Smart Campus 2023

The challenge

More and more schools are going through digital transformations in order to improve the spaces in which where the students learn and work, faculties conduct research, and where innovations and creativities are empowered. Campuses from all around the world are integrating technologies to be smarter, more efficient, and more data-driven.

This contest is specifically calling upon our school affiliates - students, faculty, young makers, educators, and researchers who live and work on a school campus to come up with innovative ways to better your campus life!

We're looking for serious 🥸 and/or fun 🤓 solutions that modernize everyday campus interactions, create a more sustainable campus lifestyle, or increase human well-being. Create forward-thinking ideas that could level up the efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity across your campus.

Hackster, DFRobot, and Arduino have come together to enable you to realize your vision by leveraging ESP32&ESP8266 boards + Arduino Cloud.

You must create your project from any of these DFRobot ESP32/ESP8266 boards and use Arduino Cloud to configure, program, and connect your devices. Enhance your project build by combining DFRobot's gravity sensors to your build!

If you are a student or faculty member, you have the opportunity to win an exclusive, brand new Hackster EEDU Kit!

SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!

Enter the hardware giveaway by submitting an application on "Apply for Hardware" tab on the contest page. The first batch of winners will be announced virtually on Arduino Day 2023 on March 25th.

We collaborated with DFRobot on these getting started kits to better serve the hardware engineering education community for a quick-start on hardware selection for specific projects. Each kit comes with the all the hardware and components needed for a complete project build.

There are 3 types of kits include:

Getting Started with AI

Getting Started with Environmental Sensing

Getting Started with IoT

You'll be the first audience to experience these and give us feedback to see if we'll make these commercially available in the future. Your projects will also be the first projects to populate the product pages on our website!

From transportation and safety to energy management and student engagement, there's no limit to what you can imagine. Inspiration can come from many facets of life on campus, including:

Interactive learning experiences powered by VR/AR 🕶

Sanitization robots for dorm rooms 🤖

Retrofitting campus go-carts to be electric-powered 🏎

Contactless food court or cafeteria 🍟

Smarter vending machines 🎰

“Tree of Life” - The sacred tree on campus that syncs with your heartbeat 🌲

Rentable companion bots for pre-exam anxiety reduction 🦉

Solar-powered, sensor-monitored herb farm or garden for healthy eating 🌞

We can't wait to see what you are coming up with 🧠, and we have many different categories of prizes for you to win 🙌 !

Prizes

Grand Prize

The overall winning design that exemplifies innovation, creativity, and practicality

1 winner

Swag + Hardware Coupon + School Plan Cloud Credit

-

$3,200 value

*Must have a faculty member on your team or as a contact to be eligible for this prize.

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot surprise merchandise
👉1 free year of Arduino Cloud's "School Plan"
👉$200 DFRobot store coupon

Sustainability Award

The design that demonstrates a commitment to environmentally-friendly practices and sustainable campus operations

1 winner

Swag + Hardware Coupon + Cloud Credit

-

$200 value

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot surprise merchandise
👉2 months free of Arduino Cloud's "Maker Plan"
👉$100 DFRobot store coupon

Safety & Security Award

The best design that addresses safety and security concerns on campus and enhances the overall safety of the campus community.

1 winner

Swag + Hardware Coupon + Cloud Credit

-

$200 value

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot surprise merchandise
👉2 months free of Arduino Cloud's "Maker Plan"
👉$100 DFRobot store coupon

Transportation Innovation Award

The design that improves campus transportation, reduces traffic congestion, and enhances transportation access and mobility for students and faculty

1 winner

Swag + Hardware Coupon + Cloud Credit

-

$200 value

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot surprise merchandise
👉2 months free of Arduino Cloud's "Maker Plan"
👉$100 DFRobot store coupon

Accessibility Award

The design that improves accessibility for individuals with disabilities and enhances inclusion and diversity on campus

1 winner

Swag + Hardware Coupon + Cloud Credit

-

$200 value

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot surprise merchandise
👉2 months free of Arduino Cloud's "Maker Plan"
👉$100 DFRobot store coupon

Student Engagement Award

The design that fosters a sense of community and engagement among students, and enhances the overall student experience

1 winner

Swag + Hardware Coupon + Cloud Credit

-

$200 value

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot surprise merchandise
👉2 months free of Arduino Cloud's "Maker Plan"
👉$100 DFRobot store coupon

Runner Ups

5 winners

Swag + Hardware Coupon

-

$100 value

👉Hackster, Arduino, DFRobot stickers
👉$50 DFRobot store coupon

Judges

Meet our awesome panel of judges!

Ricky Ye: Ricky is a robotics enthusiast and CEO of DFRobot. He has been dedicated to open-source hardware and robotics for over a decade. He holds a Ph.D. in Robotics from The University of Nottingham. He founded Mushroom Cloud Maker Space, a maker space in Shanghai, and was a key founder of Maker Carnival Shanghai, which remains the biggest maker event in China. Ricky's efforts to promote Maker Education globally include the Maker Education Forum, which has attracted global educators to the Maker Carnival. He has also co-sponsored the School Maker Carnival, successfully held in over 10 cities throughout China.

Mithun Das: Mithun is a Senior Principal Software Engineer at Cox Automotive with 18 years of experience in software design & architecture. Mithun is an ambassador at Edge Impulse & Balena. For the last 5-6 years, he has been working on IoT and ML for good. Mithun is 15x Hackster contest winner including a grand prize winner in the 2020 China-US Young Maker Competition for his low-cost contact tracing solution TraceX. Mithun is a mentor of his 12 years old daughter who is learning coding and IoT.

Jen Fox: Jen makes things and teaches other folks to make things! After dabbling in dark matter (B.S Physics, Occidental College), Jen settled into engineering with a blend of inventing and teaching (M.S. Mech E, UCLA). In 2014, Jen founded Foxbot Industries to help bring making to the world, and in 2020 she joined Microsoft as a senior product manager for the Office of the CTO to learn about, experiment with, and help drive maker-related efforts across the company.

Phil Nelson: Phil is a creator and performer who organizes competitions, hacks on hardware, and co-hosts OpenCV Weekly Webinar every Thursday morning. He loves pro wrestling, vintage media, and computer vision. Follow him at https://extrafuture.com.

Resources

Read this Getting Started Guide to learn how to develop with ESP32 / ESP8266 development board and the Arduino Cloud

Check out this video to learn more about the Hackster EEDU kit 🦄