IoT Without Limits

with Helium
Build IoT solutions with Helium, SparkFun, and Google Cloud IoT!

Total prize pool of $19,000

IoT Without Limits
IoT Without Limits
This contest is over! See all the winning entries. Want more chances to win prizes? Check out our active contests.

Eligibility

Open to individuals who are the older of eighteen (18) years of age or the legal age of majority in their place of residence at the time of entry and are also legal residents of any country outside of Brazil, Quebec, or any country, state, province or territory where the laws of the United States or local law prohibits participating or receiving a prize in the Challenge (including, but not limited to Cuba, Sudan, Iran, North Korea, Syria and any other country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx), and (2) at or above the age of majority in their country, state, and jurisdiction of residence at the time of Submission (each, a “Participant”). Challenge is void outside of the jurisdictions outlined above and where prohibited by law. Participants may not be members of any guild, union or other organization that may prohibit them from participating in this Challenge and that would restrict, require due payment or otherwise have the right to oppose such participant’s participation in this Challenge . Directors, officers, employees, interns, and contractors (“Personnel”) of Sponsor, Hackster, Inc. (“Hackster”), and each of their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective advertising, promotion and public relations agencies, representatives, and agents (collectively, “Challenge Entities”), immediate families members of such Personnel (parents, siblings, children, spouses, and life partners of each) and members of the households of such Personnel (whether related or not) are ineligible to participate in this Challenge

Submission requirements

To submit an entry, a Participant must meet the following content and technical requirements:

  • Participants must create a free Hackster.io account and register as a participant for this contest.

All valid entries must meet each of the following requirements:

  • Each entry must be the contestants’ own original work.
  • Entries cannot have been selected as a winner in any other contest.
  • Contestants must have obtained any and all consents, approvals or licenses required for you to submit your entry.
  • Entries may not include any third-party trademarks (logos, names) or copyrighted materials (music, images, video, recognizable people) unless you have obtained permission to use the materials.
  • Each project must be fully documented on Hackster in accordance with the “project” template.
  • Each final project must be submitted within the projects template.
  • Each final project must include of the following materials: Images, instructions, BOM, schematics, code, CAD of any 3D models or 2D drawings (if any).

To win one of the three prizes identified in the Full Rules, your project must meet all of the following requirements:

  • You must meet the Participant content and technical requirements.
  • Your project must meet the requirements to be a valid entry.
  • Your project must be created using Helium hardware & Google Cloud IoT
  • Your project must be relevant to the theme of the contest.
  • Your final project must be fully documented on Hackster with the project template.
  • Your final project must be submitted using the project template.
  • Your final project documentation must include the following:

a) Images

b) Instructions

c) BOM (Bill of Materials)

d) Schematics

e) Code

f) CAD (if relevant to the project)

Judging criteria

Winners will be selected based on the following criteria for Categories below:

For All Categories (First, Second, Third place)

Submitted entries will be graded on the detail of the provided project write-up, the end-to-end completeness of a connected solution, and engineering on both embedded and cloud application layers of the final product.

  • Demo Video (10 points)
  • Story/Instruction – Show how you created your project, including images, screenshots, and/or video (10 Points)
  • Project documentation including a diagram (10 Points)
  • Code – Include working code with helpful comments (10 Points)
  • Hardware Design (10)
  • Creativity (25 points)
  • Utility (25 points)

Some helpful examples of end-to-end solutions:

1. Agricultural Monitoring with Twilio Wireless and Helium

2. People Counting with Helium, Grid-Eye, and Raspberry Pi

How to enter

To submit your project to the Contest and to be eligible to win a prize (no purchase necessary, no prior entries required):

  • Build and submit your project by July 15th , 2018 at 11:59 PM PT
  • Build your project using Helium hardware & Google Cloud IoT
  • Add a new project by clicking the "+" symbol at the top right side of the screen and follow the submission template.
  • Share detailed instructions with images in the story section.
  • Share the bill of materials.
  • Share the electronics schematics.
  • Share the source code (optionally via Github or Bitbucket).
  • Share the CAD files (if relevant).

To the extent there is any conflict between these Contest Rules and the Full Rules, the Full Rules will control.

Full rules

Official Rules

Please read these rules before entering the IoT Without Limits (the “Challenge”). By submitting an entry, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Helium (“Sponsor”) and the judges, and that you and your entry into the Challenge satisfy all eligibility requirements.

ELIGIBILITY.

Open to individuals who are the older of eighteen (18) years of age or the legal age of majority in their place of residence at the time of entry and are also legal residents of any country outside of Brazil, Quebec, or any country, state, province or territory where the laws of the United States or local law prohibits participating or receiving a prize in the Challenge (including, but not limited to Cuba, Sudan, Iran, North Korea, Syria and any other country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx), and (2) at or above the age of majority in their country, state, and jurisdiction of residence at the time of Submission (each, a “Participant”). Challenge is void outside of the jurisdictions outlined above and where prohibited by law. Participants may not be members of any guild, union or other organization that may prohibit them from participating in this Challenge and that would restrict, require due payment or otherwise have the right to oppose such participant’s participation in this Challenge . Directors, officers, employees, interns, and contractors (“Personnel”) of Sponsor, Hackster, Inc. (“Hackster”), and each of their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective advertising, promotion and public relations agencies, representatives, and agents (collectively, “Challenge Entities”), immediate families members of such Personnel (parents, siblings, children, spouses, and life partners of each) and members of the households of such Personnel (whether related or not) are ineligible to participate in this Challenge .

Participants may participate in the Challenge by themselves or participate as a “Team” consisting of up to three (3) Participants. Each Participant is only permitted to be part of one Team. If a Participant elects to participate on their own they cannot also participate with a Team. Any Participant that is part of more than one (1) Team may be disqualified and his/her corresponding Teams may be disqualified as well at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Only one (1) member of the Team may post a submission on behalf of a Team but all those listed on the registration will be deemed Participants. All prizes and/or prize money will be split evenly among the members of a winning Team, as identified on the online registration. Additionally, all winning Team members will split any and all tax obligations and withholdings that may be applicable dependent on the value of the prize money awarded to each Team member. Each winning Team member will be solely responsible for tax obligations and withholdings solely related to the portion of the prize they receive. Each Participant must be eligible to participate in this Challenge and comply with these Official Rules or the Participant will and the Team associated with any Participant in question may be disqualified. This Challenge is subject to all applicable federal, state, territorial, provincial and local laws. By participating in the Challenge, all Participants unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor which will be final and binding including the Sponsor’s right to verify eligibility, to interpret these Official Rules, and to resolve any disputes relating to this Challenge at any time. Only Participants or Team members may work on their submission, without the influence of any other individuals.

HOW TO ENTER.

Challenge begins at 8:00:01 a.m. (PT) on March 15th and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. (PT) on July 15th, 2018 (the “Submission Period”). To participate, during the Submission Period you must:

1. Go to https://www.hackster.io/ and create a free Hackster.io account.

3. Register for the Challenge by clicking "Register as a participant" on https://www.hackster.io/contests/helium

4. Add a new project by clicking the "+" symbol at the top right side of the screen and follow the submission template.

Each project must be fully documented on Hackster per the “project” template and must be submitted as within the projects template.

All Submissions must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. (PT) on July 15th, 2018. Limit one (1) Submission per Participant/Team throughout the Submission Period. In the event any Participant or Team submits more than one (1) Submission, the last Submission received by Sponsor will be deemed that Participant’s/Team’s Submission. Participants assume all risk of lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or unintelligible Submissions.

Sponsor’s (or its contractor’s) servers and clock shall be deemed the official clock for all phases of the Challenge , and participant’s proof of a submission does not constitute proof of receipt by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for (i) lost, misdirected, late, incomplete, or unintelligible Submissions or for inaccurate Submission information, whether caused by participant or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Challenge, or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of Submissions; or (ii) any printing, production, human or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Challenge.

Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify at any time any Submission containing obscene, offensive, pornographic or sexually explicit material, or libelous, disparaging, infringing or other inappropriate content or subject matter (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion).

CONDITIONS OF SUBMISSION.

Each Participant/Team must follow and meet the following requirements when posting a Submission:

· Submissions are the original work of the Participant/Team or an update to an original work of the Participant/Team;

· Submissions do not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, including but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks or copyrighted material not owned by the Participant/Team, contract and licensing rights, rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights, or any other intellectual property rights; and

· Submissions are not subject to any third party agreements, and that Sponsor will not be required to pay or incur any sums to any person or entity as a result of its ownership, acquisition, use or exploitation of the Submissions or rights therein.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

· Sponsor and Hackster are collecting personal information primarily to process the Submissions and to contact you if necessary, but also to potentially contact you for marketing purposes. If you do not wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, you will be provided with a method to opt-out from future communications. Sponsor will share your information with third parties that have a need to know, such as the judging panel, and by entering, you agree to the sharing of your information with the judging panel and third parties Sponsor retains to assist in administering the Challenge.

PRIZES.

There will be three (3) prizes awarded, one (1) per each award:

1. FIRST Place (10,000 cash prize)

2. SECOND Place (5,000 cash prize)

3. THIRD Place (2,000 cash prize)

The first 100 submissions will also receive a Helium hoodie.

The maximum total for all prizes combined is $16,000.00 USD. Winners will be responsible for paying all costs and expenses related to the prize that are not specifically mentioned, including, but not limited to, taxes, and any other expenses that might reasonably be incurred by the winner in receiving or using the prize. Each winner may be required to submit to Hackster his/her social security number or tax payer ID number and W-8BEN, or other such tax filing information required by Sponsor in order to claim the prize. All prizes awarded will be inclusive of any taxes Sponsor is required by law to withhold as well as applicable sales, use, gross receipts, goods and service, or similar transaction based taxes. All other taxes, costs and expenses associated with acceptance and use of any prize not specified in these Official Rules as being provided are the sole responsibility of the winner. IF TAXES ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PRIZES, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER TO PAY TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES. PAYMENTS TO CHALLENGE WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO THE EXPRESS REQUIREMENT THAT THE WINNER SUBMIT TO SPONSOR ALL DOCUMENTATION REQUESTED BY SPONSOR TO PERMIT COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE STATE, FEDERAL, LOCAL AND FOREIGN (INCLUDING PROVINCIAL) TAX REPORTING AND WITHHOLDING REQUIREMENTS. Challenge winners are responsible for ensuring that the tax documentation submitted to Sponsor complies with all applicable tax laws and requirements. If a winner fails to provide the documentation or submits incomplete documentation, the prize may be forfeited and Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, select an alternate winner.

Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize (or portion thereof) for an item of comparable or greater value, in its sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded “AS IS” and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied (including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). Limit one prize per person.

Bonus Prize: Trip to San Francisco, CA: travel for up to two (2) Individuals, consisting of one (1) winner and one (1) guest.

Travel includes:

  • Economy round-trip airfare to San Francisco, CA, between July 15th, 2018, and August 31st, 2018. Travel must be booked by July 31st, 2018.
  • Up to three (3) nights’ accommodations at a hotel in San Francisco, CA (two standard rooms max). Helium will book accomodations.
  • Responsible for own meals (exception during visit to Helium HQ).
  • Ground transportation expenses to/from the airport and to Helium HQ. To be arranged by Helium.
  • Travel and accommodations are subject to availability. Travel must be round trip. All expenses and incidental travel costs not expressly stated in the package description above, including but not limited to, ground transportation, most meals, incidentals, gratuities, passenger tariffs or duties, airline and airport fees, surcharges, service charges or facility charges, personal charges, security fees, taxes and all other expenses are the responsibility solely of the Winner.
  • Approximate retail value of the trip: $3,000 USD. Winners will not receive difference between actual and approximate retail value.

Referral Program: Helium will refund hardware costs of up to $250 USD for the first thirty (30) eligible submissions who refer a friend to the contest. Both the referrer and referred must submit projects by July 15th, 2018, to receive refunds. Referrals must be written in the project description with the link to the referrer’s IoT Without Limits Project submission.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

For the avoidance of doubt as between Sponsor and Participants/Teams, all Submissions created by Participants/Teams will remain the property of the Participant/Team except to the extent a Participant/Team incorporated elements in their Submission owned by Sponsor, but Sponsor and its designees will have the rights to use the Submissions described below. By submitting a Submission in this Challenge, each Participant/Team warrants and represents that he or she owns, or otherwise has the right to use, all of the intellectual and industrial property rights in and to the Submission. Further, each Participant/Team hereby grants Sponsor and its affiliates a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to (i) use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your Submission in connection with this Challenge, and (ii) feature your Submission and all content contained therein in connection with the marketing or promotion of this Challenge.

Except where prohibited, each prize winner further consents (and agrees to sign any additional documents required by Sponsor to formalize, effect or perfect such consent) to Challenge Entities’ use of Submissions as specified herein and the use of any Participant/Team names, likeness (photograph), biographical information, and voice in advertising/publicity/trade (including local and/or national television stations or print publications that may be covering any element of this Challenge) worldwide without compensation, notice or approval, and prize winner disclaims any ownership rights to the content of such advertising/publicity/trade material.

USE OF SUBMISSION, PERSONAL DATA, WAIVER, RELEASE, AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

Challenge Entities and their Personnel will not enter into any correspondence, including email, with non-winning Participants/Teams relating to such Participants’ participation in the Challenge. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual found tampering with the Submission process or Submission materials or otherwise interfering with the proper administration of the Challenge or violating these Official Rules.

EACH PARTICIPANT ACCEPTS THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES, AGREES TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE SPONSOR, WARRANTS THAT HE OR SHE IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CHALLENGE, AND AGREES TO RELEASE, INDEMNIFY, AND HOLD HARMLESS CHALLENGE ENTITIES AND THE PERSONNEL OF EACH FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LOSSES, LIABILITY, AND DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES) ASSERTED AGAINST ANY OF THEM, INCURRED OR SUSTAINED IN CONNECTION WITH OR RISING OUT OF PARTICIPANT’S PARTICIPATION IN THIS CHALLENGE, USE OF ANY SUBMISSION OR RIGHTS THEREIN OR ANY TRAVEL OR ACTIVITY RELATED THERETO, BREACH OF ANY AGREEMENT OR WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHALLENGE, INCLUDING THESE OFFICIAL RULES. ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CHALLENGE IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE CHALLENGE ENTITIES AND EACH OF THEIR LICENSEES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK ANY AND ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Each Participant/Team hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between themselves and the Challenge Entities is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that the Participant’s/Team’s decision to provide the Submission to Sponsor for purposes of the Challenge does not place the Challenge Entities in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of the Submission, other than as set forth in these Official Rules. Each Participant/Team understands and acknowledges that the Challenge Entities have wide access to Submissions, technology, designs, and other materials, and that new ideas are constantly being submitted to them or being developed by their own employees. Each Participant also acknowledges that many ideas may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to the Submission in theme, idea, format, or other respects. Each Participant/Team acknowledges and agrees that such Participant/Team will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of Challenge Entities' use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to Challenge Entities, or any of them, from other sources. Participants acknowledge that other Participants/Teams may have created ideas and concepts contained in their Submission design that may have familiarities or similarities to their Submission design, and that they will not be entitled to any compensation or right to negotiate with the Challenge Entities because of these familiarities or similarities. Participants also acknowledge that the Challenge Entities will not restrict work assignments or representatives who have had access to your Submissions. By entering this Challenge, Participants agree that use of information in the Challenge Entities’ representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of Challenge Entities’ products or services does not create liability for Challenge Entities under these Official Rules or copyright or trade secret law.

Participants/Teams further agree that the Challenge Entities are not responsible for the following: (a) electronic transmissions, Submissions or notifications that are lost, late, stolen, incomplete, damaged, garbled, destroyed, misdirected or not received by Sponsor or their agents for any reason; (b) any problems or technical malfunctions, errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, delays in operation or transmission, communication failures and/or human error that may occur in the transmission, shipping errors or delays, receipt or processing of Submissions or related materials; or for destruction of or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, Submissions or related material; (c) failed or unavailable hardware, network, software or telephone transmissions, damage to Participants’ or any person’s computer and/or its contents related to or resulting from participation in this Challenge; (d) causes that jeopardize the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Challenge; (e) any Submissions posted in a manner that is not expressly allowed under these Official Rules (all such Submissions will be disqualified); or (f) any printing errors in these Official Rules or in any advertisements or correspondence in connection with this Challenge or judging. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this Challenge should virus, bugs, fraud, hacking, or other causes corrupt the administration, security, or proper play of the Challenge. In such cases, notice to this effect will be posted on the Challenge Site and prizes to the extent awarded will be awarded as determined by Sponsor prior to cancellation. If, in Sponsor’s opinion, there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering with any portion of the Challenge or if technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Challenge, the Sponsor reserves the right to void suspect Submissions and/or terminate the Challenge and award prizes in its sole discretion.

WINNER NOTIFICATION.

The potential winners will be required to sign and return an Affidavit or Declaration of Eligibility; Liability and Publicity Release or other such form as requested by Sponsor. Prior to awarding a prize, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, require the potential winners to sign such additional documents Sponsor decides are necessary to confirm eligibility, to obtain a liability/publicity release, and to award any prize. Failure to return any required document by the date requested by Sponsor will deem the winner as ineligible to receive the applicable prize. If any documentation is not returned by the specified dates and times or if a potential winner is deemed ineligible prior to the prize being awarded, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, award the prize to the next Participant/Team receiving the next highest score.

WINNERS’ LIST. After the winners are confirmed, the winners’ names will be posted at https://www.hackster.io/contests/helium