Arduino - March 2nd, 2013

Pictures of the Event

Arduino 2013 Recap

Winners

Judges' Choice

Team 1: Clock

Prescott, Bruce, and Jon created a truly awesome, yet incredibly simple, working clock. The wheels turn one forward and one reverse, spinning the reflectance sensors around the wheel indicating the minutes. Upon the hour mark the bot drives forward and advances the linear slide to indicate hours. Extra credit for the free linear rails made out of laser cut scrap and cellophane tape!

Jury's Choice

Team 6: Simon

George, Kevin, and Rob created a beautifully designed, though not quite finished, 2 player heads up simon clone. The bot plays out a tune with lights and you use the laser cut puck, complete with braille so even the sight impaired could play, to mark the tones on the whiteboard. The Shieldbot then drives forward and uses the sensors to see if you've marked correctly. You want to get more right answers than your opponent so the bot drives towards their goal!

Runners Up

Team 2: Rich Bot / Sh*t Bot

Luis, James and Chad (The Duece) came very close to a jury prize just losing out during the 3 way tie breaker. The Rich bot / Sh*t bot would sense your hand and completely randomly choose to deposit an amount of chicken poop or money. They hope to implement a risk dial, which when advanced would deposit more money per play, but also more poop per loss.

Team 3: Pew Pew

Aly, Aaron, and Jose built Pew Pew, a modern music box. During the Friday night break they devised a 31 bit language of music. You draw out your tune on paper and insert into the machine. The wheels of the shield bot draw the paper in past the reflectance sensors and the music plays! They even attempted to sway the judge whose birthday it was with a rendition of Happy Birthday.

Team 4: K-9

Jac, Stewart and Max came very close to a desktop x,y plotter system. 8 lights would align the bot which would drive to whichever location required pen output and a servo would drop the pen. Sadly they found incompatibilities with the Arduino servo library and the Shieldbot and were unable to overcome these. Credit given for the Dr. Who theme including the awesome papercraft K-9 done in lasercut plastic!

Team 5: BarMan

Jerry, Jake, and Bowtie went for a bar bot that could deliver a delicious beverage via a text message using the Seeed GSM shield. In the end their Sim card crapped out and they had to switch to a simpler line follower implementation to make the deadline.

Team 7: Shot.Bot.

Moheeb, Ben and Rob also went for a beverage deliver system! Though more ambitious than Team 5, they didn't finish full functionality in time. What they did create was a really gorgeous device that many people in the event remarked they'd like to buy. The line following robot would take orders then drive the track to the dispenser where it would use a servo to actuate an amount of either of 3 beverages, before driving back to the patron.

Team 8: HackPHX-Plotter

Brian, Matt, and Justin got very close to knocking off the Der Kritzler 2d drawing machine. In only 12 hours they created a vertical x,y table with makerslide and had the ingenious idea of bolting the tires of the Shield bot down such that when it was put in reverse, it lifted the pen off the drawing surface :) They even worked with the designer to come up with a PC side user interface!

Team 9: Eye

Tim, Karl, and Steven Came very close to winning the Jury prize for their very functional robot eye. The eye utilizes an ultrasonic sensor to trigger the wheels in a forward/reverse configuration turning the eye to follow those who wander by. Creepy.

Team 10: Musicbox o' Death

Adam, Sheldon, Mike also had musical ambitions with their bot. Paper was to be driven across the reflectance sensors just like the other music box team. In the end they had to fall back on "Z-Plane Ghettoblaster" technology and the ghost of Jonathan Taylor Thomas (apparently dead?) to get something working by judging time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a hackathon?

Your Arduino toolkit and skills. Our secret ingredient. The hackerspace's resources. A small budget for additional stuff. After 12 hours of hacking a winner will arise, but every team is going home with hardware! Seats Limited. @heatsynclabs 140 W Main St. Mesa Arizona. FREE.

What are the rules?

Who can participate?

Anyone enthusiastic about making, hacking, collaborating and enjoying a little bit of competition. Some Arduino experience will be necessary, but other electronics hacking, design and fabrication skills will be important for this one too so don't be shy.

Do I need a team or idea to sign up?

Nope. We'll be sorting teams and releasing the secret ingredient at the Friday night session.

May we sign up as a team?

Not for this one. We're going to encourage you to meet new people and hack outside of your comfort zone. We also have a limited supplies of hardware so we'll need to form into no more than ~10 teams with ~5 people per team on hack day.

What should I bring?

Bring a charger and laptop to work on. your Arduino toolkit and a small budget for any additional purchases at Walmart, Frys, etc. We'll provide the secret ingredient :)

How long is the hackathon?

We will be onsite Friday night for as long as you like, and for at least 12 hours on hack day including the intro session and presentations/judging.

Do I have to be at the hackathon the entire time?

Nope. We actually recommend that people take breaks from their work to stretch and get refreshed, shop for parts, etc. However, all work should be done on site since it is a competition.

Can I bring my husband/wife/kids?

If they are signed up and competing, yes, otherwise no. Space and tools will be very limited. Tell them to watch for you on our live feed at www.hackphx.com

Is food provided?

Yup! Our amazing sponsors will be providing lunch, dinner and drinks throughout the competition free of charge. If you have a special dietary need (gluten-free, vegetarian, etc) or food allergy - please email us! We will be more than happy to work with you.

Where is the location and parking?

What is the tentative schedule?