Fallout, Vault-Tec Scientist Dosimeter

[Engelnicht]

Re: Fallout, VaultTec Scientist Dosimeter

If you ever get a chance to get a licence of Keyshot, it makes doing these types of renderings quite easy. (Once you know how to tweak all the materials)

Thanks, my wife appreciates your GIF.

You know Jensen Ackles and his wife DO have a brewery here in Austin... Also, can I be your lab assistant? I'm good at lifting heavy things and soldering, and I can grow a hump if necessary.

 

[Rogermaximus1]

Start a run! I’m in

 

[zapwizard]

I am slowly getting my electronics work area up and running.

I couldn't resist booting up the MSP430 and loading the DRV8848 example code. The good news is that the Ti motor controller will work! The motor can be moved to any position, and when the motor controller is put to sleep the needle stays in position. It takes very little current to operate the air-core motor.

The above GIF is just a super simple test, I will have to brush up on my coding skills to make it so that I can control it exactly how I want.

 

[zapwizard]

I have been spending a lot of time working on the electronics and the software for the Dosimeter. I now have the gauge motor fully programmable, I can set it to any angle I want. However, it will be software limited to only work in the 0-90 degree arc for this project.

I also worked way too long on getting that "Geiger Counter Sound" out of the speaker. You see old-school geiger counters literally just wired the output click of the actual geiger tube, through an amplifying transistor and into a speaker. This means the distinct "click" of a geiger counter is just the coil of a speaker being pulled inwards and let go. The actual quality of that sound is heavily dependent on the size of the speaker selected. The very small speaker I am using isn't capable of producing the same sound when just popped using short signal. It tried a lot of different methods, but how I arrived on the final sound was to open the .wav file from a geiger counter that I liked. I then analyzed it the spectrum inside Adobe Soundbooth. This revealed the frequencies that make up the sound. I then output three series of tones in very quick succession to emulate the sound. The end result sounds like a much more authentic "click" sound.

In the video above the clicks are generated randomly in time, and the needle moves to a random position. This is just my setup for testing. Once I have all the control software in place, I can start working on making it into an actual geiger counter.

 

[Kokanee]

Very slick, this whole project is just amazing.

 

[Lunajammer]

 

[zapwizard]

I figured out a great way to make the simulated geiger counter mode work: Magnets! I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. Here is how it will work:

An analog Hall-Effect sensor will be wired to the MSP430. This sensor can detect the relative amount of magnetic force near it. I have the MSP430 read the value, and then it randomly generate a "hit" based on how much magnetic force is detected. The more magnetic force, the more hits occur over time. Each hit makes the speaker click.

The needle on the gauge is programmed to react accordingly. It roughly follows the minimum to maximum magnetic force.
The end result is that you can take any magnet, and move it near the Dosimeter and it will react just as if it had a highly radioactive object placed near it.

The effect is very convincing if you use a magnet that isn't recognisable as such. Hmm.... I need to go dig up that chunk of magnetite I have in my childhood rock collection.

Note: It will still be able to work as a genuine geiger counter. If you have it in the genuine geiger counter mode, and it clicks as much as in the video above, your probably in danger.

One issue is that the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad dev board comes with a processor with 16KB of memory. Well right now I have just 8 bytes of that memory left. So to that end I have ordered a MSP430FR5969 LaunchPad instead. It comes with 64KB of memory, along with more I/O to work with. The processor will go from 22 pins to 48 pins, but the physical board space won't be much different.

 

[zapwizard]

Last week I took a trip to Albuquerque,. While there I visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
I suggest any fan of Fallout hit up the museum on you way through town.

-----------------------------

It was a pretty cool museum for a Fallout fan. Lots and lots of radiation related displays of course. Above is a mockup of Fan Man and Little Boy. As well as full size jets and bombers out back.

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One display I found particularly interesting is the Davy Crockett. An actual jeep portable short-range nuke! The bomb itself was about twice the size of a watermelon.
I guess the FanMan Mini-Nuke launcher in Fallout isn't that far fetched.

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The radiation related games/kits/toys they had there all show a familiar ascetic.

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They also had many Geiger counters on display. This one is where the gauge on the Dosimeter comes from.

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This is one of the first ever commercial Geiger counters ever made.

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On the trip my wife and I hit up a bunch of antique shops. I was looking for a case which I could store the Dosimeter and related hardware. I stumbled upon this device. Which I only bought for the case. Only after I got it home and opened it up did I discover that it is a Geiger counter! I had one expert tell me that it is early and handmade, but didn't match any Geiger counter he had seen before. Judging by the very early VM-13 glass tube, and the construction this may even be a prototype of the above first commercial model. Look how similar the layout is.

Of course now I can't take it apart for the case. I will live on my shelf and I will someday reverse engineer the circuit.

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Otherwise, I have been working on the Dosimeter a ton. Only I don't have anything dramatic to show yet. You would be surprised how much software it takes to make this.

Changes:
-Upgraded to the MSP4305969, with more memory and I/O
-Magnetically simulated Geiger counter updated to react to both north/south magnets.
-Geiger counter can now be calibrated.
-The 555 Timer based frequency generator for the high voltage boost circuit replaced with PWM output from MSP430 (Much smaller circuit)
-Both the above changes mean you can use a different Geiger tube if you wish for more sensitivity. The LND712 for example is great, and would fit into the metal chamber. But it is expensive and hard to find.
-Battery voltage monitor added. Move the front switch to the middle position and the meter will show the battery charge level on the gauge readout. Along with in-operation warnings/shutdown.
-Both magnetic and true radiation hits make the needle move, with a even decay rate that drops the needle.
-Backlight circuit prototyped and proven working.
-Sleep mode added
-Lots of internal 3D CAD tweaks to make the backlight showded, assembly better, and more PCB space.
-Added a USB-to-UART circuit to allow re-programming via USB.

 

[GhostMinion]

Looks like you had a good trip there!

Yeah, I thought you probably already knew about the Davy Crockett gun! What's cool was it's intended use. The idea wasn't to blow **** up, rather to drop a small nuke on supply roads, making them impassable due to the radiation.


I have know idea if it was ever actually used in combat, though I don't believe so. Overall the idea is pretty stupid when you think about it.


There are many little things from the World Wars that found there way in Fallout. The frag mines in Fallout 3 are modeled after real Russian Anti Tank mines, for instance. Another cool pic I found was this one, which you can imagine the makers of New Vegas probably saw when making the NCR Riot Armor:

 

[PhoenixVader]

This is quite cool. For those on a budget I would suggest something along this line.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2758295

A nice replica to start with and easily modified.

Just my two cents worth.

I look forward to seeing the finished item.

thomas

 

[zapwizard]

Once the project is complete I will release the 3D file, BOM and other design details for anyone interested. You could build one fully 3D printed or as a hybrid like I am doing.
That one on thingiverse is a really rough model. I don't know how well it will 3D print with the large faceted faces.

Short update:
I would say I am 75% done with the software. All that is left is to make the software recover from a low battery elegantly. Right now it sort of just shuts down and you have to reset it after charging.

The schematic is in a similar state. I will have my electrical engineer friend review it one more time for any glaring errors. I have hand-built about half of the circuit on a breadboard. Lots of the chips are small and require adapter boards for prototype use. I also have an issue with the backlight circuit causing the motors to buzz no matter how many capacitors I use... I got to fix that before final build.

 

[zapwizard]

Today I caught uranium fever... I mean... I got my uranium ore!

I build the PiGi circuit on Sunday, except I had nothing to test it with. The circuit would pulse or click about twice a minute. (1.86p/m on average) I guess that is a good sign, my home isn't radioactive.

Without anything actually radioactive I couldn't test it for sure. So I set out to get my own chunk of radioactive material. I purchased the uranium ore from United Nuclear. I also got a lodestone, a natural magnet. It is supposed to be a safe amount of uranium...but I will still be storing it in the corner of the garage.

The uranium ore proves the geiger counter circuit is working! Currently the circuit is the PiGi native design, I will be tweaking the design and replacing the 555 timer with a signal from the microcontroller.

The lodestone is not a very strong magnet. Through software recalibrate the hall effect sensor to make it more sensitive. That way the Dosimeter can be demonstrated without having to place a radioactive rock in your pocket. Other than the color of the rock, you would be hard pressed to know which is when unless you knew exactly what sensor mode the Dosimeter was in.

 

[Strode]

My dude. I have to tell you. This is a fantastic project and your attention to detail is enviable. If I may suggest one correction, the spelling of exclusively is wrong on your manual

 

[GilliGen]

This is just... WOW. Soo much attention to details, i love every one of your works.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[zapwizard]

@ Strode, thanks. Spelling isn't my strong suit. So far the manual is up to 35 pages long. I will have to be sure to spell check each page.
GilliGen. Thanks.

 

[zapwizard]

Look what I got of eBay. A Civil Defence V-700 Geiger counter. In near perfect condition! The plastic on the gauge isn't even cracked or yellowed. The electronics and battery terminals are clean. Even the foam rubber on the headset hasn't turned to dust. No bad considering it is at least 55 years old.

I tested it by using my Uranium Ore sample, and was getting between 100 and 200 counts per minute. This unit was even calibrated 9 years ago. Good enough for me as I will be using it to calibrate my Dosimeter. I also wanted to get my hands on one of these to get a feel for how a real analog geiger counter acts (the way the needle moves).

Note that this shows radiation in milirads per hour, where the artwork on the Vault-Tec Dosimeter is based on the more common CD V-715 which reads in rads per hour. So in order to make the Dosimeter actually react to small amounts of radiation some fudging with the gauge read out will need to occur.

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Speaking of calibration, that is what I worked on this past week. I added a boot-up magnetic calibration mode to the Dosimeter. One issue I was experiencing with my tests was that no two magnets are the same. They all have different levels of power. I have some that max the sensor out, and I have my Lodestone which is a very weak magnet. So I needed a way to can calibrate the meter to match the power of the specific magnet you have.

To calibrate the magnet, you power up the Dosimeter with the front switch in the middle position. The unit will light up and beep a few times. Each time the no-magnet present dead-zone finds a new min/max setting it beeps.

After you don't get any beeps for a while you flip the switch, and the move your magnet near the sensor. It records the min and max power of that magnet, beeping different for north/south.

Flip the switch one more time and you can test the magnet by watching the gauge go up and down. Flip the switch again to go into regular mode and it will treat that magnet like a piece of radioactive material.

Just for those interested, below is just the calibration part of the software. The software is currently over 900 lines, not as simple as you might expect. And I haven't even added the ability to save the calibration setting yet.

void MagnetCalibration()
{
  long MagnetValue = 0;
  MINDEADZONE = 4000; //Temp Min Value
  MAXDEADZONE = 0; //Temp max Value

  BackLightState(ON);                  //turn the backlight on
  tone(SPEAKER,800,350); //Beep to acknowledge calibration mode
  tone(SPEAKER,1000,150); //Beep to acknowledge calibration mode
  Serial.println("Magnetic Calibration: Remove any nearby magnets!");  //Debug
  Serial.println("Magnetic Calibration: After no more beeps: Flip switch to the up position to calibrate Min/Max Flux");  //Debug
 
  while (ReadToggle() == 'M') //Calibrate with no magnet nearby
  {
    digitalWrite(G_LED, HIGH);
    delay(150);
    digitalWrite(G_LED, LOW);
    for (int i=0; i< SAMPLES ; i++) MagnetValue += analogRead(MAGNET); //Get an averaged reading
    MagnetValue /= SAMPLES ;
    //Serial.print(MagnetValue);Serial.print(" = N,");Serial.print(MAXVALUE);Serial.print(" = MAX,");Serial.print(MINVALUE);Serial.println(" = MIN,");  //Debug
    float Angle = mapf(MagnetValue,MINVALUE,MAXVALUE,MINANGLE,MAXANGLE); //Determine angle
    setMeterPosition(Angle); //Set angle of needle to middle position
    if (MagnetValue > MAXDEADZONE)
    {
      MAXDEADZONE = MagnetValue; //Set a new low position
      tone(SPEAKER,500,150);
      Serial.print(MAXDEADZONE);Serial.println(" = New Max Deadzone Value");  //Debug
    }
    if (MagnetValue < MINDEADZONE)
    {
      MINDEADZONE = MagnetValue; //Set a new low position
      tone(SPEAKER,2000,150);
      Serial.print(MINDEADZONE);Serial.println(" = New Min Deadzone Value");  //Debug
    }
  }

  MAXDEADZONE = MAXDEADZONE + NEUTRAL_DEADZONE; //Pad min and max
  MINDEADZONE = MINDEADZONE - NEUTRAL_DEADZONE; //Pad min and max
  Serial.print(MAXDEADZONE);Serial.println(" = Final Max Deadzone Value");  //Debug
  Serial.print(MINDEADZONE);Serial.println(" = Final Min Deadzone Value");  //Debug
  
  if (ReadToggle() == 'U') //Calibrate min and max magnetic value
  {
    Serial.print(MagnetValue);Serial.println(" = Ready to calibrate Min/Max magnetic flux");  //Debug
    Serial.print(MagnetValue);Serial.println(" = Place magnet near sensor, and flip over to set min/max");  //Debug
    MINVALUE = MINDEADZONE; //Temp Min Value
    MAXVALUE = MAXDEADZONE; //Temp Max Value
  
    tone(SPEAKER,1000,150); //Beep to acknowledge calibration mode
    tone(SPEAKER,2000,150); //Beep to acknowledge calibration mode
  }
  
  while (ReadToggle() == 'U') //Calibrate min and max magnetic value
  {
    digitalWrite(R_LED, HIGH);
    delay(150);
    digitalWrite(R_LED, LOW);
    for (int i=0; i< SAMPLES ; i++) MagnetValue += analogRead(MAGNET); //Get an averaged reading
    MagnetValue /= SAMPLES ;
    float Angle = mapf(MagnetValue,MINVALUE,MAXVALUE,MINANGLE,MAXANGLE); //Determine angle
    if (MagnetValue > MAXVALUE)
    {
      MAXVALUE = MagnetValue; //Set a new low position
      Serial.print(MagnetValue);Serial.println(" = New Max Magnet Value");  //Debug
      tone(SPEAKER,2000,150);
    }
    if (MagnetValue < MINVALUE)
    {
      MINVALUE = MagnetValue; //Set a new low position
      Serial.print(MagnetValue);Serial.println(" = New Min Magnet Value");  //Debug
      tone(SPEAKER,500,150);
    }
  }

  BackLightState(OFF);                  //turn the backlight Off
  tone(SPEAKER,2000,150); //Beep to acknowledge calibration mode
  tone(SPEAKER,1000,150); //Beep to acknowledge calibration mode
  BackLightState(ON);                  //turn the backlight on

  while (ReadToggle() == 'M') //Test calibration
  {
    digitalWrite(G_LED, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(R_LED, HIGH);
    delay(150);
    digitalWrite(G_LED, LOW);
    digitalWrite(R_LED, LOW);
    Serial.print(MagnetValue);Serial.println(" = Magnetic Calibration test mode");  //Debug
    for (int i=0; i< SAMPLES ; i++) MagnetValue += analogRead(MAGNET); //Get an averaged reading
    MagnetValue /= SAMPLES ;
    float Angle = mapf(MagnetValue,MINVALUE,MAXVALUE,MINANGLE,MAXANGLE); //Determine angle
    setMeterPosition(Angle); //Set angle of needle to middle position
    if (MagnetValue >= MAXVALUE - 30)
    {
      tone(SPEAKER,2000,150);
    }
    if (MagnetValue <= MINVALUE + 30)
    {
      tone(SPEAKER,500,150);
    }
  }
  digitalWrite(G_LED, LOW);
  digitalWrite(R_LED, LOW);
}

 

[Jamesluke32]

Was this ever completed 100% and were/are the 3d files available for printing?

 

[zapwizard]

So I am actually still working on this on and off.

A few months back I upgraded the geiger tube to a proper LND 712 tube. This makes it sensitive to alpha, beta and gamma radiation. It is much more sensitive than the tiny tube I had previously. The you can also visually see the hits though the mica window at the end of the tube. It sort of looks like a dim neon lamp.

I created a new 3D printed part to hold the geiger tube inside the aluminum tube on the side. The part also holds the speaker. A hole drilled in the end cap will allow the beta window to be exposed.

I also updated the 3D print for the gauge bracket, such that I have more PCB space, as I was running out of space while laying out the PCB.

Both of those new parts should arrive this week. I will be posting a video update on those parts soon.

Software wise the only road block I have is trying to store the calibration settings in the flash memory. I may just ignore this roadblock though, as the MSP430 I am using is so energy efficient that it can probably run in standby for months on the battery, so I may just alter the programming to hold it in standby.

If you want to view the current 3D files they are here. The .STL files are designed for SLS 3D printing, not FDM (at home), so your mileage may vary.
As I use a mix of 3D printed and real parts, there are other items that are added to the design besides the 3D printed parts, I don't have a BOM put together for those items yet. I don't plan on doing that until I consider the design locked down 100%.

Electronics wise I have about 50% of the circuits on breadboard, and still have to test a few items like the battery charger, 10V boost regulator, and a few other small circuits.

 

[Jamesluke32]

SLS compatible is exactly what I'm looking for and I'll be starting to print it up right after this is typed out. Right now I'm just hoping to put together a static prop, but I would very much want to put together a working model once you have it all worked out. I'm a teacher and my classroom is all Vault-Tec themed so I'll be using this as part of my daily outfit for my distance learning videos.

Thanks for all the hard work.

 

[zapwizard]

Sorry, despite having a FDM 3D printer right outside my office, I just don't like the quality of the parts and the amount of post processing required. So I only use it for rough prototypes.

So far the 3D printed part files are just those parts I have actually printed. The 3D print files doesn't have any of the metal or glass items, however the jig to make the metal tube is there. But it is a lot of work to make and package together a BOM and list of design files, I don't do this until the end of the project because it constantly changes as I work on the project.

It is far enough along that I probably could make a design that could be mostly 3D printed as a static model. I may work on that sometime and release it like I did with the prop holotape.

/Edit: I did post a list of the early parts I used, most of the real parts on there: Fallout, Vault-Tec Scientist Dosimeter