Wi-Fi-connected radiation measurement system by small-scale solar energy harvesting

An environmental radiation detection system was developed using a low-power radiation-sensing module, IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) connection module, solar controller and battery. The data from the module were sent by Wi-Fi HTTP(S) clients operation, then collected by MySQL server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor uploading code as shown in Fig.1. The operation of the system was periodic (sleep and wakeup strategies), controlled by a real-time clock to achieve an average power consumption of 10 mW. The system also measured the voltage of the Li-ion battery and the temperature to check the system´s condition. The system operates by small-scale solar energy harvesting with a 3-W solar panel and 2000-mAh Li-ion battery. The uploaded data on MySQL server are downloaded by web browser. Free sensor visualizing services are also used by the system. These visualizations and the log data help users check for hot spots in a contaminated area and to understand the environmental radiation level in a garden, forest, etc.