Projects

Personal Light Dosimeters

These devices are designed to record the amount of light a participant is exposed to, and breaks that exposure down into 6 colors. Each dosimeter has a battery pack mounted on a belt clip, and a set of glasses frames with the light sensor attached.

I started with the sensor we planned to use, the ASM AS7262, which is a 6 channel spectral light sensor. From there I looked at various platforms including Arduino, Raspberry Pi and a few others. After settling on using an Arduino MKR Zero, I developed a prototype circuit and firmware, and tested to see how well the system worked under different loads and in different environments. A key concern was performance and resolution in low lighting < 5 lx. Once I was confident the system was ready, I produced 6 more dosimeters as well as a glasses frame mount for the sensor, and an enclosure for the Arduino, battery and control circuit.

These dosimeters have now been used for over three years in two of our center's largest projects along with several smaller projects.