seems rather attractive. However, it is not so easy to implement it while maintaining all the conveniences of using mobile devices. The Russian model of a mobile dosimeter-radiometer is the subject of our conversation with Vladimir YELIN, founder and manager of the DO-RA project.  

– How did you come up with the idea? Who are the people involved in the project?

– It is with most ideas that they tend to occur all of a sudden. This one is no exception. On March 29th 2011, on a request from an electronic media, I wrote a short note about the situation at Fukushima-1. At the end of that article I mentioned that perhaps in our time it would be a good idea for every person on Earth to carry a mobile dosimeter built into a mobile phone or smart-phone. I might have forgotten about it altogether had I not received some critical feedback from a nuclear engineer. I read my article once again and realised how good an idea this indeed was – to have a dosimeter in a mobile phone.

We decided to call our future model DO-RA (using the first letters of the expression 'dosimeter-radiometer'). The priority for a useful DO-RA model was recorded on the 24th of June 2011, and some six months later a patent was received from the Federal Bureau for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks. 

The operator of the DO-RA project is Intersoft-Eurasia. The project's key partners in Russia are a team of developers from VNIIEF in Sarov, supervised by Dr. Alexey Kibkalo, as well as a group of coders from Sarov technology park. Our key foreign partner is IRF – the International Research Fund headed by Dr. Alexander Kairis.

– What are the main functions of the DO-RA device? Where do you see biggest demand for it?

– The functions envisaged for the DO-RA make it usable by literally anybody.

The device will measure the equivalent dose of radiation exposure received by the owner of the DO-RA-fitted mobile gadget over a set period of time. Whenever the phone has the program running in dosimeter mode, the dose will be displayed on the screen.

The device will keep track of the measurements taken and signal if permissible equivalent dose has been or is about to be exceeded. The unit will issue a buzzer-type sound and voice alarms. The details of the alarm modes are adjustable through the software installed on the mobile gadget.

In radiometer mode, the DO-RA measures equivalent dose rate of radiation emitted by ground, water, foodstuffs and other objects.

On the basis of data collected by the dosimeter, the device will produce risk diagrams to reflect the conditions of the owner's organs depending on the effective (or equivalent) dose that he or she has been exposed to. 

The unit will also make preventive recommendations based on actual or anticipated exposure that will appear as text messages on the screen of the mobile phone.

Using Bluetooth connection, the data collected by the DO-RA can be transmitted to other electronic devices positioned within 10 metres.

If the mobile phone has a built-in GPS/ GLONASS capability, the DO-RA will automatically produce radiological condition reports (equivalent dose rate levels) for the area where the owner is located. The collected data may be transmitted in real time via mobile communication providers or other data transmission networks (WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth, wireless networks) to radiological centres for further analysis and processing. The plan is to create such a centre for the DO-RA network based on one of the 'cloud' platforms, such as Google App Engine or Microsoft Azure, by the middle of 2012.

The radiological analysis centre will provide its feedback as maps of terrain showing bodies of water and other objects along with radiation levels data received from the mobile devices fitted with the DO-RA capability and other open sources.

The network that we will soon build to unite the multitude of DO-RA devices may turn out to be of enormous help for the entire humankind.  

– Is there anything like your device out there? What makes the DO-RA stand out from the competition and what advantages does it have to offer?

 – Since the end of August 2011, the media and the Internet started to make reports about devices similar to the DO-RA. Perhaps the closest analogies have been made by SCOSCHE of the USA and NTT DOCOMO of Japan.

The American model, however, it not particularly convenient for everyday use: that dosimeter-radiometer, its size comparable to a fairly large computer mouse, connects to a smart-phone via a USB-port using a half-a-metre long cable. The Japanese take on the dosimeter-radiometer idea is a unit built into a special smart-phone shroud, which seems more practical. But, from the descriptions available, it only displays numbers describing the levels of radiation and exposure dose. 

Now let us look at our version of dosimeter-radiometer for a mobile phone. The DO-RA device is very compact as compared to its competitors, and offers a greater functionality than the published information about the American and Japanese models. Our unique α-, β- and γ-radiation sensor is based on a semi-conductor detector and may be either be built into a phone or be used as an extra add-on device. We have found a very elegant way to convey data and power through the headphones socket in mobile phones and smart-phones.

The prototype of our dosimeter-radiometer has already been adapted to work with practically all mobile operational platforms such as iOS, Android, WP7, BalckBerry,  JavaME, as well as Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc. Currently we are in the process of registering the special computer software for the DO-RA device.

But our device's key difference (and advantage) will only fully manifest itself when we are able to build a broad-band sensor based on a new nano-structure – graphene. This will ensure a far superior sensitivity and accuracy while keeping a miniature size and economic power consumption of the DO-RA device. The patent for the graphene sensor has already been issued, and the plan is to start scientific development and experimental demonstrations during the second quarter of 2012, if funding is available.

– What stage is your project currently at? What are its prospects for the near future?

– The DO-RA project is now in the closing phase of scientific development and engineering. We have already built more than 30 of live DO-RA prototypes that are compatible with mobile phones, smart-phones, laptop and tablets computers, and other mobile devices. We have developed and tested a number of versions of the DO-RA device. We have designed ergonomic and compact 3D-models that can be connected via both audio and USB-ports.

As of the beginning of 2012, we have completed the development of design documentation for the DO-RA. Europe's largest promo design firm, Promwad Innovation Company, is now doing the preparations to start industrial-scale production of the DO-RA.

We have an agreement with a Zelenograd-based Russian manufacturer (Altonica Production Company) to make several pilot batches of DO-RAs for climatic and metrological testing in field conditions. We will begin flied testing on a limited batch of some 100-200 units within a very short time. If successful, the next batch may be made to include some 1,000 to 10,000 units. The maker is ready to put out up to 1.5 million of DO-RAs annually.      

Intersoft-Eurasia, which acts as operator of the DO-RA project, has been accredited with the Skolkovo Fund and received some unique taxation privilege as part of state support to innovative projects. The project itself has been recognised as innovative development and qualified with a group of five Russian and five international experts assembled by the Nuclear Cluster of the Skolkovo Fund and nominated for a developers' financial support grant. The Nuclear Cluster team headed by Dennis Kovalevich has provided considerable stimulus for the project to develop through its ideology and proposed taxation and grant-based funding advantages.

Right now, the DO-RA project appears to show the very best of promises. Despite the fact that the design of the DO-RA device is not yet complete, and that of course, we have not begun any advertising, we already do have some first prospective clients: small companies from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Recently, the first interested potential buyers for our dosimeter-radiometers from abroad have also appeared. A Japanese company that specialises in similar products has expressed interest in procuring some 10 thousand devices a month for sale in the Japanese market.

We have also held talks with more companies in Japan, such as Fuji, Fujitsu, Sony Ericsson and others, and are awaiting their detailed offers for participation in our project.