| dc.description.abstract | In this work a compact radiation monitor prototype has been developed. The present device and its technology will directly contribute towards the CPT-SCOPE project, a Norwegian-German student project developing a radiation monitor for space application.
The present design utilises an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which provides a low-power and small-form factor solution. Such system is required for small satellites and CubeSats. The development of the device has been carried out in multiple design steps.
A functioning radiation monitor prototype has been developed, implemented and tested. First measurements of cosmic ray background, beta particle and low-energetic gamma ray sources verify its functionality.
This marks a major milestone towards a compact radiation monitor for nanosatellites. While this work deals with a technology demonstrator, it directly contributes to the CPT-SCOPE project.
The finished CPT-SCOPE instrument and its flight aboard BEXUS 20 in October 2015 will be the next milestone. In the future this should lead towards CPT-SCOPE 2.0, a CubeSat-ready compact radiation monitor.
The project demonstrated the usability of COTS components in hybrid with specialised, radiation-hard integrated circuits for radiation detection. This approach allows for rapid and inexpensive developments for small satellite and CubeSat instrumentation. | |
