Upcycle it Design Challenge: The Challengers

Carmelito Andrade United States

Project: Wake up to the Upcycled Clock

Synopsis: I have an old clock which was given to me by my Mom and is one of the few things I had that the movers packed when I moved from Toronto, Canada, to Los Angeles, California, for work. The idea here is to upcycle the clock and add some smarts to it using the Intel Edison. (And yes, I am going to have to come up with a better name than "Wake up to the Upcycled Clock," if selected.)  Here are the set of features I plan to implement over the period of the challenge: Show the inside temperature and humidity on the screen using a DHT sensor on an OLED screen; show weather conditions outside; show the outside temperature and humidity using openweathermap.org; show the air quality at home and send an email if the air quality falls below a certain threshold; add a notification light for gmail, youtube and twitter mentions. Here the plan is to replace the couple of mirrors section of the clock with acrylic laser cut pieces with addressable LEDs that shine behind them to show an email and a youtube channel subscribe is live and mentioned in a tweet.

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Daniel Friedman United States

Project: Tick the Tockman

Synopsis: To upcycle an alarm clock and integrate several pieces of technology that allow one to have a better day. For most people, the first hour in the morning can determine the happiness and productivity they will experience throughout the day. How about a reminder of what you have to get ready for or perhaps your favorite song? In addition, what if our alarm clock did more? What if it told you how to get ready for an awesome day? Our group of high school students plan to use Internet of Things (IoT) technology to upcycle some common household appliances. Through IoT, we plan to make your morning run smoother and allow you to have a great start to your day.

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Fernando Hila Ruiz Australia

Project: Rotary Hydroponic System using an old Washing Machine

Synopsis: Adapting an old front-loading washing machine and use it as the main assembly of a rotary hydroponic system controlled by the Intel Edison Kit for Arduino.  The washing machine will monitor nutrient solutions, ambience, energy control, and control outputs.  The kit will be connected to the network through WiFi, allowing remote control monitoring status through a dashboard in order to get data to the cloud and send alert messages.

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Gerrit Polder Netherlands

Project: Upcycled Nixie Display

Synopsis: Using the Intel Edison to upcycle an old Nixie Display found in my attic so the unlimited subject possibilities from the Web that can be displayed through a six digit number. It can be anything from the current local time from a time server or the local time elsewhere in the world, as well as displaying the temperature and humidity of the closest weather station or the forecast for the next day. It can also display the number of visitors of this project's webpage, the internet speed, the position of the ISS space station from space.com. You name it!  My plan is to implement an IoT protocol in order to program the behaviour of the display from a web page.

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Jason Wier United States

Project: PDU Upcycle for Automation

Synopsis: My project is to take an outdated APC AP9211 and give it new life with modern automation. The new APC AP9211 will have a modern HTML5 web interface, automation based on sensors, and the ability to control via MQTT. Once finished, the AP9211 will be able to energize outlets based on sensor readings, report sensor readings via MQTT to a broker, and be able to turn on my wife's coffee maker so that she is happy in the morning.

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Joey Brock United States

Project: Hermes 3000 Typewriter Upcycle

Synopsis: For this project, I will be upcycling a Hermes 3000 Typewriter. The idea is simple: send an email using a typewriter. To accomplish this task, I will install the Intel Edison and some photointerrupter sensors on the inside of the typewriter. The sensors will allow the Edison to read which keys are being pressed on the typewriter. It will be more of a novelty idea rather than solving a realistic problem, but in the end I will make this 1960's typewriter a fun 21st-century-compatible device.

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John Kutzschebauch United States

Project: UpCycle R2I (Refrigerator 2 Incubator)

Synopsis:  I am taking an old mini-fridge and using it as the main part of my Upcycle project.  It will be a custom-designed egg turning assembly that allows a dozen or more fertilized chicken eggs to incubate. It can be expanded to full size later.  The newer model will avoid the issues of chlorofluorocarbons (cfc), which can damage the ozone layer and still impact landfills or similar disposal options due to their size and quantity.  Ultimately, the R2I will become the incubator of chicken eggs to show success!

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Konstantinos Konstas United States

Project: Embedded Web SDR client on Analog Radio Receiver

Synopsis: I have an old Panasonic DR-28/RF-2800 from back in the 80's in my bedroom that I do not want to giveaway for recycling.  I have been thinking about building an embedded WEB SDR Client, since the time the Utwente WEB SDR was my only means to actually listen to HF radio waves. Being able to listen to BBC Radio 4’s broadcast in Long Wave clearly, and without any interference, was a very pleasant surprise for me; the same applied to Morse code (CW). Before being informed about this Upcycle it Design Challenge with Intel's Edison, I was very seriously thinking of taking an ESP8266 type 12 to its limits by using it for such a project, but I then thought I'd give it a try with the Edison! Why not?

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Megan Rose Bryant United States

Project: Collapsible Wind Turbine Using Recycled Alternator with Charge Controller

Synopsis: I'm in the process of building a tiny home.  My idea is for a roof-top, collapsible wind-turbine made out of recycled and reclaimed materials. The blades would be made out of reclaimed PVC. I would build a collapsible frame, preferably out of aluminum. I would use an old bicycle wheel to help turn the alternator. The alternator is recycled from my old 97 e350. The wind mill itself would be roof mounted, but collapsible for travel. On the roof assembly, there are sensors mounted to monitor the weather and temperature. Inside the house would be the battery bank, charge controller, and led output screen. This would be enclosed in a repurposed house.

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Miguel Angel Garcia Fuentes Mexico

Project: Stay Focused In The Sky

Synopsis: The project "stay focused in the sky" uses an old telescope manual mount, some disposable industrial motors with encoders, an old web cam, and the Intel Edison board to create a renewed telescope mount for astrophotography with higher stability and longer exposure periods.  This web cam will be mounted in the telescope as a tracker and using image processing algorithms and digital controllers to follow various points in the sky with the highest level of stability.

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Ognyan Chikov Bulgaria

Project: VHS Smart Box

Synopsis: I decided to "UpCycle" an old VHS video player into a new smart machine for watching movies, measuring the inside/outside weather condition, and for storing gold jewelry. The bigger challenge is to use the provided KIT to play an HD Video, because the scope of the KIT is in another location.  I also plan to expand this box to command my TV Set and LED lights that were installed in the sectional furniture.  Data will be sent to a web service.  I prefer to have a ready Phone app to control the state of actuators and visualize the measurements.  This will save the planet from another electronic garbage and make my house IoT connected.

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Ravi Butani India

Project: Enchanted Refrigerator

Synopsis: I would like to upcycle my 2002 made godrej refrigerator with the Intel Edison so it can order consumables from Amazon using the Amazon Dash Replenishment Service. I will add an RGB Light with Intel Edison in the refrigerator, which will be connected to my IoT based Smart Health monitor. This will allows me get realtime data of my heart rate and body temperature. The color of this light will change and when I open the fridge just by looking at the light color. I will get to know what will be a good food to eat based on my health parameters. Implementation: There are two main innovative features I will add to my fridge to upcycle it: (1) Auto reordering Consumables using the Intel Edison and Amazon Dash Replenishment APIs and (2) an Enchanted Light in the Fridge using the Intel Edison and my own IoT based Smart Health Monitor.

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Sakthi Vvs (Sakthivigneshwar R) India

Project: Funeka - The Skull

Synopsis: I plan to upcycle a plastic skull, which I used to scare my cousin with, so it will recognize my voice (speech-to-text), move and speak (text-to-speech).  It will read Gmail account, temperature, humidity, etc. Sounds like the usual stuff? There are more fun things to it: how about some motion tracking eyes that glow blue, a cool night lamp, and some LEDs and High Voltage Arcs that react to audio?

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Sergey Vlasov Canada

Project: WiFi Connected Smoke Detector

Synopsis: I have an old smoke detector that I would like to use in combination with another project proposal of mine - the "smart oven". I want to add a WiFi connection to the smoke detector so when it detects smoke from the oven, it can send an alert to a smart phone, as well as notify the IoT connected oven and automatically turn off the oven. This will make my home a safer place with the reuse of old electrical equipment.

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Workshopshed (Andy Clark) United Kingdom

Project: Interactive Racing Car Driver

Synopsis: Andy's project will use the Intel Edison to bring life back into two old toys; a 4 wheel drive remote control car and a dissected Furby. Both of these are easily 20 years old and have been living in a box for too long. Now is the chance to free them! Andy is an experienced maker with a big Element14 design challenge under his belt, the "Enchanted Cottage". Last year he built a Dragon Detecting animatronic knight. His experience with embedded Linux is growing year by year and he has worked with a wide range of maker boards. Andy has a selection of old electronic parts hoarded over the years so the intention is to incorporate as many old components as possible.

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