Arduino design contest opens for entries

30th August 2017

Mick Elliott

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The latest Arduino design contest is being supported by RS Components (RS) with high-quality RS Pro test-bench products, specifically an RS Pro oscilloscope and an RS Pro soldering station, among the range of competition prizes available. Entitled ‘Give your project a voice with Sigfox’, the initial stage of the Arduino competition involves engineers, makers and electronics enthusiasts coming up with innovative ideas for projects based on the Sigfox LPWAN (low-power wide-area network) connectivity standard for the IoT (Internet of Things).

The deadline to submit an idea, via the Arduino Project Hub, is 15 September 2017.

Shortly after this date, the entrants submitting the best ideas – the top 30, chosen by the Arduino organisation – will receive a coupon for the Arduino MKR FOX 1200, plus a two-year subscription to Sigfox services.

The MKR FOX 1200 is a small, yet powerful board that combines Sigfox connectivity with the functionality of the Genuino Zero board, which integrates Atmel’s SAMD21 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ based microcontroller.

The board will enable entrants to proceed to the next stage of the competition – the more detailed project design phase – and use of the MKR FOX 1200 will enable their projects to be fully connected and tested.

However, coupons for the boards will only be sent if entrants are based in countries covered by the Sigfox network.

Project submissions based around the MKR FOX 1200 board will need to include: a detailed description of the project; high-quality images or potentially video demonstrations; clear instructions; the bill-of-materials and schematics; source code, ideally written on the Arduino Web Editor; and CAD files, if applicable.

The deadline to submit completed projects is 15 November 2017.

Those engineers and makers who are already owners of the Arduino MKR FOX 1200 can enter the project design stage of the competition immediately.

The winners of the competition will be announced by 25 November 2017.

First prize for the best project is a trip to the Sigfox headquarters in Toulouse, France, along with the RS Pro oscilloscope and the RS Pro soldering station, as well as a Seeed Studio Grove Starter Kit for mbed development.

Second place will receive the oscilloscope, soldering station and the starter kit, and the top-ten best projects will receive the starter kit.

“RS is delighted once again to be collaborating with Arduino and sponsoring this exciting competition based on Sigfox connectivity for the IoT,” said Massimiliano Rottoli, Head of Brand Creative, RS Pro at RS. “The wide range of RS Pro products, including equipment such as test and measurement devices and workbench tools, deliver both the high quality and value that engineers have come to expect from RS and the RS Pro brand.”