Invent the Future with Arduino UNO Q and App Lab

If you are a winner, we will contact you directly via email to arrange the shipment of your prize.

Participants who receive free hardware and do not submit a project may be ineligible for future giveaways unless the hardware is returned.

If you receive free hardware and become unable to submit a project, please contact us at help@hackster.io and let us know as soon as possible. We may choose to arrange for the hardware to be shipped to another participant.

To be eligible for judging, you must meet ALL of the following requirements unless otherwise stated:

General Requirements

• You must be registered as a participant for this contest.
• Your entry must be your own original work.
• Your entry cannot have been selected as a winner in any other Hackster contest.

Hardware Application Requirements

Note: If you choose to submit an application for free hardware, you must meet the following requirements. If not, continue to 'Hardware/Software Build Requirements' below.

• Your hardware application must be submitted via the online application form found on the contest page’s “apply for hardware” tab.
• Your hardware application must be written in English.
• Your hardware application must use the Arduino UNO Q.
• Your hardware application must solve real-world challenges in robotics, home automation, gaming, industrial IoT, and social impact, powered by AI.
• Your hardware application must be submitted by Apr 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT.

Hardware/Software Build Requirements

• Your project must be created using the Arduino UNO Q.
• Your project must tackle real-world challenges in robotics, home automation, gaming, industrial IoT, and social impact, powered by AI.

Project Documentation Requirements

• Your project must include a project name, short project description, cover image, bill of materials (BOM), full instructions, images, and relevant resource files (schematics, code, CAD).
• Your project must be written in English.
• Your project must be submitted by Aug 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT.

Your project will be judged according to the rubric below.

• Project Documentation (30 points)
  Story/Instructions - Show how you created your project, including images, screenshots, and/or a video demonstration of your solution working as intended. Ask yourself: “If I were a beginner reading this project, would I understand how to recreate it?”
• Complete BOM (20 points)
  Detail the hardware, software and/or tools used.
• Schematics (15 points)
  Draw your circuit diagrams using software like Fritzing.org and/or take detailed photographs.
• Code & Contribution (15 points)
  Include working code with helpful comments.
• Creativity (20 points)
  Your idea doesn’t have to be original, but it should be creative (a fresh take on an old idea is often worth as much as a brand new idea)

• Best in Show ($6,000 value)

• Best in Robotics ($3,000 value)

• Best in Industrial IoT ($3,000 value)

• Best in Gaming ($3,000 value)

• Best in Home Automation ($3,000 value)

• Best Social Impact ($3,000 value)

Step 1: Register for the Contest

• Start by creating a free account on Hackster.io (or sign-in if already a member).
• Register for the contest by clicking “Register as a participant”.

Step 2: Build and Document Your Project

• Build your project according to the submission requirements.
• Document your project build using Hackster’s project template. To create a new project, click “create new project” on the contest page or the “+” symbol in the top right corner of your Hackster page.

Step 3: Review and submit your project

• Review your project and make sure it meets all the submission requirements.
• Upload a previously created project by clicking “add existing project” on the contest page.
• Submit your project by Aug 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT by clicking “review and submit project” on the contest page.

Free devices winners will be announced by May 1, 2026. The list of winners will be visible on the Apply for hardware tab.

Contest winners will be announced on September 25, 2026. The list of winners will be visible on the main page (Contest brief).

You are eligible to enter if you meet the following requirements at time of entry:

• You are at least 18 years of age, or the minimum age of majority in your place of residence at the time of entry.
• You must be a citizen and current resident of one of the following countries or their respective territories: Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bonaire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Caribbean (Cuba is excluded due to sanctions), Cayman Islands, Chad, Channel Islands, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guiana (French), Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Equatorial, Guinea Republic, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland (Republic of), Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, South Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, North Macedonia (Republic of), Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saipan, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Barthalemy, St. Croix, St. Eustatius, St. Helena, St. John, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Tortola, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (US), Zambia.
• You are not involved in the execution or administration of this Contest.
• If selected as a winner you must create an account through our payment vendor The New Money Company of San Francisco, Inc.
• You are not a Hackster, Avnet, Sponsor, or an immediate family member or household member of a Hackster employee or otherwise engaged in the execution or administration of this Contest.
• You are not a “Restricted Person”, which is defined as any legal or natural person (i) listed on a prohibited or restricted party list published by the U.S. government, including but not limited to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s “List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons” and “Consolidated Sanctions List”, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List, Unverified List, Denied Persons List, and Military End-User List, or any similar list maintained by the United Kingdom, the European Union or its Member States, or other applicable local authority; (ii) located, organized or resident in a country or territory against which the U.S. government maintains comprehensive economic sanctions or an embargo (i.e., currently Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the Crimea and other regions of Ukraine controlled by the Russian Federation); (iii) in the case of a legal person, owned (50% or more in the aggregate) or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more persons or entities described in (i) or (ii); or (iv) otherwise the target of U.S. sanctions (collectively, “Restricted Persons”).