element14, along with partners EnOcean, Tektronix, the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation, has selected 15 finalists in the “Forget Me Not” design challenge, a global design competition which will encourage participating engineers to develop pioneering applications in the field of home monitoring and automation. The finalists will receive a core kit featuring popular products: EnOcean Pi, EnOcean Sensor Kit and WiPi, an oscilloscope courtesy of Tektronix and the new Raspberry Pi B+.
“We were amazed by the submissions we received, which came in greater numbers and from a wider variety of geographies than any other challenge element14 has ever done,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community, element14. “It was incredibly difficult narrowing the list of participants to 15, but with the help of our great supplier partners we were able to do it and are excited to see the projects come together over the next several weeks.”
Competitors will have until October 24, 2014, to complete their projects using their product bundle, which includes Eclipse SmartHome, an open-source software framework that helps accelerate the development of home automation solutions. A budget of $500 per competitor is also being granted to acquire additional materials.
The finalists hail from countries including New Zealand, India, Finland, Italy, Australia, Germany, Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their proposed projects include everything from a smart home security system to technology allowing the user to feed their pet remotely and tell them if they’ve left laundry in the washing machine.
Element14 will also provide five participants with Raspberry Pi B+ units, EnOcean kits and sensors to execute their proposed builds.
There will be three prizes. The grand prize winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Electronica 2014 in Munich, Germany, as well as a product bundle valued at more than $20,000. The bundle will include a Tektronix MDO3104 oscilloscope with a built-in spectrum analyzer, a full license for EnOcean Link middleware and an EnOcean EDK 350 Developer Kit. The runner up will receive a bundle including a Rapiro DIY Robot Kit and an EnOcean EDK 350 Developer Kit. Finally, the people’s choice winner, who will be chosen by a vote on the award-winning element14 design community, will receive an EnOcean EDK 350 Developer Kit.
“It is exciting to see the interest and participation in the element14 design challenge,” explained Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation. “It confirms our belief that innovation in the Internet of Things will be led by developers and makers. We are proud to have Eclipse SmartHome being part of the element14 challenge that is promoting innovation in the home automation industry.”
“For this challenge, several partners are teaming up to drive innovation for the Internet of Things,” said John Corbett, Sales Director UK, EnOcean GmbH. “We are really excited to support the element14 Community’s creativity with our batteryless wireless sensors and to see the competitors bring their ideas for a connected world to life. Besides an innovative project and kudos for the winner, the challenge will primarily prove that technologies already exist today to make the Internet of Things happen. It just needs collaboration on one platform to bring all of them together.”
“As engineers, we have an innate passion for solving problems in new and innovative ways. The Forget Me Not design challenge is clearly tapping into engineering and design creativity around the world and we are looking forward to seeing the resulting project builds,” said Gina Bonini, Director Americas Marketing for Tektronix. “There is a big gap between coming up with a great concept and actually being able to design and produce end products cost-effectively. What makes this competition special is that we are putting tools like mixed domain oscilloscopes, Raspberry PI boards and EnOcean sensors in designers’ hands so they can bridge from concept to reality.”
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