CMOS Cosmic Ray Detector (CCRD)
…
Turning every laptop into a cosmic ray detector
Duration of project: December 2025 – March 2026
In collaboration with: University of Tokyo, Muographix, Virtual Muography Institute (VMI)
Muotech is developing a lightweight, cross-platform application that turns an ordinary laptop webcam (using its CMOS sensors) into a sensitive, self-triggered muon detector. This innovation enables a global network of personal detectors by leveraging existing hardware.
The project was announced at the 2025 IEEE NPSS* conference in Japan within a plenary talk delivered by Professor Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka*.
Muon detection today
Muons are cosmic particles produced when high-energy cosmic rays strike Earth’s atmosphere. Even though they are everywhere and pass through most matter harmlessly, we cannot see them. Yet, with the right detector, they show up clearly.. Scientists observe muons by using sensitive instruments (like scintillators or cloud chambers) that register when a muon passes through, triggering a signal.
A new era for muon detection
So we know how we can see muons.
But how can we make them more accessible?
By turning them into something visible to everyone.In today’s world, most people have a personal computer or a laptop with a webcam. If we can transform these webcams into muon detectors, then anyone with a laptop can participate.
Why muon detectors in laptops matter?
Professor Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka, a pioneer in the field of muography, has demonstrated the value of globally traceable muon detection. In his work at the University of Tokyo, prof. Tanaka and colleagues used specialized scintillation detectors in a Muon Positioning System (muPS) to link the time and position of an underground robot to GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) with very high synchronization accuracy, on the order of a few hundred nanoseconds offset from UTC.
Those experiments currently use expensive, dedicated detectors. What Muotech aims to do is enable standard laptops to serve as muPS receivers. That shift is essential for scaling this technology: making muon-based positioning accessible, affordable, and distributed worldwide.
Muons for positioning and navigation
The basic principle is based on time-of-flight measurement: when cosmic muons travel through the atmosphere and pass through detectors, we can measure precisely when they hit a reference detector (e.g., above ground) and then when they reach a receiver detector (e.g., underground or in a building). By comparing these times, we can calculate distances.
In the University of Tokyo’s experiments, this method was applied for real-time synchronization and positioning, both underground and underwater.
By using multiple detectors, it becomes possible to triangulate a receiver’s position very accurately. The goal is to replicate this capability using laptop-based detectors, making muon-based navigation accessible to everyone.
What's there beyond technology?
This project is not just about advancing technology. It invites anyone with a laptop to become a scientist.
All that is required is a computer with a webcam and Muotech software. By joining the network, individuals contribute to a global citizen-science effort: detecting muons, collecting data, and helping to build a broader picture of cosmic activity.
We let people everywhere contribute to fundamental science.
*2025 IEEE NPSS. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) is a technical society within IEEE that focuses on nuclear science, radiation instrumentation, particle accelerators, fusion, and related fields.
* Prof. Tanaka is a physicist at the University of Tokyo and a leading figure in muography. He invented the muometric positioning system (muPS), and later a wireless version (MuWNS), which allows precise navigation underground, underwater, or inside buildings by using cosmic-ray muons. His work is widely recognized—including by TIME magazine, which named MuWNS one of its Best Inventions in 2023.