Scientists add yet another way of using drones. Irradiated places such as Fukushima offer a way to use drones which will be extremely useful by default. Avoiding radiation is the best was to survive and so unmanned aerial vehicles are being developed at Bristol University, these can then give us the data that we would normally have to obtain in person or while using much slower land robots.
The UAV customized for radiation detection is the only one of its kind in UK. The project is called RISER which is an abbreviation of Remote Intelligent Survey Equipment for Radiation). The RISER is a project supported by many other institutions, including the University of Bristol.
The UAS has been tested on live radiation at National Physical Laboratory. During these tests the technology was meant to prove its worth and it did. The test was run in the mode of automated flight, the copter was pre-programmed to follow a path while mapping the area and detecting radiation. The UAV then revisited the places where a previously set-up radiation sources were placed and investigated the areas in greater detail.
Dr Tom Richardson, Senior Lecture in Flight Dynamics and Control in the University's Department of Aerospace Engineering said that:
“For many radiation survey applications, the environments under investigation are complex and often within enclosed structures or buildings, so standard GPS based positioning and control is not suitable for unmanned aircraft system control. The RISER project clearly demonstrates a potential route for UAS control system development and their use within these types of potentially hazardous environments.”
This is why the Blue Bear Systems Research collaborated with the University's Department of Aerospace Engineering, they needed to create a positioning system which would suffice in the complicated conditions that the UAV is meant to face.
Source: http://www.uasvision.com/2013/10/10/first-flight-for-radiation-detector-uas-at-bristol-university/
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Příspěvek UAV Monitors Radiation pochází z MENSURO