Rapid Exploration of Concealed Radiation Sources

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19839
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 63:Environmental analyses and evaluation and related fields
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Tamura Yusuke 東北大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (40515798)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 放射線源推定 / 移動ロボット

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, a method was developed in which a mobile robot equipped with a gamma-ray detector moves around the environment and estimates regions with a high probability of a radiation source’s existence using a Kalman filter. Additionally, detailed measurements were performed in those regions, and an image reconstruction method was developed to accurately estimate the position of radiation source even in the presence of shielding materials by correcting the measurement results while considering the shielding effects of structures. The usefulness of the proposed method was verified through simulations and actual experiments.

Free Research Field

ロボティクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、これまで適切に考慮されていなかった構造物の遮蔽による影響を考慮した逐次近似画像再構成手法を提案した。これにより、事故後の原子力発電所内部や核物質テロ等、目に見えないところに放射線源が存在している場合でも適切にその位置を把握することができるようになり、作業員やその他の人の被曝リスク低減につながると期待される。