Eligibility

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

• You are at least 18 years of age
• You are not a resident of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria
  US export regulations prohibit the export of goods and services to the countries listed above, therefore residents of these countries are not eligible to participate in this challenge.
• You are not involved in the execution or administration of this contest.
• You are not an immediate family member or household member of a Hackster employee.

Submission requirements

General Requirements

• You must be registered as a participant for this contest.
• Your entry must be your own original work.

Hardware/Software Build Requirements

• Your project must be created using the Smart Citizen Kit
• Your project must be created using meshtastic

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 Sep 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM PT.

Judging criteria

Your project will be judged by the Smart Citizen team on quality of contribution including functionality and documentation.

How to enter

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 Sep 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM PT by clicking “review and submit project” on the contest page.

Full rules

Common terms used in these rules

These are the full rules that govern how the contest will operate. In these rules, “we,” “our”, and “us” refer to Hackster and/or the contest host. “You” and “yourself” refer to an eligible contest participant. The full rules also include all above eligibility, requirements, and judging criteria recorded in the “rules” tab of this contest page.

What are the start and end dates?

Contest starts at Jun 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM PT and ends at Sep 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM PTand will consist of the following periods:.

• Contest projects submission period: Jun 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM PT through Sep 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM PT
• Call for proposal deadline is Jun 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM PT
• Contest winners will be announced on Oct 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM PT.

Note: Contest end dates are at the sole discretion of Hackster and/or the contest sponsor and may be subject to change.

Can I enter?

If your participation violates ANY of the following, you may be disqualified.

• Your entry must be your own original work.
• Your entry cannot have been selected as a winner in any other Hackster contest.
• You must have obtained any and all consents, approvals or licenses required for you to submit your entry.
• Your entry may not include any third party trademarks (logos, names) or copyrighted materials (music, images, video, recognizable people, code, schematics etc...) unless you have obtained permission to use the materials.
• Your entry must comply with your employer’s gift policies.

Project entries may NOT contain ANY of the following content:

• Content that is sexually explicit.
• Content that is unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group.
• Content that is profane or pornographic.
• Content that promotes illegal drugs, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing) or a particular political agenda.
• Content that is obscene or offensive.
• Content that defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies.
• Content that communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will to which we wish to associate.
• Content that violates any law.

We reserve the right to reject an entry, in our sole and absolute discretion, that we determine contains any of the above content.

Important note about Copyright: Your entire entry must only include material (including hardware, source code – both open source and third party sourced, user interface, music, video or images) that you own or that you have permission from the copyright/trademark owner to use. Your and/or your team’s entry may not include copyrighted materials (such as source code, user interface, background music, images or video) unless you own or have permission to use the materials. Ownership is not defined as purchasing a CD at a music store for replay, if playing a copyrighted recording on your guitar or repurposing an application’s user interface – your entry may be disqualified if copyrighted materials, including but not limited to these examples, are a part of your entry without appropriate licensing or permissions. If you do use permissible copyrighted materials, you must include the permissions information by citing the artist/creator and license information. Note that even material released under sites such as Creative Commons, common open source code licenses, and other similar licensing may need permission or acknowledgement as per the specific license.

Can I enter this contest as a team?

You can only enter this contest as an individual contributor.

How will my entry be potentially used?

Other than what is set forth below, we are not claiming any ownership rights to your entry. However, by submitting your entry, you agree to ALL of the following statements:

• You grant us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this contest; and (ii) feature your entry and all content in connection with the marketing, sale, or promotion of this contest (including but not limited to internal and external sales meetings, conference presentations, tradeshows, and screen shots of this contest entry in press releases) in all media (now known or later developed).
• You agree to sign any necessary documentation that may be required for us and our designees to make use of the rights you granted above.
• You understand that after the submission deadline has passed, any project that has been submitted to the contest cannot be deleted or made private and will remain on the contest page after the contest has concluded.
• You understand and acknowledge that the sponsor(s) may have developed or commissioned materials similar or identical to your submission and you waive any claims you may have resulting from any similarities to your entry.
• You understand that you will not receive any compensation or credit for use of your entry, other than what is described in these full rules.

Please note that following the end of this contest your entry may be posted on a website selected by us for viewing by visitors to that website. We are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your entry by visitors to this website. While we reserve these rights, we are not obligated to use your entry for any purpose, even if it has been selected as a winning entry. If you do not want to grant us these rights to your entry, please do not enter this contest.

What other conditions am I agreeing to by entering?

By entering this contest you are agreeing to the following statements:

• You agree to abide by these full rules.
• You agree to abide by the policies outlined on Hackster’s website, including our Terms of Service, Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy.
• You agree to release and hold harmless Hackster and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this contest, or any prize won.
• You agree that your personal data including your name, email address, personal address, phone number, and any other personal information disclosed during the duration of this contest may be shared with and used by Hackster and [sponsor name] in order to facilitate the execution of this contest.
• You agree that Hackster’s decisions will be final and binding on all matters related to this contest.
• You agree that, by accepting a prize, Hackster may use your proper name and state of residence online and in print, or in any other media, in connection with this contest, without payment or compensation to you, except where prohibited by law.

What if something unexpected happens and the contest can not run as planned?

If someone cheats, or a virus, bug, bot, catastrophic event, or any other unforeseen or unexpected event that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled, (also referred to as force majeure) affects the fairness and/or integrity of this contest, we reserve the right to cancel, change or suspend this contest. This right is reserved whether the event is due to human or technical error. If a solution cannot be found to restore the integrity of the contest, we reserve the right to select winners from among all eligible entries received before we had to cancel, change or suspend the contest.

If you attempt, or we have strong reason to believe that you have compromised the integrity or the legitimate operation of this contest by cheating, hacking, creating a bot or other automated program, or by committing fraud in ANY way, we may seek damages from you to the fullest extent permitted by law. Further, we may disqualify you, and ban you from participating in any of our future contests.

Who do I contact about this contest?

If you have any questions or comments regarding this contest, please email us at contests@hackster.io.