3D Imaging with Walabot & Amazon Alexa

The challenge

We are giving away $150 Amazon gift cards for the next 10 qualified published Alexa skills.

In order to get a chance of winning a $150 Amazon gift card make sure the following applies to your skill:

• It is implemented via a Lambda function

• It is capable of connecting with any Walabot or other third party devices that your project requires - This means that your skill cannot be solely connected to your own Walabot (or other third part devices). It has to be capable to connect with the end user's Walabot (or third party device)

• It is tested after being uploaded to Alexa Skill store

• It's AWESOME!

*UPDATE* We have extended the project submission deadline to April 15th 11:55PM!

Imagine creating an application for a device that can see through solid objects and then being able to control it with your voice.

Radio frequency technology has been around for a long time. From enabling us to listen to the radio to giving us wireless communication, RF is rapidly evolving in new surprising and exciting ways!

You may have already met Walabot through their past community contest: a programmable 3D imaging sensor that sees through objects using radio frequency technology and brings highly sophisticated sensing capabilities to your fingertips!

And Now: We have a new contest which provides the added capability of using Alexa's API to use voice commands to control the Walabot.

We want to see how innovative you can be in creating a whole new category of Alexa Skills with Walabot!

If you don't have an Amazon Alexa device, use the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) to build your knowledge base, tap the self-service APIs, documentation, templates and code samples that get developers on the fast track to publishing Skills.

Walabot's functionality works by transmitting, receiving and recording signals from multiple antennas. The broadband recordings from antenna pairs are analyzed to reconstruct a three-dimensional image of the environment.

This opens the possibility to develop Alexa Skills for Walabot in many fields including 3D imaging through solid objects, target tracking, breath detection and many more.

Interested? We're giving away 50 Walabot units on a rolling basis to the best ideas now through December 13th, 2017!

If you simply can't wait, go to walabot.com and get your Walabot Creator for 50% off!

Make sure to enter 'walexa' coupon code when you reach the checkout page.

Now pitch us your ideas! Maybe you want to build an app that creates visual art using gestures or an app that monitors your heart rate and then chooses just the right song to play for you! Whatever you come up with, we want to hear about it!

Features

• Three-dimensional radio-frequency based sensor

• Uses an array of linearly polarized broadband antennas

• Frequency range: 3.3-10.3 GHz (US/FCC model) or 6.3-8.3 GHz (EU/CE model)

• Based on VYYR2401 A3 System-on-Chip for signal production and recording

• Cypress FX3 controller for USB communication and data pre-processing

• Micro-USB 2.0 for high-rate data communication. Option to provide supply from USB.

• Single supply voltage 4.5-5.5v input for non-USB power applications.

Check out the full specs here.

SDK

We built Walabot SDK for Linux, Windows and RaspberryPi. The SDK provides shared libraries with a defined API. Development of an application for Walabot can be done either for Windows/Linux or for Android. Programming languages can be:

• C#

• VB

• C++

• python

• Matlab

Step 1: Register for the contest

• Start by creating a free account on Hackster.io (or sign-in if already a member)

• Register for this contest by clicking "Register as a participant"

• Get inspired by playing with open source apps

Step 2: Apply to win one of 50 Walabot units by pitching an idea*

• Submit your project idea by December 13th, 2017 at 11:55 PM PT

• Click "Apply to receive Walabot" and fill in the template. Tell us what you want to create using the Walabot

• We will select the top 50 winners based the originality, quality, and creativity of your idea

Step 3: Enter to win the grand prizes by building and submitting your project

• Go to our getting started page and download the SDK compatible to your OS.

• Watch our tutorials in order to setup your Walabot

• Build your app for walabot. Don't hesitate to use and learn from our open source projects

• Describe your project. Include plenty of details: what are you creating? What does it do? Why does it matter?

• Create a short YouTube video demonstrating the application, see example

• Add your project by clicking on "Add my project"

• Submit your Alexa project as a skill in the Alexa Skills store

• Submit your project by April 15th, 2018 at 11:55 PM PT

Project submissions should include:

• Source code

• A link to your published Alexa Skill

• Clear project documentation

• Story and high-quality images

• A link to your YouTube video

Winners will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Creativity (50 points)

• Story/Instruction – Show how you created your project, including images, screenshots, and a video (20 Points)

• Project Documentation (20 Points)

• Code – Include working code with helpful comments (10 Points)

* By submitting, you are agreeing to abide by our contest rules.

Start here

Visit our quick start guide page. It has both the SDK's for you to download and also a link to our tutorials on youTube. Make sure you have your walabot set right before you start programming.

Play with our apps

Here are some cool apps that our engineers built in order to get you started developing Walabots apps, you can use them for getting started with our sensor and build your own magical experience.

• Hello Walabot - Prints the cartesian coordinates of every found target

• Raw image - Display of the image given by a Walabot

• Targets sensor- Display targets given by a Walabot over it's arena

• Robotic control - Control a Pololu Dual Motor Driver Kit through gestures

• Air piano - Game application that acts as an air piano

• People counter - Detects people entering/exiting rooms

• Personal trainer - Counts your push ups

• Big brother- A human head follows you as you move around the room

Think of new ideas with voice control

To get you started, we came up with some cool ideas featuring Walabot's various capabilities. you are free to use any of these ideas as you see fit:

Gesture:

• Paint - create art using gestures

• Treasure hunt - find hidden object: coins in sand, keys in sofa..

• Wind chimes - use Walabot to play relaxing sounds according to the wind

• Breathing monitor - monitor your breathing and determine heart rate

Tracking:

• Falling detection - detect when people have fallen and send an alert

• Robot tag - attach a Walabot to a robot and play tag with it

• Smart home - trigger smart home electronics

• Camping alert - detect if a bear or other animal is approaching

• Perimeter alert system - define a perimeter and use Walabot to detect whether it has been breached.

• Distance measurement - use Walabot to determine the distance of objects from you

• Speed measurement - measure speed of moving objects

• Tailored clothes - determine your measurements

See through:

• Security aid - identify concealed objects in bags, pockets...

Technical Resources:

• Getting Started

• Example Apps

• API

• Full technical specs

Prizes

Most Creative

1 winner

MacBook Pro - Newest Version

-

$1,300 value

Most Innovative

1 winner

MacBook Pro - Newest Version

-

$1,300 value

Most Fun

1 winner

MacBook Pro - Newest Version

-

$1,300 value

Editor's choice

4 winners

$50 bonus for projects which won over our judges

-

$4 value

Top 25 Projects

25 winners

$2,500 to the top 25 projects ($100 each)