福岛反思：个人辐射探测仪的市场前景

辐射是一种闻不到也看不到的东西，除非你手上有盖革计数器(Geiger counter)，不然也“听”不到它；但这并不能阻止日本民众──大概是这些日子以来全世界最具辐射意识的一群人──试图找出一种可“嗅出”辐射的方法。 在上周于日本横滨举行的嵌入式技术研讨会(Embedded Technology conference)上，就有不少平价的个人用辐射监测设备展出。其中一位自己经营设计工作室(Imaoca Engineering Office)的硬件工程师今冈(Michihiro Imaoka)，开发出一种自制的、命名为“Imaocande”的盖革计数器，能与Android智能手机连结，让一般人可将自行量测到的辐射数据上传到网络“云端”，与大众分享。 为了制作该款手持式盖革计数器，今冈采用了透过eBay购买、俄罗斯军方流出的二手盖革米勒管(Geiger-Mueller tube)；其研发成果的特色在于开发了一个透过音讯接口与Android手机连结的系统。藉由智能手机已经具备的GPS、CPU与无线连结等功能，就能将“Imaocande”所量测到的辐射信息(所测得的水准值、时间与经纬度等) “推”到网络上；这些推特资料还能利用其它软件标记成一个辐射量观测地图。

照片中的今冈将一小包从福岛取得的辐射土壤移近自制盖革计数器，并聆听计数器所收集到的音讯脉冲g5nesmc

今冈正透过在日本举办一系列讲座，分享如何制作“Imaocande”盖革计数器的相关信息：“我想现在全日本已经有接近100套Imaocande。”在被问到这种东拼西凑而成的盖革计数器之准确度是否可信的问题时，他则表示：“这套设备主要是提供一种平价的个人设备，让一般民众可以去感受所在之处是否有辐射。” 今冈补充指出，以这种个人盖革计数器所收集的信息，能与日本气象厅所公布的官方数计资料相比对：“这会有助于改善所收集资料的可靠度。最重要的是，民众能藉由这样的设备自己收集信息，而不是只能依靠政府机关或是大企业(如东京电力公司)提供信息。”他估计，“Imaocande”所需的物料清单(BoM)成本不到5,000日圆(约65美元)，其中最贵的零件是盖革米勒管，价格约50美元。 另外在这场嵌入式技术大会上，还有一家来自福岛的嵌入式系统与软件开发商CA Limited，也展示了数款个人用辐射监测装置；这些装置能以不同的技术与PC或是智能手机连结，包括蓝牙、以太网络、USB等等，发出音讯脉冲或是显示在彩色LCD上。

日本福岛厂商CA Limited所开发的各种个人用盖革计数器g5nesmc

CA总裁寺协(Katsuhiko Terawaki )，也是那些系统的研发者，亲自在该公司摊位上用内涵辐射土壤(收集自他的家乡，距离福岛第一核电厂不到65公里处)的小包裹示范操作其系统；他不讳言地指出，他觉得日本政府与整个社会一直坚持着“辐射安全性”的谬论，迄今仍是如此。寺协表示，不久前举行的东日本女子长途接力赛(Ekiden)，刻意让参赛者通过福岛市的辐射热区：“这完全是个愚蠢的行动。” 在3月底，寺协撤离了位于山形(Yamagata，临近福岛)的老家，但他仍通勤到位于福岛的公司上班；他坦承：“一开始，我不敢告诉别人我弃守了福岛的老家；但最近我已经能直言不讳。虽然我无法强迫所有人撤离，但我不再犹豫表达自己的看法。” 寺协指出，现有的大型独立式辐射监测系统──例如其它两家福岛企业Kaine与NB所开发的系统──是配备了太阳能发电板以及大型的LED显示器，以每小时微希(micro-Sieverts per hour)为单位显示辐射量；该类设备可安装在特定公共场所，成本约100万日圆(1万3,000美元)，但就只能监测那个特定区域的辐射量。但包括今冈与寺协都认为，有一些微小的辐射热区，会是这种公用辐射监测设备在过去忽略、未来也不会发现的。 因此寺协表示：“人们需要自己的辐射监测系统。”他并诉说自己的经验：就在今年3月15日(也就是311大地震后4天)，他曾在家里听到自己一年前买的一台盖革计数器，以一分钟60次的频率哔哔叫个不停。 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文： Personal Geiger counter, anyone?，by Junko Yoshida 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载

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{pagination} Personal Geiger counter, anyone? Junko Yoshida Editor's note: To add context to the following story, please read "Forget ‘Occupy Wall Street,’ time to ‘Abandon Fukushima.’" YOKOHAMA – Radiation is something you cannot smell or see. Unless you have your own Geiger counter, you can’t hear it, either. But that isn’t stopping the Japanese — probably the most radiation-conscious people in the world these days — from figuring out a way to “sniff it out.” So, inevitably, Japan’s Embedded Technology conference here this week offered a variety of affordable personal radiation monitoring devices. Michihiro Imaoka, a hardware designer running his own design house called Imaoca Engineering Office, has devised a home-made personal Geiger counter, called “Imaocande,” connected with an Android-based smartphone. It’s designed to crowd-source and tweet the collected Geiger-data to the cloud. For its handheld personal Geiger counter, Imaoka’s company is using a second-hand Geiger-Mueller tube, bought on eBay from Red Army surplus in Russia. The real meat of his development lies in creating a system to connect it to an Android smartphone via the audio interface. By using GPS, CPU and connectivity functions already available in the smartphone, it’s possible to “tweet” the radiation data (detected level, time and longitude/latitude) collected by the Imaocande. The tweeted data can then be shared with masses, once it is mapped into a radiation map using another piece of software. Michihiro Imaoka listens to audio pulse generated by his personal Geiger counter as he brings closer to the device a small packet of radiated soil he brought back from Fukushima Imaoka has been sharing the information on how to build the Imaocande by offering classes throughout Japan. “I think that there are close to 100 units of Imaocande out there.” Asked if the accuracy of a patchwork Geiger counter might be a concern, Imaoka said, “This is meant to be an affordable personal device, allowing people to sense whether where they stand now is radioactive.” Imaoka, however, added that one can correlate data gathered by such personal Geiger counters with information released by the Japan Space Weather Information Center, using Cloud services. “It can help improve the reliability of the collected data.” Imaoka stressed, “What’s important here is that this can offer consumers a means of gathering information without being solely dependent upon the government or big businesses [like Tokyo Electric Power Co.]” Imaoka estimated the bill of materials for Imaocande is less than 5,000 yen ($65). “The most expensive part is a Geiger-Mueller tube – which is about $50.” In a more conventional (corporate) vein, CA Limited, a Fukushima-based embedded system and software development company, showed off several models of personal radiation monitoring systems featuring different connectivity technologies at the Embedded Technology show. Connectivity used between the company’s personal Geiger counter and a PC and/or a smartphone ranges from Bluetooth, Ethernet, USB to pulse audio and color LCD. A variety of personal Geiger counters developed by CA Limited, a Fukushima-based company Katsuhiko Terawaki, CA’s president, developed the system. In his company’s booth, he demonstrated his systems by using a packet of radiated soil (which he collected from his home, located within 65 kilometers of the now-infamous Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant). Terawaki did not mince words about how he feels Japanese government and Japanese society has maintained a fallacy of “radiation safety” – even to this date. Terasaki cited last weekend’s East Japan Women’s “Ekiden,” a long-distance relay running race that required female athletes to run through the radiation hot zone in Fukushima city. Terasaki called the event “nothing but an act of lunacy.” At the end of March, Terasaki himself evacuated from his home to Yamagata, a nearby prefecture. But he commutes to his company, still based in Fukushima. He acknowledged, “At first, I was afraid to tell other people that I abandoned my home in Fukushima. But lately, I’ve been straight with them. While I can’t force people to evacuate, I no longer hesitate to express my own opinion.” Terasaki pointed out that there are large, standalone radiation monitoring systems – such as one developed by two other Fukushima-based companies, Kaine and NR. Equipped with a solar panel to generate power and a large LED display to show the radiation level in micro-Sieverts per hour, these systems can be installed in public designated locations and cost about a million yen ($13,000). But such systems monitor certain public spaces only. Both Imaoka and Terasaki believe that there are a number of micro hotspots, previously gone unnoticed or not likely to be discovered in the future by such public radiation monitoring equipment. Terasaki said, “People want their own personal radiation monitoring system.” He was speaking from experience, recalling March 15th (four days after the tsunami) when he heard, inside his house, a Geiger counter he had bought years ago, pulsing and beeping at a rate of 60 beeps a minute.