BeagleBoard.org unleashes Cape Plug-in Board Design Contest

The three winners of the contest will each be awarded a $1,000 cash prize, BeagleBone tools and the chance to have their original cape plug-in board design manufactured and sold through CircuitCo Electronics. These expansion boards, creatively called capes, allow hobbyists and makers to quickly and easily enhance BeagleBone's capabilities with cameras, LCD touch screens, motor controls, battery power and more.

Today, thousands of designers, makers, hobbyists and engineers have adopted BeagleBone for its one-of-a-kind functionality as a credit-card-sized Linux computer that connects with the Internet and runs software such as Android 4.0 and Ubuntu. With plenty of I/O and processing power for real-time analysis provided by the Sitara AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 processor from Texas Instruments, the cape plug-in boards help developers differentiate products and accelerate time to market.

BeagleBone Cape Plug-in Board Design Contest guidelines

Contest participants will have until Dec. 31, 2012, to submit an original cape design. Some of the requirements include:
-Providing a schematic.
-Designing a cape with bill of materials not exceeding $60 if building 500 boards.
-Recording a video describing the cape idea and uploading it to YouTube.

On Jan. 7, 2013, a listing of all the submitted entries that meet the minimum requirements stated on Beagleboard.org/CapeContest will be published. A judging panel led by BeagleBoard.org, TI and CircuitCo will determine the three contest winners. The online community can show their support via Google+ and Facebook Likes. Winners will be announced Jan. 14, 2013. Sponsors include TI, CircuitCo, Mouser, Total Phase and Adafruit.

BeagleBone has already inspired many BeagleBoard.org community members to create innovative technologies such as underwater robots, weather stations and security systems, said Jason Kridner, community advocate, BeagleBoard.org enthusiast and employee of TI. Our goal with this contest is to continue to cultivate creativity and help hobbyists, developers and students worldwide transform their BeagleBones to fun and practical projects such as the BeagleBone Mustache Cam and 3D printers.