USB-based radiation monitor.pdfVIP

V. Drndarevi}, N. Jevti}, R. Djuri}: USB-Based Radiation Monitor 73 USB-BASED RA DI A TION MON I TOR by 1 1 2 Vujo DRNDAREVI] , Nenad JEVTI] , and Radivoje DJURI] Received on July 10, 2006; accepted in revised form on August 3, 2006 The Universal Serial Bus has become a dominant interface for the connection of stan- dard peripheral devices to a PC computer. This paper analyzes the possibilities of USB bus ap pli ca tions in the field of mea sure ment and en vi ron men tal mon i tor ing. As a re- sult, a gamma ra di a tion mon i tor con sist ing of an USB-based uni ver sal pe riph eral de- vice and a gamma probe with a GM counter, has been designed. For the interfacing monitor with the powerful and easy to use LabVIEW software package, an instrument driver as a set of virtual instruments has been developed. The proposed monitor is a flexible instrument which can be used for laboratory measurements, as an environ- mental radiation monitor or for training purposes. Connected to the laptop computer, the mon i tor be comes a por ta ble in stru ment suit able for field mea sure ments. Ba sic mea sure ments and func tion al ity prop er ties of the ra di a tion mon i tor are pre sented here. Key words: radiation monitor, USB bus, gamma ray, GM tube, LabVIEW IN TRO DUC TION The USB bus was initially designed to connect