Miniaturized radiation monitor - MIRAM
Earlier this year, a new project has started in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). The miniaturized radiation monitor, or “MIRAM” for short, is a project with huge potential to further build our reputation with ESA. We are also collaborating with the company ADVACAM s.r.o., a spin-off company of IEAP which specializes in radiation sensors technology.
So what it this project about? The main goal of the project is to create, as the name suggests, miniaturized radiation monitors. Keep in mind that, the miniaturization is one of the biggest challenges and key points of the project. The purpose is to create monitors small enough so that they can fit into multiple places on commercial satellites in Earth’s orbit, as well as powerful enough so that they can accurately monitor the radiation around said satellites. The monitors have to fit specific requirements as requested from ESA, to name a few: mass under 150g, low power dissipation under 1W, as well as reasonably low price. In order to achieve the goal, we have a team of experienced people determined to work hard on this project. Many people from IEAP, a total of 13 IEAP members, are involved in MIRAM. There are also 8 members from ADVACAM s.r.o. and 4 members from ESA.
A full working plan has been created, which includes 13 work packages, split into 32 months, which will ensure smooth transition from start to finish. The project has started officially at the very beginning of this year, on the 1st of January 2018. At the end of the first year, the design of the prototype will be completed, this is a crucial point for the project as much of the testing and simulations go hand in hand with construction of the design. At the end of the second year, we will have 4 prototypes at our hands. The third and final year of the project will be dedicated to validation of the prototypes as well as irradiation testing and overall finishing touches of the project.
Currently, MIRAM is running very well according to the proposed schedule. As of April 2018, we have had several internal meetings, which are held monthly and have proven immensely useful over the course of the project. The official working part of the project has been kicked off on January 25th with the Kick-Off meeting in presence of ESA members as well as both IEAP and ADVACAM teams. On March 21st, the first progress meeting has been held, which considerably strengthened our resolve.
Link to MIRAM webpage: https://artes.esa.int/projects/miram
Link to ESA webpage: https://www.esa.int/ESA
Link to ADVACAM webpage: http://www.advacam.com/