“GeigerCam: Measuring Radioactivity with Webcams” by Auzinger, Habel, Musilek, Hainz and Wimmer
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Title:
- GeigerCam: Measuring Radioactivity with Webcams
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Abstract:
Measuring radioactivity is almost exclusively a professional task in the realms of science, industry and defense, but recent events spur the interest in low-cost consumer detection devices. We show that by using image processing techniques, a current, only slightly modified, off-the-shelf HD webcam can be used to measure α, β as well as γ radiation. In contrast to dedicated measurement devices such as Geiger counters, our framework can classify the type of radiation and can differentiate between various kinds of radioactive materials. By optically insulating the camera’s imaging sensor, recordings at extreme exposure and gain values are possible, and the partly very faint signals caused by the particle impacts are separated from the thermal and device background noise and analyzed in real-time.