Development of a Radiation Detecting Rover System

In this paper, an advanced radiation detecting rover system operated by a microcontroller is developed. It is well known that radiation related disasters can devastate a region by preventing humans from safely staying in these areas for long periods of time. Therefore, the use of unmanned rovers can help people recover information from inside these areas. The developed radiation detecting rover system contains a microcontroller, a rover, a Geiger counter, a camera, an LCD screen, and Xbee modems. The rover can travel through highly radiated areas via remote control while detecting radiation, returning information on radiation levels, and observing what is located in the area. At the same time, an Arduino microcontroller operates the rover in order to maneuver and analyze information received by the video camera and the Geiger counter. In addition to developing and testing the system, the research methodology and design is summarized and future improvements are discussed.