Exploratory Data Analysis: Gamma Spectroscopy in Python (Part 2)

part, I did an exploratory information evaluation of the gamma spectroscopy information. We have been in a position to see that utilizing a contemporary scintillation detector, we can’t solely see that the article is radioactive. With a gamma spectrum, we’re additionally in a position to inform why it’s radioactive and how much isotopes the article comprises.

On this half, we’ll go additional, and I’ll present learn how to make and prepare a machine studying mannequin for detecting radioactive components.

Earlier than we start, an necessary warning. All information information collected for this text can be found on Kaggle, and readers can prepare and check their ML fashions with out having actual {hardware}. If you wish to check actual objects, do it at your personal danger. I did my checks with sources that may be legally discovered and bought, like classic uranium glass or outdated watches with radium dial paint. Please test your native legal guidelines and browse security tips about dealing with radioactive supplies. Sources used on this check are usually not critically harmful, however nonetheless should be dealt with with care!

Now, let’s get began! I’ll present learn how to gather the info, prepare the mannequin, and run it utilizing a Radiacode scintillation detector. For these readers who should not have Radiacode {hardware}, the hyperlink to the datasource is added on the finish of the article.

Methodology

This text will include a number of components:

1. I’ll briefly clarify what a gamma spectrum is and the way we will use it.
2. We’ll gather the info for our ML mannequin. I’ll present the code for amassing the spectra utilizing the Radiacode machine.
3. We’ll prepare the mannequin and management its accuracy.
4. Lastly, I’ll make an HTMX-based net frontend for the mannequin, and we’ll see the ends in real-time.

Let’s get into it!

1. Gamma Spectrum

It is a brief recap of the first part, and for extra particulars, I extremely advocate studying it first.

Why is the gamma spectrum so fascinating? Some objects round us will be barely radioactive. Its sources range from the naturally occurring radiation of granite within the buildings to the radium in some classic watches or the thorium in fashionable thoriated tungsten rods. A Geiger counter solely reveals us the variety of radioactive particles that have been detected. A scintillation detector reveals us not solely the variety of particles but in addition their energies. It is a essential distinction—it turned out that totally different radioactive supplies emit gamma rays with totally different energies, and every materials has its personal “footprint.”

As a primary instance, I purchased this pendant within the Chinese language store:

It was marketed as an “ion-generating,” so I already suspected that the pendant might be barely radioactive (an ionizing radiation, as its title suggests, can produce ions). Certainly, as we will see on the meter display, its radioactivity degree is about 1,20 µSv/h, which is 12 occasions greater than the background (0,1 µSv/h). It isn’t loopy excessive and corresponding to a degree on an airplane through the flight, however it’s nonetheless statistically vital 😉

Nevertheless, by solely observing the worth, we can’t inform why the article is radioactive. A gamma spectrum will present us what isotopes are inside the article:

On this instance, the pendant comprises thorium-232, and a thorium decay chain produces radium and actinium. As we will see on the graph, the actinium-228 peak is nicely seen on the spectrum.

As a second instance, let’s say now we have discovered this piece of rock:

That is uraninite, a mineral that comprises quite a lot of uranium dioxide. Such specimens will be present in some areas of Germany, the Czech Republic, or the US. If we get it within the mineral store, it most likely has a label on it. However within the subject, it’s often not the case 😉 With a gamma spectrum, we will see a picture like this:

By evaluating the peaks with identified isotopes, we will inform that the rock comprises uranium, however, for instance, not thorium.

A bodily rationalization of the gamma spectrum can be fascinating. As we will see on the graph beneath, gamma rays are literally photons and belong to the identical spectrum as seen mild:

When some folks suppose that radioactive objects are glowing in the dead of night, it’s truly true! Each radioactive materials is certainly glowing with its personal distinctive “shade,” however within the very far and non-visible to the human eye a part of the spectrum.

A second fascinating factor is that solely 10-20 years in the past, gamma-spectroscopy was out there just for establishments and large labs (in the most effective case, some used crystals with unknown high quality might be discovered on eBay). These days, as a result of developments in electronics, a scintillation detector will be bought for the value of a mid-range smartphone.

Now, let’s return to our mission. As we will see from the 2 examples above, the spectra of various objects are totally different. Let’s create a machine studying mannequin that may routinely detect numerous components.

2. Accumulating the Knowledge

As readers can guess, our first problem is amassing the samples. I’m not a nuclear establishment, and I don’t have entry to the calibrated check sources like cesium or strontium. Nevertheless, for our process, it isn’t required, and a few supplies will be legally discovered and bought. For instance, americium remains to be utilized in smoke detectors; radium was utilized in portray the watch dials earlier than the Nineteen Sixties; uranium was broadly utilized in glass manufacturing earlier than the Nineteen Fifties, and thoriated tungsten rods are nonetheless produced immediately and will be bought from Amazon. Even the pure uranium ore will be bought within the mineral outlets; nonetheless, it requires a bit extra security precautions. And a benefit of gamma-spectroscopy is that we don’t have to disassemble or break the gadgets, and the method is mostly secure.

The second problem is amassing the info. For those who work in e-commerce, then it’s often not an issue, and each SQL request will return thousands and thousands of information. Alas, within the “actual world,” it may be far more difficult. Particularly if you wish to make a database of the radioactive supplies. In our case, amassing each spectrum requires 10-20 minutes. For each check object, it might be good to have not less than 10 information. As we will see, the method can take hours, and having thousands and thousands of information shouldn’t be a sensible possibility.

For getting the spectrum information, I will likely be utilizing a Radiacode 103G scintillation detector and an open-source radiacode library.

A gamma spectrum will be exported in XML format utilizing the official Radiacode Android app, however the handbook course of is simply too sluggish and tedious. As an alternative, I created a Python script that collects the spectra utilizing random time intervals:

from radiacode import RadiaCode, RawData, Spectrum


def read_forever(rc: RadiaCode):
    """ Learn information from the machine """
    whereas True:
        interval_sec = random.randint(10*60, 30*60)
        read_spectrum(rc, interval_sec)

def read_spectrum(rc: RadiaCode, interval: int):
    """ Learn and save spectrum """
    rc.spectrum_reset()

    # Learn
    dt = datetime.datetime.now()
    filename = dt.strftime("spectrum-%YpercentmpercentdpercentHpercentMpercentS.json")
    logging.debug(f"Making spectrum for {interval // 60} min")

    # Wait
    t_start = time.monotonic()
    whereas time.monotonic() - t_start < interval:
        show_device_data(rc)
        time.sleep(0.4)

    # Save
    spectrum: Spectrum = rc.spectrum()
    spectrum_save(spectrum, filename)

def show_device_data(rc: RadiaCode):
    """ Get CPS (counts per second) values """
    information = rc.data_buf()
    for file in information:
        if isinstance(file, RawData):
            log_str = f"CPS: {int(file.count_rate)}"
            logging.debug(log_str)

def spectrum_save(spectrum: Spectrum, filename: str):
    """ Save  spectrum information to log """
    duration_sec = spectrum.period.total_seconds()
    information = {
            "a0": spectrum.a0,
            "a1": spectrum.a1,
            "a2": spectrum.a2,
            "counts": spectrum.counts,
            "period": duration_sec,
    }
    with open(filename, "w") as f_out:
        json.dump(information, f_out, indent=4)
        logging.debug(f"File '{filename}' saved")


rc = RadiaCode()
app.read_forever()

Some error dealing with is omitted right here for readability causes. A hyperlink to the total supply code will be discovered on the finish of the article.

As we will see, I randomly choose the time between 10 and half-hour, gather the gamma spectrum information, and reserve it to a JSON file. Now, I solely want to position a Radiacode detector close to the article and go away the script working for a number of hours. Consequently, 10-20 JSON information will likely be saved. I additionally have to repeat the method for each pattern I’ve. As a ultimate output, 100-200 information will be collected. It’s nonetheless not thousands and thousands, however as we’ll see, it’s sufficient for our process.

3. Coaching the Mannequin

When the info from the earlier step is prepared, we will begin coaching the mannequin. As a reminder, all information can be found on Kaggle, and readers are welcome to make their very own fashions as nicely.

First, let’s preprocess the info and extract the options we need to use.

3.1 Knowledge Load

When the info is collected, we must always have some spectrum information saved in JSON format. A person file seems like this:

{
    "a0": 24.524023056030273,
    "a1": 2.2699732780456543,
    "a2": 0.0004327862989157,
    "counts": [ 48, 52, , ..., 0, 35],
    "period": 1364.0
}

Right here, the “counts” array is the precise spectrum information. Totally different detectors could have totally different codecs; a Radiacode returns the info within the type of a 1024-channel array. Calibration constants [a0, a1, a2] permit us to transform the channel quantity into the power in keV (kiloelectronvolt).

First, let’s make a way to load the spectrum from a file:

@dataclass
class Spectrum:
    """ Radiation spectrum measurement information """

    period: int
    a0: float
    a1: float
    a2: float
    counts: listing[int]

    def channel_to_energy(self, ch: int) -> float:
        """ Convert channel quantity to the power degree """
        return self.a0 + self.a1 * ch + self.a2 * ch**2

    def energy_to_channel(self, e: float):
        """ Convert power to the channel quantity (inverse E = a0 + a1*C + a2 C^2) """
        c = self.a0 - e
        return int(
            (np.sqrt(self.a1**2 - 4 * self.a2 * c) - self.a1) / (2 * self.a2)
        )


def load_spectrum_json(filename: str) -> Spectrum:
    """ Load spectrum from a json file """
    with open(filename) as f_in:
        information = json.load(f_in)
        return Spectrum(
            a0=information["a0"], a1=information["a1"], a2=information["a2"],
            counts=information["counts"],
            period=int(information["duration"]),
        )

Now, we will draw it with Matplotlib:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def draw_simple_spectrum(spectrum: Spectrum, title: Elective[str] = None):
    """ Draw spectrum obtained from the Radiacode """
    fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(12, 3))
    ax.spines["top"].set_color("lightgray")
    ax.spines["right"].set_color("lightgray")
    counts = spectrum.counts
    power = [spectrum.channel_to_energy(x) for x in range(len(counts))]
    # Bars
    ax.bar(power, counts, width=3.0, label="Counts")
    # X values
    ticks_x = [
       spectrum.channel_to_energy(ch) for ch in range(0, len(counts), len(counts) // 20)
    ]
    labels_x = [f"{ch:.1f}" for ch in ticks_x]
    ax.set_xticks(ticks_x, labels=labels_x)
    ax.set_xlim(power[0], power[-1])
    plt.ylim(0, None)
    title_str = "Gamma-spectrum" if title is None else title
    ax.set_title(title_str)
    ax.set_xlabel("Power, keV")
    plt.legend()
    fig.tight_layout()


sp = load_spectrum_json("thorium-20250617012217.json")
draw_simple_spectrum(sp)

The output seems like this:

What can we see right here?

As was talked about earlier than, from a normal Geiger counter, we will get solely the variety of detected particles. It tells us if the article is radioactive or not, however no more. From a scintillation detector, we will get the variety of particles grouped by their energies, which is virtually a ready-to-use histogram! A radioactive decay itself is random, so the longer the gathering time, the “smoother” the graph.

3.2 Knowledge Rework

3.2.1 Normalization
Let’s have a look at the spectrum once more:

Right here, the info was collected for about 10 minutes, and the vertical axis comprises the variety of detected particles. This method has a easy drawback: the variety of particles shouldn’t be a relentless. It relies on each the gathering time and the “power” of the supply. It implies that we could not have 600 particles like on this graph, however 60 or 6000. We will additionally see that the info is a bit noisy. That is particularly seen with a “weak” supply and a brief assortment time.

To get rid of these points, I made a decision to make use of a two-step pipeline. First, I utilized the Savitzky-Golay filter to cut back the noise:

from scipy.sign import savgol_filter

def smooth_data(information: np.array) -> np.array:
    """ Apply 1D smoothing filter to the info array """
    window_size = 10
    data_out = savgol_filter(
        information,
        window_length=window_size,
        polyorder=2,
    )
    return np.clip(data_out, a_min=0, a_max=None)

It’s particularly helpful for spectra with brief assortment occasions, the place the peaks are usually not so nicely seen.

Second, I normalized a NumPy array to 0..1 by merely dividing its values by the utmost.

A ultimate “normalize” methodology seems like this:

def normalize(spectrum: Spectrum) -> Spectrum:
    """ Normalize information to the vertical vary of 0..1 """
    # Easy information
    counts = np.array(spectrum.counts).astype(np.float64)
    counts = smooth_data(counts)

    # Normalize
    val_norm = counts.max()
    return Spectrum(
        period=spectrum.period,
        a0 = spectrum.a0,
        a1 = spectrum.a1,
        a2 = spectrum.a2,
        counts = counts/val_norm
    )

Consequently, spectra from totally different sources now have the same scale:

As we will additionally see, the distinction between the 2 samples is sort of seen.

3.2.2 Knowledge Augmentation
Technically, we’re prepared to coach the mannequin. Nevertheless, as we noticed within the “Accumulating the info” half, the dataset is fairly small – I’ll have solely 100-200 information in complete. The answer is to enhance the info by including extra artificial samples.

As a easy method, I made a decision so as to add some noise to the unique spectra. However how a lot noise ought to we add? I chosen a 680 keV channel as a reference worth, as a result of this half has no fascinating isotopes. Then I added a noise with 50% of the amplitude of that channel. A np.clip name ensures that the info values are usually not detrimental (for the quantity of detected particles, it doesn’t make bodily sense).

def add_noise(spectrum: Spectrum) -> Spectrum:
    """ Add random noise to the spectrum """
    counts = np.array(spectrum.counts)    
    ch_empty = spectrum.energy_to_channel(680.0)
    val_norm = counts[ch_empty]

    ampl = val_norm / 2
    noise = np.random.regular(0, ampl, counts.form)
    data_out = np.clip(counts + noise, min=0)
    return Spectrum(
        period=spectrum.period,
        a0 = spectrum.a0,
        a1 = spectrum.a1,
        a2 = spectrum.a2,
        counts = data_out
    )

sp = load_spectrum_json("thorium-20250617012217.json")
sp = add_noise(normalize(sp))
draw_simple_spectrum(sp, filename)

The output seems like this:

As we will see, the noise degree shouldn’t be that large, so it doesn’t distort the peaks. On the identical time, it provides some variety to the info.

A extra refined method will also be used. For instance, some radioactive minerals include thorium, uranium, or potassium in several proportions. It could be potential to mix spectra of present samples to get some “new” ones.

3.2.3 Function Extraction
Technically, we will use all 1024 values “as is” as an enter for our ML mannequin. Nevertheless, this method has two issues:

• First, it’s redundant – we’re principally solely particularly isotopes. For instance, on the final graph, there’s a good seen peak at 238 keV, which belongs to Lead-212, and a much less seen peak at 338 keV, which belongs to Actinium-228.
• Second, it’s device-specific. I need a mannequin to be common. Utilizing solely the energies of the chosen isotopes as enter permits us to make use of any gamma spectrometer mannequin.

Lastly, I created this listing of isotopes:

isotopes = [ 
    # Americium
    ("Am-241", 59.5),
    # Potassium
    ("K-40", 1460.0),
    # Radium
    ("Ra-226", 186.2),
    ("Pb-214", 242.0),
    ("Pb-214", 295.2),
    ("Pb-214", 351.9),
    ("Bi-214", 609.3),
    ("Bi-214", 1120.3),
    ("Bi-214", 1764.5),
    # Thorium
    ("Pb-212", 238.6),
    ("Ac-228", 338.2),
    ("TI-208", 583.2),
    ("AC-228", 911.2),
    ("AC-228", 969.0),
    # Uranium
    ("Th-234", 63.3),
    ("Th-231", 84.2),
    ("Th-234", 92.4),
    ("Th-234", 92.8),
    ("U-235", 143.8),
    ("U-235", 185.7),
    ("U-235", 205.3),
    ("Pa-234m", 766.4),
    ("Pa-234m", 1000.9),
]

def isotopes_save(filename: str):
    """ Save isotopes listing to a file """
    with open(filename, "w") as f_out:
        json.dump(isotopes, f_out)

Solely spectrum values for these isotopes will likely be used as enter for the mannequin. I additionally created a way to save lots of a listing into the JSON file – will probably be used to load the mannequin later. Some isotopes, like Uranium-235, could also be current in minuscule quantities and never be virtually detectable. Readers are welcome to enhance the listing on their very own.

Now, let’s create a way that converts a Radiacode spectrum to a listing of options:

def get_features(spectrum: Spectrum, isotopes: Record) -> np.array:
    """ Extract options from the spectrum """
    energies = [energy for _, energy in isotopes]
    information = [spectrum.counts[spectrum.energy_to_channel(energy)] for power in energies]
    return np.array(information)

Virtually, we transformed the listing of 1024 values to a NumPy array with solely 23 components, which is an efficient dimension discount!

3.3 Coaching

Lastly, we’re prepared to coach the ML mannequin.

First, let’s mix all information into one dataset. Virtually, it relies on the samples you’ve got and should seem like this:

all_files = [
    ("Americium", glob.glob("../data/train/americium*.json")),
    ("Radium", glob.glob("../data/train/radium*.json")),
    ("Thorium", glob.glob("../data/train/thorium*.json")),
    ("Uranium Glass", glob.glob("../data/train/uraniumGlass*.json")),
    ("Uranium Glaze", glob.glob("../data/train/uraniumGlaze*.json")),
    ("Uraninite", glob.glob("../data/train/uraninite*.json")),
    ("Background", glob.glob("../data/train/background*.json")),
]

def prepare_data(augmentation: int) -> Tuple[np.array, np.array]:
    """ Put together information for coaching """
    x, y = [], []
    for title, information in all_files:
        for filename in information:
            print(f"Processing {filename}...")
            sp = normalize(load_spectrum(filename))
            for _ in vary(augmentation):
                sp_out = add_noise(sp)
                x.append(get_features(sp_out, isotopes))
                y.append(title)

    return np.array(x), np.array(y)


X_train, y_train = prepare_data(augmentation=10)

As we will see, our y-values include names like “Americium.” I’ll use a LabelEncoder to transform them into numeric values:

from sklearn.preprocessing import LabelEncoder


le = LabelEncoder()
le.match(y_train)
y_train = le.remodel(y_train)

print("X_train:", X_train.form)
#> (1900, 23)

print("y_train:", y_train.form)
#> (1900,)

I made a decision to make use of an open-source XGBoost mannequin, which is predicated on gradient tree boosting (original paper link). I can even use a GridSearchCV to seek out optimum parameters:

from xgboost import XGBClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import GridSearchCV


bst = XGBClassifier(n_estimators=10, max_depth=2, learning_rate=1)
clf = GridSearchCV(
    bst,
    {
        "max_depth": [1, 2, 3, 4],
        "n_estimators": vary(2, 20),
        "learning_rate": [0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 10.0]
    },
    verbose=1,
    n_jobs=1,
    cv=3,
)
clf.match(X_train, y_train)

print("best_score:", clf.best_score_)
#> best_score: 0.99474

print("best_params:", clf.best_params_)
#> best_params: {'learning_rate': 1.0, 'max_depth': 1, 'n_estimators': 9}

Final however not least, I would like to save lots of the educated mannequin:

isotopes_save("../fashions/V1/isotopes.json")
bst.save_model("../fashions/V1/XGBClassifier.json")
np.save("../fashions/V1/LabelEncoder.npy", le.classes_)

Clearly, we want not solely the mannequin itself but in addition the listing of isotopes and labels. If we modify one thing, the info won’t match anymore, and the mannequin will produce rubbish, so mannequin versioning is our pal!

To confirm the outcomes, I would like information that the mannequin didn’t “see” earlier than. I already collected a number of XML information utilizing the Radiacode Android app, and only for enjoyable, I made a decision to make use of them for testing.

First, I created a way to load the info:

import xmltodict

def load_spectrum_xml(file_path: str) -> Spectrum:
    """ Load the spectrum from a Radiacode Android app file """
    with open(file_path) as f_in:
        doc = xmltodict.parse(f_in.learn())
        outcome = doc["ResultDataFile"]["ResultDataList"]["ResultData"]
        spectrum = outcome["EnergySpectrum"]
        cal = spectrum["EnergyCalibration"]["Coefficients"]["Coefficient"]
        a0, a1, a2 = float(cal[0]), float(cal[1]), float(cal[2])
        period = int(spectrum["MeasurementTime"])
        information = spectrum["Spectrum"]["DataPoint"]
        return Spectrum(
            period=period,
            a0=a0, a1=a1, a2=a2,
            counts=[int(x) for x in data],
        )

It has the identical spectra values that I used within the JSON information, with some further information that’s not required for our process.

Virtually, that is an instance of information assortment. This Victorian creamer from the Eighteen Nineties is 130 years outdated, and belief me, you can not get this information by utilizing an SQL request 🙂

This uranium glass is barely radioactive (the background degree is about 0,08 µSv/h), nevertheless it’s at a secure degree and can’t produce any hurt.

The check code itself is easy:

# Load mannequin
bst = XGBClassifier()
bst.load_model("../fashions/V1/XGBClassifier.json")
isotopes = isotopes_load("../fashions/V1/isotopes.json")
le = LabelEncoder()
le.classes_ = np.load("../fashions/V1/LabelEncoder.npy")

# Load information
test_data = [
    ["../data/test/background1.xml", "../data/test/background2.xml"],
    ["../data/test/thorium1.xml", "../data/test/thorium2.xml"],
    ["../data/test/uraniumGlass1.xml", "../data/test/uraniumGlass2.xml"],
    ...
]

# Predict
for group in test_data:
    information = []
    for filename in group:
        spectrum = load_spectrum(filename)
        options = get_features(normalize(spectrum), isotopes)
        information.append(options)

    X_test = np.array(information)
    preds = bst.predict(X_test)
    preds = le.inverse_transform(preds)
    print(preds)

#> ['Background' 'Background']
#> ['Thorium' 'Thorium']
#> ['Uranium Glass' 'Uranium Glass']
#> ...

Right here, I additionally grouped the values from totally different samples and used batch prediction.

As we will see, all outcomes are appropriate. I used to be additionally going to make a confusion matrix, however not less than for my comparatively small variety of samples, all objects have been detected correctly.

4. Testing

As a ultimate a part of this text, let’s use the mannequin in real-time with a Radiacode machine.

The code is sort of the identical as at first of the article, so I’ll present solely the essential components. Utilizing the radiacode library, I connect with the machine, learn the spectra as soon as per minute, and use these values to foretell the isotopes:

from radiacode import RadiaCode, RealTimeData, Spectrum
import logging


le = LabelEncoder()
le.classes_ = np.load("../fashions/V1/LabelEncoder.npy")
isotopes = isotopes_load("../fashions/V1/isotopes.json")
bst = XGBClassifier()
bst.load_model("../fashions/V1/XGBClassifier.json")


def read_spectrum(rc: RadiaCode):
    """ Learn spectrum information """
    spectrum: Spectrum = rc.spectrum()
    logging.debug(f"Spectrum: {spectrum.period} assortment time")
    outcome = predict_spectrum(spectrum)
    logging.debug(f"Predict: {outcome}")

def predict_spectrum(sp: Spectrum) -> str:
    """ Predict the isotope from a spectrum """
    options = get_features(normalize(sp), isotopes)
    preds = bst.predict([features])
    return le.inverse_transform(preds)[0]

def read_cps(rc: RadiaCode):
    """ Learn CPS (counts per second) values """
    information = rc.data_buf()
    for file in information:
        if isinstance(file, RealTimeData):
             logging.debug(f"CPS: {file.count_rate:.2f}")


if __name__ == '__main__':
    logging.basicConfig(
        degree=logging.DEBUG, format="[%(asctime)-15s] %(message)s",
        datefmt="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
    )

    rc = RadiaCode()
    logging.debug(f"ML mannequin loaded")
    fw_version = rc.fw_version()
    logging.debug(f"Machine related:, firmware {fw_version[1]}")
    rc.spectrum_reset()
    whereas True:
        for _ in vary(12):
            read_cps(rc)
            time.sleep(5.0)

        read_spectrum(rc)

Right here, I learn the CPS (counts per second) values from the Radiacode each 5 seconds, simply to ensure that the machine works. Each minute, I learn the spectrum and use it with the mannequin.

Earlier than working the app, I positioned the Radiacode detector close to the article:

This classic watch was made within the Nineteen Fifties, and it has radium paint on the digits. Its radiation degree is ~5 occasions the background, however it’s nonetheless inside a secure degree (and it’s truly 2 occasions decrease than everybody will get in an airplane throughout a flight).

Now, we will run the code and see the ends in real-time:

As we will see, the mannequin’s prediction is appropriate.

Readers who don’t have a Radiacode {hardware} can use uncooked log information to replay the info. The hyperlink is added to the tip of the article.

Conclusion

On this article, I defined the method of making a machine studying mannequin for predicting radioactive isotopes. I additionally examined the mannequin with some radioactive samples that may be legally bought.

I additionally did an interactive HTMX frontend for the mannequin, however this text is already too lengthy. If there’s a public curiosity on this subject, this will likely be printed within the subsequent half.

As for the mannequin itself, there are a number of methods for enchancment:

• Including extra information samples and isotopes. I’m not a nuclear establishment, and my selection (from not solely monetary or authorized views, but in addition contemplating the free area in my condominium) is restricted. Readers who’ve entry to different isotopes and minerals are welcome to share their information, and I’ll attempt to add it to the mannequin.
• Including extra options. On this mannequin, I normalized all spectra, and it really works nicely. Nevertheless, on this approach, we lose the details about the radioactivity degree of the objects. For instance, the uranium glass has a a lot decrease radiation degree in comparison with the uranium ore. To differentiate these objects extra successfully, we will add the radioactivity degree as an extra mannequin function.
• Testing different mannequin sorts. It seems promising to make use of a vector search to seek out the closest embeddings. It will also be extra interpretable, and the mannequin can present a number of closest isotopes. A library like FAISS will be helpful for that. One other approach is to make use of a deep studying mannequin, which will also be fascinating to check.

On this article, I used a Radiacode radiation detector. It’s a good machine that permits making some fascinating experiments (disclaimer: I don’t have any revenue or different business curiosity from its gross sales). For these readers who don’t have a Radiacode {hardware}, all collected information is freely available on Kaggle.

The complete supply code for this text is out there on my Patreon page. This assist helps me to purchase gear or electronics for future checks. And readers are additionally welcome to attach by way of LinkedIn, the place I periodically publish smaller posts that aren’t large enough for a full article.

Thanks for studying.