Documents

10 Finalists will create “The Internet of the Backyard” in element14 design challenge

wpolk — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:53:02 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by wpolk on 10/8/2021 7:53:02 AM

CHICAGO – August 13, 2014 – element14, Plotly and Texas Instruments (TI) are proud to announce 10 finalists in the Internet of the Backyard challenge, a competition designed to elevate summer activities. During this unique competition, designers will use the all-new SimpleLink^™ Wi-Fi^® CC3200 LaunchPad from TI and the online collaborative platform Plotly to bring Internet of Things (IoT) technology to traditional backyard elements.

“IoT is obviously a key trend in the electronics and engineering fields, and element14 is the place where engineers are building the internet of things,” said Dianne Kibbey, global head of community, element14. “We received some great proposals from people in the U.S. and abroad, and we’re looking forward to seeing how their builds could make summer more connected and enjoyable for people in the future.”

The participants and their proposed projects include:

Janis Alnis (Latvia) – automated tomato irrigation system
Christopher Bailey (U.S.) – moisture-detecting garden watering system that also deters pests
Don Bertke (U.S.) – storm detector; or a squirrel detector to keep them away from a bird feeder
Bill Crum (U.S.) – backyard gate monitoring system
Colin Gerrish (Ireland) – grass length monitoring device
Steve Hamilton (U.S.) – garden monitoring system measuring humidity, temperature, precipitation, sunlight and wind, among other factors
Lukasz Krysiewicz (Poland) – intelligent garden umbrella
Timothy Nott (U.S.) – automated bird observation system
Matthias Stutz (Germany) – rooftop weather station
Brian Sutherland (Canada) – humidity-sensing sprinkler

The finalists will post blog updates on element14.com/backyard every two weeks to show their progress, and the winner will be announced October 17, 2014, with the prize being a trip to an upcoming Maker Faire to show off their build.

In designing the CC3200 LaunchPad, TI has produced the industry's first Wi-Fi solution with a user-dedicated, programmable MCU. At the heart of the device lies a high-performance ARM^® Cortex^®-M4. Combined with onboard temperature sensors and a 3-axis accelerometer, TI’s new product is ready to drive an entire IoT application with a single IC, right out of the box.

Plotly makes it easy for design engineers to capture, stream, and visualize data from their development kits, and they have developed a custom API just for LaunchPad users to easily connect their development kits to the Internet.

-End-

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Tags: texas-instruments, iot_backyard, plotly, iot, cc3200, launchpad

Internet of the Backyard Challenge Competitors

ChristyZ — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:52:59 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by ChristyZ on 10/8/2021 7:52:59 AM

Janis Alnis
Latvia

Project: Tomato Plant Monitoring System
Synopsis:

We grow tomatoes in a small home garden greenhouse. And they are so tasty! Greenhouse must be watered every 2nd day. And it is quite hard job. Water is brought from a small pond into a 200 l barrel to let it warm up and then manually distributed with a can to each plant.

I would like to automate this process. I have bought a 20 W solar panel and a pool fountain pump able to lift water ca 2 m. Water consumption depends if day is sunny or cloudy and so also the available solar pump power. On a cloudy day the solar panel current is too weak to start the pump. I have deviced a circuit storing solar energy into a 1 Farad super-capacitor. When capacitor is charged full it starts to drive the pump for ca 20s. This eliminates battery that would need replacement after a few years.

Read Janis's project blogs (tag iot_tomato)

Christopher Bailey
United States

Project: IoT Garden Watering System
Synopsis:

I will design a watering system for a backyard garden which will not only keep track of the moisture of the soil to determine how much water is needed, but also keep small animals like squirrels away from the plants by spraying water if it senses their presence.

Read Christopher's project blogs (tag iot_water)

Don Bertke
United States

Project: IoT Storm Detector
Synopsis:

I would have the device monitor sound for thunder and a light detector to catch lightning. Either trigger makes the backyard a hazardous location. It would also let you know if your are drying clothes outside that they need to be brought in.

Read Don's project blogs (tag iot_storm)

Bill Crum
United States

Project: Backyard Gate Monitoring System
Synopsis:

Monitor movement of gate, opening and closing. Report to server or phone for alert. Wire a push button to act as doorbell. Send udp/tcp alert packet to Android/Iphone. Attach trickle charge solar cell circuit to keep battery charged. Monitor sunlight and battery usage.

Read Bill's project blogs (tag iot_gate)

Colin Gerrish
Ireland

Project: Grass Growing Monitoring System
Synopsis:

I would like to build a multi light sensor "stick" which is vertically mounted. About 3 to 5 light sensor are placed about 2 cm apart. This data is the captured by a micro and relayed to the cloud via wifi or rf device in gateway inside house. By analysing the differences (plot.y would work great here) I will be able to determine statistically based on comparative light differentials over time of all the sensors as to when the grass is getting longer. The idea is that as the grass grows so the light sensors closer to the ground will get less and less light.

Read Colin's project blogs (tag iot_grass)

Steve Hamilton
United States

Project: IoT Garden Monitoring System
Synopsis:

The system would monitor conditions, log data, and control watering.

Features would include:

Humidity monitor
Temperature monitor
Barometric pressure monitor
Precipitation monitor
Sunlight exposure monitor
Wind speed monitor
Soil hydration monitor
Watering control through different zones

A web interface would be used for manual control, instant and historical data readings, and downloading of data.

Read Steve's project blogs (tag iot_garden)

Lukasz Krysiewicz
Poland

Project: Intelligent Garden Umbrella
Synopsis:

My umbrella will have the following functions:

1. storm and strong wind detection
When wind will be too strong umbrella will be automatically closed in this case umbrella will be protected before destruction

2. automatic sun protection
When people are under umbrella and is sunny day umbrella detecting sun position, changing own position and giving shadow for people under umbrella

3. weather forecast system
Device for giving people under umbrella information about weather for example: Warning: in 2 hours will be storm and strong wind, Today will be sunny day. Predicted temperature at 2 p.m. is 35 Celsjus degree

Read Lukasz's project blogs (tag iot_umbrella)

Timothy Nott
United States

Project: Bird Observation Automation
Synopsis:

Internet-connected, automatically-operated camera to visually capture visits to a feeder
Connect an RFID reader to bird feeder in order to read PIT tags attached to birds by researchers
Uniquely identify observation points and observers for reporting purposes
Potentially submit data to Cornell Ornithology Lab FeederWatch program and the USGS North American Bird Banding program

Read Timothy's project blogs (tag iot_bird)

Inderpreet Singh
India

Project: IoT Clothesline
Synopsis:

The system consists of the following components:

MET System: A meteorological system composed of an anemometer(wind speed sensor), rain sensor, light sensor and temperature sensor will monitor param
Electronic Clothesline: A mechanical arrangement which uses a motor and pulleys to control the location of clothes hanging on a line.

The board will talk to an online weather forecast system to determine if the winds are just temporary or part of a storm. This will prevent the clothes line from opening and closing every time there is a gust of wind.

Read Inderpreet's project blogs (tag iot_clothesline)

Matthias Stutz
Germany

Project: IoT Weather Station
Synopsis:

It will send all the Weather information like outside temperature air pressure wind speed and direction. I want to connect a SD-Card to the system for saving a weather log. For some functions I need the position and the direction the of weather station when it's set up on the roof of my house. for this the System is extended by GPS and a compass. One function is self calibration of pressure and wind direction. Further the station can add its position to its data, when read from the Internet. It can be extended for further weather data like rain, sun intensity and thunderstorm warning.

Read Matthias's project blogs (tag iot_weather)

Brian Sutherland
Canada

Project: IoT Soil Humidity Detector
Synopsis:

I would measure the soil humidity to trigger my sprinkler once a day during dry periods, and not during sunny periods, to avoid burning the plants. I would include a flowmeter to record how much water the lawn had received (like the Adafruit iot kegbot) (since billing for water used is increasingly common) as a backup for the humidity sensor. My phone would be updated with plots of humidity and watering over time (I'd have to experiment which notification method was best, probably a text message).

Read Brian's project blogs (tag iot_soil)

Tags: dc_iot, design_challenge, iot_backyard

Terms and Conditions: Internet of the Backyard design challenge

bluescreen — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:52:15 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by bluescreen on 10/8/2021 7:52:15 AM

How to enter the challenge:

Step 1: Log in or register on element14, it's easy and free.

Step 2: Post in the comments section below what you would do with the CC3200 LaunchPad and why you should be selected to receive the build. Videos, pictures and text can all be included in your submission.

Step 3: Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! We will accept entries until 3:00pm CDT July 16, 2014 and announce the names of our 10 selected participants shortly after.

Important Notice:

By submitting an entry you will automatically start receiving notifications of other responses to this post. If you do not wish to receive notifications, select "Unfollow" at the top right of the post. If you have any questions, please let us know in our Feedback & Support

Additional Terms

Individuals will be selected to receive the above mentioned build from the element14 Community on the basis of the quality of the submission of idea or application as determined by element14 and/or Texas Instruments.
Individuals selected to receive the build will be required to submit regular blog entries showing the status of their build every two weeks. Additional content is encouraged!
Failure by a selected individual to participate in accordance with the parameters of the giveaway, provided no reasonable cause for this inability to participate is given, may result in exclusion from future Design Challenges or product giveaways.
The challenge will end November 7, 2014. Participants must post their final build blog post no later than this date.
The first-place and runner-up winners will be announced by November 14, 2014 on element14.
First-place winner will get to choose between an IoT programming / hacking experience at OpenBerlin with Cisco Systems or attendance at the Maker Faire in the Bay Area in Spring 2015.
Runner-up winner will receive an assortment of products from element14 and Texas Instruments whose final composition will be determined at the point of winner selection.
This giveaway is not open to individuals employed by the Premier Farnell group of companies.

Tags: iot_backyard

Documents

migration.user — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 18:02:50 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by migration.user on 10/1/2021 6:02:50 PM