The REX remote laboratory is currently in trial operation.
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Radiation Experiments Online

Laboratory

The REX (Radiation Experiments) remote laboratory has been in operation at the Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering (FNSPE) of the Czech Technical University in Prague since 2025, when the Department of Dosimetry and Application of Ionizing Radiation received the apparatus for a set of remote experiments in nuclear physics (see Fig.  1). The technical solution is based on the universal ISES (Internet School Experimental Studio) measurement platform and the ISES Remote Lab SDK software toolkit. Prior to its launch at FNSPE, the mechanical assembly of the experiments was upgraded using 3D printing technology. At the same time, a new website was developed to provide project information, study materials, and an interface for remote control of the experiments.

Photograph of the REX remote laboratory apparatus (XY linear stages, GM1 and GM2 detection modules, Am 241 ionizing radiation source in a collimator, absorber plates of various thicknesses and materials, ISES control and data acquisition system, control computer, webcam, desk lamp).
REX remote laboratory apparatus at FNSPE

History and Development of the Project

The original remote experiment focused on the physics of ionizing radiation was created in 2011 as part of the project Remote School Laboratory for the Study of Radioactivity, carried out at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague with the support of the ČEZ Foundation. The principal investigator of the project was doc. RNDr. František Lustig, CSc. Funding from the foundation enabled the acquisition of a complete experimental setup consisting of the GAMAbeta 2007 kit, the ISES measurement system including the ISES Web Control software for remote experiment operation, and a control computer.

The project resulted in three remotely accessible laboratory tasks available around the clock:

A significant contribution to the development of the apparatus was made by Mgr. Pavel Brom, Ph.D., who upgraded it as part of his doctoral research Integrated E-learning in Quantum Physics and Optics. The original analog plotter used in the setup was replaced with a robust solution based on the CS-12 cassette system and digitally controlled stepper motors. In addition, the control software originally relying on Java applets was redesigned using the ISES Remote Lab SDK, built on JavaScript and developed by doc. RNDr. František Lustig, CSc., Mgr. Jiří Dvořák, and Mgr. Pavel Kuriščák.

The operation of the set of remote experiments in the field of nuclear physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University was discontinued in June 2025. The equipment was subsequently transferred to the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Led by Ing. Pavel Novotný, Ph.D., the apparatus was further modernized, and in November 2025, the remote laboratory was relaunched under the new name REX (Radiation Experiments).