https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/10 successful applicant will get Two TDK USSM Plus-FS, TDK Evaluation Board and a set of Sensor Connector Cables, to build and blog their project with.en-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/b/blog/posts/winners-announcement---in-reach-design-challengeThu, 27 Nov 2025 15:10:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:0a186e72-d4d7-4571-8f99-20c0ce77a349JoRatcliffeHey everyone, first of all very well done to all of the Challengers who took part in the In Reach design challenge! Let’s quickly recap the prizes and the details of the Challenge, then it will be time to see who our winners are. The Prizes Prize Prize Category Grand Prize Winner Approximate Value: $993 USD* Apple iPad Pro 11-Inch (4th Gen) 128GB Approximate Value: $400 USD* iRobot Roomba Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum Cleaner Runner Up Approximate Value: $349 USD* iPad 10.9 Inch - 64GB Approximate Value: $400 USD* iRobot Roomba Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum Cleaner Finisher Prize** To be a finisher, you must complete 5 blogs and demonstrate the resilience of your project. Approximate Value: $30 USD* MultiComp Pro Multimeter Set *Or local equivalent **Grand Prize and Runner Up winners will also earn the finisher prize. The Challenge Challengers received two TDK USSM Plus-FS, a TDK Evaluation Board, and a set of Sensor Connector Cables to build a project with, and were challenged to build a project that creatively takes advantage of TDK’s Ultrasonic range sensors. Without further ado, it is time to announce the winners :) GRAND PRIZE Swishmaster amgalbu created a system for assessing basketball free throws, evaluating the parabola, height, and angle of entry, to help someone learn how to make the perfect shot, particularly when training by themselves. RUNNER UP EchoFill taifur designed an intelligent, cloud-connected water tank system that utilizes ultrasonic sensing for water-level monitoring and pumping control to avoid overflow, save water, and electricity, and ensure reliable and maintenance-free operation. A huge congratulations to our winners and also great job to every Finisher - E14Alice will be reaching out to arrange grand prizes, runner up prizes and finisher prizes. FINISHER PRIZE Echo Park ralphjy created a modern, ultrasonic parking assistant for older vehicles lacking sensors. No need to rely on the old ball and string technique any more! ;) EchoVision veluv01 fused AI vision with ultrasonic ranging to create a robust perception system with improved environmental awareness to combat low visibility conditions. Early Flood Warning and Monitoring System sandeepdwivedi17 paired the TDK ultrasonic sensor with an Arduino MKR 1010 to measure water levels, record data in Google Sheets, and send alerts when dangerous levels are detected. Well done again to every In Reach Challenger, everyone who participated, discussed, and supported one another, and also TDK for supporting the design challenge.ultrasonic sensordesign challengeB59110W2111W032tdkTDK waterproof sensorsDistance Sensor ProjectTDK USSM Plus-FStdk-e14Ultrasonic Sensor Sensing ChallengeIn ReachZ25000Z2910Z001Z21dchttps://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56454/couldn-t-continue-my-project-due-to-health-issues/232008Fri, 21 Nov 2025 06:27:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:38bf02f4-c069-4c59-b184-90f15a4a98f4sunnyiutI really appreciate you taking the time to check in and share your support. It genuinely means a lot, especially while I’m trying to recover.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56454/couldn-t-continue-my-project-due-to-health-issues/232007Fri, 21 Nov 2025 06:22:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:10c4b954-2d1e-4e76-848c-f85a3da26405sunnyiutThanks a lot for your understanding and support. It gives me motivation and comfort.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56454/couldn-t-continue-my-project-due-to-health-issues/231962Wed, 19 Nov 2025 18:40:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:3d124d9a-f412-4fc0-a37a-b2b97acb8d4ebeacon_dave[quote userid="14329" url="~/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56454/couldn-t-continue-my-project-due-to-health-issues"]observing my improvement (a very little though)[/quote] I'd say that any improvement after one month is a very good sign. It took me around ten months before I noticed any signs of improvement. Hope your improvement continues.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56454/couldn-t-continue-my-project-due-to-health-issues/231945Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:19:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:2c3630ec-e6fa-4f38-a659-199b4d96aa1acstantonThanks for letting us know, and please don’t worry about stepping away from the challenge. Your health comes first. It’s good to hear there’s been some improvement, even if it’s small, and I hope the next couple of weeks bring more progress. Take all the time you need to recover. When you’re ready to return to your project, the community will be here. Wishing you strength and a smooth recovery.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56454/couldn-t-continue-my-project-due-to-health-issuesWed, 19 Nov 2025 11:12:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:d6d09dde-4187-4542-938d-36ef54f898cbsunnyiutHello everyone, I am sorry to inform you all that I have been suffering from sciatica pain for the last one month. It was due to a disc bulge at lower back. I was in complete bed rest for three weeks, after that I started physiotherapy in limited manner. Unfortunately I developed dropped foot condition which is a neurological deficit and surgery is the only option. I was supposed to have the surgery after 21st November. However, observing my improvement (a very little though) doctor suggested to wait for a couple of weeks to decide whether I need to go for surgery or not. Therefore, I was totally out of the design challenge. I am sorry. However, I wish you would consider that and I would love to carry on my project again once I get better. Though I couldn't follow others' projects, I would like to congratulate everyone for participating here. Please pray for me.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/m/managed-videos/150766Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:29:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:8ce43c09-648a-4bf0-833d-59d8f1435d15veluv01https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/in-reach-ultrasonic-sensor-sensing-challenge/f/forum/56445/setting-up-the-kr260-ubuntu-22-04-pynq-and-vitis-ai-runtime-v3-5Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:46:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:dad62c33-f639-4813-9e3c-cc82d0864470veluv01KR260 was chosen for this project due to its FPGA-accelerated AI processing and built-in ROS2 support. This allows it to handle ML inference, camera feeds, and ultrasonic sensor data in real time. Its hardware acceleration and flexible I/O make it perfect for applications that use multiple sensors and need quick responses. Ubuntu 22.04 on KR260 For this project I am using the Ubuntu 22.04 instead of the 24.04 version which is available as the latest version as I faced some issues due to the Python version mismatch during the startup when I set the default interpreter to python3.10 as the VART 3.5 requires it. For the setup I referred the guide " Booting Kria Starter Kit Linux on KR260 ", which has all the information regarding the basic setup of the Ubuntu 22.04 for KR260.It's also better to choose an SD with a storage capacity of 64 GB max for flashing the Ubuntu 22.04. I used the Raspberry Pi Imager to flash the Ubuntu 22.04 Image onto the SD card. Initialization Before deploying AI workloads or running PYNQ overlays on the KR260, the board must be configured using AMD’s official initialization tools.This process prepares the operating system, sets up FPGA-related services, and installs board support packages to ensure that the runtime and PYNQ framework operate correctly. The first step is to install the xlnx-config tool, which AMD provides through the Snap store. This utility automates KRIA-specific system configuration tasks, such as enabling FPGA management services, installing boot-time utilities, and preparing system directories used by XRT and runtime components. Installing the tool with the --classic option allows it to access the system-level paths needed for hardware configuration. sudo snap install xlnx-config --classic --channel=2.x After installation, the board is initialized using the sysinit routine. xlnx-config.sysinit Setting Up PYNQ for Kria PYNQ(Python Productivity for Zynq) is an open-source framework from AMD/Xilinx that makes it easier to work with Xilinx's reconfigurable hardware, like the FPGA fabric on the Kria KR260. To enable a Python-based workflow on the KR260, AMD provides the Kria-PYNQ framework. This repository includes board overlays, configuration scripts, Python drivers, and prevalidated examples.Cloning the repository ensures that the latest PYNQ board files and acceleration libraries are available locally for the setup. git clone https://github.com/Xilinx/Kria-PYNQ.git The final step is to run the installation script, specifying the target board. The install.sh script configures Jupyter, installs required Python packages, deploys PYNQ overlays, and sets up runtime services. Using the "-b KR260" flag ensures that the installation process applies the correct board-specific settings, including kernel modules and device-tree overlays. sudo bash install.sh -b KR260 Setting up the Vitis AI 3.5 Runtime Deploying AI workloads on the AMD/Xilinx KR260 requires the Vitis AI Runtime (VART). This runtime serves as the main execution engine for running quantized deep-learning models on the KR260’s DPU accelerator. The VART stack includes libraries for tensor processing, model graph handling, logging, and device abstraction. All of these need to be installed before running any inference workloads. The Vitis AI runtime for KR260 is offered as a compressed ZIP file from AMD’s public download server. This package contains all the necessary libraries, device-specific binaries, and support tools. wget -O vai3.5_kr260.zip "https://www.xilinx.com/bin/public/openDownload?filename=vai3.5_kr260.zip" Once downloaded, the compressed archive must be extracted. unzip vai3.5_kr260.zip The runtime_deb directory holds Vitis AI's core runtime .deb files. These include important components like libunilog, libxir, libtarget-factory, libvart, and libvitis-ai-library. Together, they make up the VART execution layer. AMD provides a script called setup.sh in this directory to install these packages in the right order and ensure that earlier versions are upgraded properly. pushd vai3.5_kr260/target/runtime_deb/ bash setup.sh This script automatically installs all the needed dependencies and configures the system for Vitis AI inference. The KR260 Ubuntu image might lack certain low-level shared libraries needed by the Vitis AI runtime. AMD provides these in a compressed file named lack_lib.tar.gz. Extracting and copying them into /usr/lib fixes any missing dependency problems that could cause VART applications to fail at runtime due to unresolved symbols cd .. tar -xzf lack_lib.tar.gz sudo cp -r lack_lib/* /usr/lib After installing the runtime and any missing libraries, it’s helpful to return to the original working directory using the popd command. This step navigates back to the main vai3.5_kr260 folder, preparing for the installation of utilities like xbutil2. popd The KR260 needs a functioning xbutil2 utility for system inspection, FPGA health checks, and DPU diagnostics. This tool checks if the accelerator is properly initialized and if the Vitis AI runtime environment is ready for use. The utility is located in the xbutil_tool directory and must be copied to the correct system binary location (/usr/bin/unwrapped/) for the Ubuntu to recognize it. sudo cp ./xbutil_tool/xbutil2 /usr/bin/unwrapped/ After installation, users can verify system health using sudo xbutil2 examineIn Reach!