Events

DO-RA International

V. Elin (Ph.D, head of the DO-RA project at Intersoft Eurasia, resident of the Skolkovo  technopark)

A whole year has passed unnoticed since the thought of the human body's vulnerability to radiation led me to invent a portable dosimeter-radiometer for mobile phones and smartphones, later abbreviated to "DO-RA". On June 24, 2011, the device was issued Russian patent #109625. The story might've ended there if it hadn't been for man's basic desire to be able to see and touch the object of his dreams "in the flesh", preferably in the shape of a nicely designed, and beautifully executed device with brush metal finish.   

Back then, a year ago, I believed for some reason it wouldn't take me long to build such a simple device, and that the job can almost  be done in my garden shed – after all, designs of similar devices can often be found in technical literature and popular science magazines. Just do it! However, finding a solution to an engineering problem lying at the heart of a popular modern device, especially such as a smartphone, will only appear simple and straightforward to an amateur. 

I, therefore, while being guided by a simple principal that two pairs of hands are always better than one, assembled a team of like-minded people at Intersoft Eurasia.     The experience and professionalism of each and every member of my team, which consisted of programmers and circuit designers, allowed us to quickly implement the ideas developed in the course of the work on the project. After all, we were working on a device designed to be compatible with 7 operating systems: iOS, Android, WP7, JavaME, BlackBerry, Linux and MacOS.    

As usual, we began our work by writing DO-RA.Soft emulation software needed to test the visual and then technical side of the DORA project on specific devices running some of the most popular operating systems for smartphones. Later, we moved on to tablets and laptops, and finally to desktop PCs. This way we were able achieve the uniformity of the DORA model in a variety of operating platforms irrespective of individual smartphone, and computers in general, specifics.  

As it happened, the DO-RA was born under a lucky star! We were very quickly recognized as one of their own in the Skolkovo industrial park and became its residents. Then we managed to win our first grant from the Skolkovo Fund for the initial phase of the project. Later, thanks to the support of the Skolkovo technopark, excellent in-depth designs of the prospective DO-RA gadgets for smartphones, clear project history and its potential customer appeal, we staged a veritable PR coup by getting the project to feature in a short film shot by the BBC. The one-reeler, intended for European parliaments, foreign investors and ordinary people interested to know what's going on in Russia, told a story of the DO-RA project, as well as of other Russian innovations and the Skolkovo.    

Today, the DO-RA project is no longer limited to just one country – Russia – given than engineers from Belarus and China have also been involved in the design and making of the device, with some advisory assistance regarding various aspects of its development and future use coming from Japan. This means that the DO-RA project is truly international!

In summary, the design documentation for the project, which is based on Russian patents and development solutions that comply with international standards and technical regulations, was primarily prepared by the Belarusian PROMVAD, the largest design center in Eastern Europe.  It's made in two languages, English and Russian. PROMVAD has also produced its own ergonomic version of the DO-RA case specifically for the iPhone 4 and 4s.

The first compact, high-quality, factory-made DO-RA prototypes for Apple's phones were manufactured at Altonika, a high-tech manufacturing company located in Zelinograd, Moscow region. The equipment and production methods used by this company, which, incidentally, has been certified as a manufacturing partner by Sisco Systems, the world's leading telecommunications equipment maker, can easily compete with the best Asian and European analogues. It's at this plant where the full-cycle production of the DO-RA components, including final assembly and packaging, will take place. The capacity of the plant is sufficient to produce millions of these devices.

Currently, there are only a few things left to be done on the DO-RA project before it's completely ready.  First, "fine-tune" the universal digital communication protocol DO-RA – smartphone, computer, etc. Second, finish the work on the protocols responsible for communication with the distributing computing cloud of all compatible with DO-RA devices, and make them leave a visual trace route on Google Maps in real time. Third, launch a fully-featured DO-RA user's Personal Account, into which the most important, in our opinion, data on the risk poised by excessive radiation exposure to human organs and systems calculated in accordance with NRB-99/2009 radiation safety standards will be channeled.  Fourth, file for a state certificate for the DO-RA and facilitate the entry thereof into the State Register of Measuring Instruments. And fifth, find a good investor to help promote
 the DO-RA in the CIS, Asia, Europe and America. In other words, worldwide!