Comparison of Arduino Nano and Due processors for time-based data acquisition for low-cost mobile radiation detection system

Abstract

Arduino is an open-source hardware and software platform that consists of a single-board microcontroller (MCU). Arduino offers low-cost and low-power operation, which allows the design of a mobile battery-operated device and offers easy programming with a wide range of compatible sensors. Hence, Arduino has recently been widely used as an inexpensive solution to build educational and evaluation tools. Here, we combined Arduino processors with custom-developed time-based signal readout electronics for a low-cost mobile radiation detection system; the system utilizes a time-over-threshold technique that provides compact electronics. Arduino processors were used for chip configuration, serial communication, and real-time data acquisition. In this study, we tested two commercial Arduino processors, Nano and Due, in various signal environments and compared their performances. The developed Arduino-based data acquisition system was combined with a 48 × 48 × 20 mm3 GAGG:Ce (Gd3Al2Ga3O12:Ce) scintillation crystal and an 8 × 8 array of 6 × 6 mm2 SiPM. The developed low-cost mobile gamma detection system achieved 9.35% energy resolution at 662 keV and was able to acquire events up to 600 Hz using an Arduino Nano.