Winners of Wireless Power Contest announced

29th March 2016

IDT

Joe Bush

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Integrated Device Technology and Digi-Key Electronics have announced the winners of their contest seeking innovative uses of IDT’s wireless power kits, with top honours going to the developer of a wirelessly charged coffee maker. Er Bharath Ram, of Chennai, India, won first prize for his ‘On the Go Coffee Maker’ and will be rewarded with a Samsung Galaxy Note5 and Samsung Gear S2, each featuring IDT wireless charging semiconductors.

The contest asked electronics experts and tinkerers alike to incorporate wireless charging capabilities into products by using IDT’s 5 W wireless power reference kits. Sponsored by Digi-Key Electronics, the theme of the contest was, ‘Power Without Boundaries’. The contest was hosted at hackster.io, the world’s largest hardware creation community.

Other winning submissions included wireless charging for a K9 mobile sentry, a universal smart home remote, a green energy bag, a pacemaker, and finally, bionic organs. Those innovators will also receive Samsung products powered by IDT wireless power chips.

Ram used the IDT kit, a 5V battery and a few other materials to develop his coffee cup, whose heat is controllable through an Android app. In his submission, Ram noted that integrating wireless charging made his gadget essentially waterproof, an important feature when it came time to wash it.

“We saw a wide range of great ideas from around the globe, mixing fun and very practical applications,” said David Sandys, Digi-Key Director of Technical and Strategic Marketing. “The common thread that ran through them was how easily IDT’s wireless power kits can be integrated into today’s electronics systems.”

“IDT is the leader in providing wireless power semiconductors for top smartphone makers and other global brands, but, as we’ve seen through this contest, electronics developers don’t need a top-tier pedigree to integrate wireless charging into their designs,” said Mario Montana, IDT Vice President and Chief Sales Officer. “IDT’s thanks go out to all the innovators who spent a bit of time with our reference kits and showed the world how easily accessible wireless power capabilities are for today’s designers.”