CELL PHONE SENSOR SYSTEM TO PREVENT NUCLEAR TERRORISM

CELL PHONE SENSOR SYSTEM TO PREVENT NUCLEAR TERRORISM

b.obuliraj

b.e-cse

ABSTRACT

Cell phones today also function as Internet computers that can report their locations and data to their towers in real time. The cell phone sensor system would use the same process to send an extra signal to a home station. The software can uncover information from this data and evaluate the levels of radiation that detected from the source of threat. The sensors don’t really perform the detection task individually. The collective action of the sensors, combined with the software analysis, detects the source. The system would transmit signals to a data center, and the data center would transmit information to authorities without alerting the person carrying the phone. The signal grows weaker with increasing distance from the source, and the software is able to use the data from many cell phones to pinpoint the location of the radiation source. In addition to detecting radiological dirty bombs designed to scatter hazardous radioactive materials over an area, the system also could be used to detect nuclear weapons, which create a nuclear chain reaction that causes a powerful explosion. The system also could be used to detect spills of radioactive materials.

INTRODUCTION:

Dirty bombs and other radiological devices that could possibly be used in a terrorist attack will soon be easier to track, locate and possibly diffuse by this cell phone sensor system. The system will use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation to help in preventing terrorist attacks with radiological “dirty bombs” and nuclear weapons because the system could blanket the nation with millions of cell phones equipped with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material as cell phones already contain global positioning locators, the network of phones would serve as a tracking system. A smart phone that can detect radiation may soon be helping the police to find the raw materials for radioactive “dirty bombs” before they are deployed.

CELL PHONE SENSORS:

The cell phone sensor system integrates in a single, low cost device the many and various sensor features required for simultaneous detection of various threats like

Ø  Biological threats

Ø  Chemical threats

Ø  Radiological threats

These threats are identified regardless of location. The ubiquitous nature of cell phones give this system that’s meant to be small, cheap and eventually built into laptops, personal digital assistants and other means. The system was developed by integrating the software with radiation detectors and cell phones. In this system, the phone measures continuously the level of radiation around it and transmits it to a central computer via an always-on Internet connection. The phone will also send time and location information gathered from its GPS unit. When these phones are deployed around the area, they will form a radiation monitoring network dubbed the RadNet. The system uses two main functioning in a cellphone .They are

Ø  Compact Radiation Detector

Ø  Global-Positioning-System Unit

RADIATION DETECTION BY CELL PHONE SENSOR: 

 

A sophisticated radiation sensor, such as a Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) produced by ev Products, and associated electronics that can discriminate between radiation sources can be reduced to a single chip and integrated directly into a cell phone by cell phone

Manufacturers. New-generation gamma-ray sensors and a global-positioning-system (GPS) module are built into a cell phone. The device uses pixelated cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe, often abbreviated CZT) detectors coupled with an ultra-low-power readout with moderate energy resolution. The device requires no cooling and is battery-powered (24 to 48 hours on a single charge). Because the poorer-quality sections of the CZT crystal are left unconnected, we can use less-expensive, commercial-grade detector materials. The material is literally "sliced and diced" from the ingot, with no material selection or individual detector testing required.

                 

Cell phone sensor in radiation detection

When a gamma-ray photon strikes the CZT it knocks a number of electrons out of position, producing a cascade of electron-hole pairs. A voltage applied across the crystal turns these into a current whose strength depends on the energy of the incident photons. This in turn allows the radionuclide that generated the gamma rays - caesium-137 or cobalt-60, for example - to be identified.

The crystal is divided into 64 separate sensing "pixels" in which each pixel acts as a detector on its own. They then simply discard the output from the 10% to 15% of pixels that do not work because of defects. By using four of these crystals in each phone, reasonable sensitivity could be achieved.

CHEMICAL DETECTION USING THE SYSTEM:

In addition to providing a built-in radiation sensor, chemical sensor requirements can also be accommodated, with the best approach being to add to a modified cell phone a standard sensor port (e.g. SDIO) for an interchangeable miniature multi-chemical sensor module that can be replaced, as necessary and adapted for any chemical detection needed.

                                           

                                             

Cell phone sensor in chemical detection

BIOLOGICAL DETECTION BY CELL PHONE SENSOR:

Biological sensor modules can also be used with a sensor port, but such sensors may be costly to use for the immediate future.

A lower cost alternative is to add to the cell phone an RFID reader chip to read remote, disposable wireless RFID sensors.

Such sensors can be for any application (chemical, radiological or biological) but specifically will include low cost disposable biological sensors (immunoassays that are similar to pregnancy tests), as illustrated below for anthrax or any other bioterrorism agent. Disposable printable immunoassays combined with RFID (or RFID electro-immunoassays) can be produced that will detect any pathogen, anywhere.

                                   

            Cell phone sensor in biological detection

RFID READER AND RADIATION SENSOR:

RFID in radiation cell sensor

By combining an RFID reader and a radiation sensor in a cell phone, the need for sophisticated and expensive “high end” detectors is significantly reduced because authentication of suspicious packages can be instantly achieved via the data (e.g. the given expected radiation spectrum or signature) associated with the unique ID of the RFID tag. These data would instantly download into a cell phone from a remote web server, and overlays what the cell phone detects to validate legitimate shipments.

In other words, false positives can be avoided for legitimate medical, scientific or industrial radiological shipments. The only component required (in addition to the phone) would be to mandate that all radiological packages the areas be labeled with disposable wireless RFID tags.

FEATURES OF CELL PHONE SENSOR:

The cell phone would resemble an ordinary cell phone, but would have the following added features and benefits:

Ø   Real time detection, geolocation, and remote validation of radiological threats

Ø   Real time authentication of any package (via low cost RFID tags)

Ø   Real time detection of given chemical threats (depending on the selected module)

Ø  Ability to read either wireless or modular biological sensors

Ø  Instant update, sensor calibration, and RFID validation, anywhere in the world

Ø  Ability to upgrade and adapt to future sensors (sensor modules or RFID sensors)

CONCLUSION:

The combination of a cell phone with built-in radiation sensor, RFID reader chip, and external sensor port provides a new type of low cost, universal cell phone meeting current and future threat detection needs. This device can be manufactured very quickly and the technology can also be deployed within NATO and other countries worldwide seeking a wide area, low cost universal threat detection technology. WEST LAFAYETTE, the Researchers at Purdue University are working with the state of Indiana to develop this system to prevent terrorist attacks with radiological "dirty bombs" and nuclear weapons.

REFERENCES:

Ø  Chris A Pickett et al, Current Applications of the Oak Ridge Sensors for Enhancing Nuclear Safeguards

Ø  P.R. Bennet et al, Multi-Element  Detectors for Gamma Ray Detection

Ø  Back to Eurekalert ! (public release date:22 -Jan -2008) venere@purdue.edu, Purdue university