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migration.user — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 18:05:22 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by migration.user on 10/1/2021 6:05:22 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge: The Kit

jwatson — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:28:16 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 8/1/2017 4:28:16 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

The 15 official Challengers for the "Upcycle it" Design Challenge will receive for FREE the following kit from our sponsor, Intel®. (The kit is worth about $260.)

The lucky 15 will then embark on building an inspiring and inventive project that will upcycle an obsolete item, computer, or appliance that they would otherwise have discarded, and make it into something useful, with greater functionality and value. (NOTE: Even if you aren't an official Challenger, you can still participate in the challenge as long as you comply with the main terms and conditions and integrate the Intel® Edison in your design.)

For the official Challengers, if you complete your project by the deadline and write at least 10 blog posts, you’ll also be in the running for some awesome prizes, including a Keithley DMM7510 Digital MultimeterKeithley DMM7510 Digital Multimeter worth almost $4,000.

The Kit Buy KitBuy Kit
Intel® Edison for Arduino The Intel® Edison Board for Arduino is a development platform that allows for rapid prototyping of “Internet of Things” (IoT) and wearable computing products. It supports Arduino Sketches, Linux, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The board is compatible with Arduino Uno's I/O except it that it has 4 PWM instead of 6 PWM. Its 20 digital input/output pins include 4 pins as PWM outputs. It also has 6 analog inputs, one UART (Rx/Tx), one I²C, an ICSP 6-pin header (SPI), a Micro USB device connector, a dedicated standard size USB host Type-A connector, a Micro USB device, an SD card connector and a DC power jack (7 to 15 VDC input).	Buy NowBuy Now
Intel® Edison Breakout Board Slightly larger than the Intel® Edison module itself, the Intel® Edison Breakout Board (also called the "mini" breakout board) is designed to expose the native 1.8 V I/O of the Intel® Edison module. The board consists of a power supply, battery charger, USB OTG power switch, UART to USB bridge, USB OTG port, and an I/O header. It has a 0.1 inch grid I/O array of through-hole solder points. The DC power supply jack accepts a 7 to 15 VDC input.	Buy NowBuy Now
Arduino Protoshield R3 The Arduino Protoshield R3 makes it easy to design custom circuits for the Upcycle it Design Challenge. You can solder parts to the prototyping area, or use it with a small solderless breadboard to quickly test circuit ideas. Features include: Arduino 1.0 pin outs, a large 0.1inch prototyping area, Reset button, 14-pin SMD footprint (50mils pitch), 20-pin through hole footprint (100mils pitch), SPI header, and easy-to-solder ground/5V rails.	Buy NowBuy Now
Seeed Studio Grove Start Kit for Arduino Seeed Studio's Grove Starter Kit is a handy collection of components for rapid prototyping, based on the Arduino-compatible, Grove plugable-component system. Besides the base shield, the kit includes a rotary angle sensor, RGB Backlight LCD, sound sensor, button, light sensor, touch sensor, temperature sensor, LEDs, relay, buzzer, servo, and more.	Buy NowBuy NowBuy Now *Available in North America, UK & Ireland
Triad Magnetics WSX120-2000WSX120-2000 AC/DC Power Supply To power the Intel® Edison from an external source, the Upcycle it kit includes theTriad Magnetics WSX120-2000WSX120-2000 AC/DC Power Supply, which accepts a 90 to 264VAC input and outputs 12 VDC at 2A. It has a changeable head so it can be used anywhere in the world.	Buy NowBuy Now
Molex Cable Assembly To connect the Intel® Edison for Arduino or Breakout Boards to your computer, the kit includes a USB-A to Micro USB-B 2-meter long cable assembly	Buy NowBuy Now

Join in this Challenge and challenge the challengers at any time to be in with a chance to win the prizes. Just blog in the Upcycle it space (tagging your blogs with 'upcycle it').

Tags: design challenge, design_challenge, upcycleit, upcycle, upcycle it design challenge: the kit

Upcycle it Design Challenge: The Prizes

jwatson — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:26:43 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 8/1/2017 4:26:43 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

Prizes Sponsored by The element14 Community

To reward the creativity and innovativeness of the official contestants in the element14 Upcycle it Design Challenge with Intel® Edison, we are offering these exciting and valuable prizes.

Join in this Challenge and challenge the challengers at any time to be in with a chance to win the prizes. Just blog in the Upcycle it space (tagging your blogs with 'upcycle it').

Grand Prize Includes:
	Keithley DMM7510DMM7510 Digital Multimeter + Dremel 4000 MultiTool Kit + Weller Digital Soldering Station (retail value $4324).

Runner Up Prize Includes:
	Motorola Moto 360 Watch + Dremel 4000 MultiTool Kit + Emulation Technology ET-413ET-413 USB 2MP Pen Microscope + Weller Digital Soldering Station (retail value $887).

Third Prize Includes:
	Marshal Touch Screen Smart Watch + Dremel 4000 MultiTool Kit + Weller Digital Soldering Station (retail value $573).

Finisher Prize Includes:
	Duratool Hot Air Gun + Soldering Tool Kit + NTE Electronics Heat Shrink Tubing Kit (retail value $123).

Tags: intel, design_challenge, upcycle_it, upycle it, upcycle, prize, prizes, design competition, upcycle it with edison: the prizes, intel edison, design challenges

Upcycle it Design Challenge: The Judges

jwatson — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:24:22 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 8/1/2017 4:24:22 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

Welcome to our Experts & Judges for the Upcycle it Design Challenge with Intel® Edison!

Thank you to Martin from Intel® (martinkronberg), element14 Top Member Mark (mcb1) and Huzefa from Intel® (huzefa_nk) for being on hand to respond to challengers' questions during project builds.

If you have any questions, you can message martinkronberg, mcb1 and huzefa_nk by @mentioning their usernames in a post. You can also visit their profiles and FOLLOW them to receive all their new posts.

For any general questions about the challenge, you can post a 'comment' on the About this Challenge page. Your fellow challengers or anyone following the challenge are likely to respond. You can also 'bookmark' the Upcycle It Design Challenge to keep up-to-date with all the challenge posts.

martinkronberg - Intel® Technical Evangelist

Martin is a Technical Evangelist for Intel®'s Developer Relations Division. He is responsible for running workshops, creating content, and supporting the developer community in the Internet of Things environment. He is skilled in developing applications that interface hardware with cloud analytics and have included computer vision, robotics, and language processing.

mcb1 - element14 Top Member & Upcycling Expert

Mark reached Top Member status very quickly and was also element14's first ever Level 9 member.

"I trained as an Electronics Technician back when most things glowed, transistors and IC’s were not as common, and the internet didn't exist. I dabbled in BASIC and VB and never really progressed until introduced to Arduino, hence software isn’t my stronghold. I’ve been fortunate to combine my electronics with my hobbies and expand my ‘comfort zone’ by taking part in Design Challenges and RoadTests. My daytime job is a Technical Co-Ordinator for New Zealand's Air Traffic Provider, Airways, where we monitor and respond to faults throughout the country."

Expertise and Interests:

Electronics
Hot Rodding
Skiing
Mechanical Things

huzefa_nk - Intel® Support Engineer & Expert for Upcycle it

Huzefa Kankroliwala is responsible for providing face-to-face and online technical support to Intel®'s ever growing IoT Developer community. He assists with project development, training materials and system/lab maintenance and is skilled in developing and supporting applications for Atom based mobile/tablet and IoT platforms. He has also worked on device drivers and BSPs on Linux platforms for Android devices.

Tags: design_challenge, upcycle_it, the_judges, upcycle it design challenge: the judges, with_edison

Upcycle it Design Challenge: Terms and Conditions

jwatson — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:23:15 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 8/1/2017 4:23:15 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

Download the attached PDF to view the Upcycle it Design Challenge Terms and Conditions.

Join in this Challenge and challenge the challengers at any time to be in with a chance to win the prizes. Just blog in the Upcycle it space (tagging your blogs with 'upcycle it').

Good luck!

Attachments:

community.element14.com/.../Upcycle-it-Design-Challenge-with-Intel_2800_R_2900_-Edison_5F00_Terms-and-Conditions_5F00_31-Jan-2017.pdf

Upcycle it Design Challenge with Intel(R) Edison_Terms and Conditions_31 Jan 2017.pdf

Tags: upcycle it design challenge: terms and conditions, design_challenge, terms_&_conditions, upcycle_it, terms_and_conditions

Upcycle it Design Challenge: Unboxing Video

pchan — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:22:35 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by pchan on 8/1/2017 4:22:35 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: upcycle_it, upcycle it design challenge: unboxing video, unboxing_video

What is Upcycling? Let The Ben Heck Show Team Tell You!

cstanton — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:22:04 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by cstanton on 8/1/2017 4:22:04 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

What is Upcycling? Here is an introduction by Ben Heck and Karen of The Ben Heck Show!

players.brightcove.net/.../index.html

Enroll in the Challenge

Tags: intel, tbhs, upcycleit, the ben heck show, edison, upcycling, intel edison

Upcycle it Design Challenge: Intro Video

jwatson — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:21:29 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 8/1/2017 4:21:29 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

The element14 Community is pleased to introduce the Upcycle it Design Challenge featuring Intel® Edison Kit for Arduino, Intel® Edison Breakout Board, Arduino Protoshield R3, the Grove Starter Kit for Arduino, an AC/DC power supply and a USB cable.

element14 invites all makers, DIY hobbyists, tinkerers and engineers to upcycle an obsolete item(s), computer or appliance that they would otherwise would have been discarded, and make it into something useful, with greater functionality and value. To meet the Upcycle it Design Challenge, members can build using unlimited components to complete an original electronics-based project.

Join in this Challenge and challenge the challengers at any time to be in with a chance to win the prizes. Just blog in the Upcycle it space (tagging your blogs with 'upcycle it').

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: intro, upcycle_it, introduction video, upcycleit, upcycle it design challenge, upcycle it, introduction_video

Upcycle it Design Challenge: About This Challenge

jwatson — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:20:56 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 8/1/2017 4:20:56 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

Bring obsolete objects and unused gear back to life for a chance to win great prizes in the element14 Upcycle it Design Challenge with Intel® Edison.

We invite all engineers, DIY hobbyists and tinkerers to upcycle an obsolete item, computer, piece of electronic equipment or appliance and make a cool new electronics project built around the Intel® Edison Kit for Arduino.

The Upcycle it Design Challenge will choose 15 official challengers to receive a Challenger Kit for FREE, but thereafter anyone can join the Challenge simply by posting in the Upcycle it space (tagging their blogs 'upcycle it') to be in with a chance to win prizes.

Anyone completing a project by the 4th June deadline (midnight GMT) and posting at least 10 times on the Community detailing their project build will be in the running to win some awesome prizes, including a Keithley DMM7510DMM7510 Digital Multimeter worth almost $4,000.

The official Challengers must build their project in accordance with the challenge's terms and conditions. All projects must include the Intel® Edison.

Tags: design_challenge, upcycle_it, upcycle it design challenge: about this challenge

Upcycle It: Honorable Mentions

e14phil — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 08:20:33 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by e14phil on 7/18/2017 8:20:33 AM

About the Honorable Mentions

As in all of our Design Challenges, element14 enlists the help of a panel of judges to select the three top designs of the Challenge .

After the winners are announced (read about the winners here Upcycle It Winners Announcement), the Design Challenge team gets together for a post-Challenge meeting where we reflect on the Challenge. The one thing that stuck out during this meeting was our unanimous feeling that there were a lot of good ideas and designs that deserved recognition. So, we decided to create an Honorable Mention Award.

After much discussion, debate, and give-and-take, we settled on three Challengers worthy of mentioning. (You may want to nominate other Challengers for an Honorable Mention. Feel free to do so in the comments section below.) The three winners of Honorable Mentions will also be awarded a Honorable Mention Medal.

Without further ado, here are the winners of the Honorable Mention winners for the element14 Upcycle It Design Challenge:

1) Honorable Mention

Andy Clark Workshopshed
Terrifying Upcycled Furby and RC Car,

https://www.element14.com/community/tags#/?tags=upcycled_interactiveracecardriver

Something must be said for a guy who got inspiration for his project by rummaging through his scrap drawer to make something interesting like an interactive toy car and driver. Rummaging through a scrap drawer is where most of us at one time began our love of making, tinkering and building. Building some complex designs around these scrap pieces really stood out for us in terms of creativity, innovation and fun.

Judges said:

"Using a web interface to create an amazing talking Furby go kart with working indicators and sound. We loved his use of multiple upcycled items and the interface."

2) Honorable Mention

Nando Hila nandohila
Washing Machine Hydroponic Grower

https://www.element14.com/community/community/design-challenges/upcycleit/blog/tags#/?tags=washing_machine

We were impressed with not only the hydroponic 'Good Earth' theme of this challenger's project, but really enjoyed all the shots of his drilling, grinding and sawing away at an old washing machine. It was quite a production, requiring a lot of different skills to make it work.

Judges said:
"Using a washing machine to create an automated hydroponics system, very ambitious big engineering and electronics project!"

3) Honorable Mention

Sergey Vlasov vlasov01

WiFi Connected Smoke Detector

[Upcycle It] WiFi Connected Smoke Detector - Project Index

Taking a simple smoke detector anyone can buy in a local hardware store and envisioning a complex redesign, and executing it to as close to perfection as possible made us shout out some happy applause for this cool project. It's a great textbook example of the nuts and bolts of transforming traditional home devices into connected devices. Not as easy as some people think.

Judges Said:
"It's a simple idea that illustrates an IoT device, and everything in between. He has a well laid out design that anyone can follow. He communicates the design well."

Tags: intel, hydroponics, design challenge, mqtt, upcycle_it, rc, rc car, upcycle, upcycle it, furby, edison

Upcycle It Winners Announcement

e14phil — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 13:26:29 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by e14phil on 6/27/2017 1:26:29 PM

We are very happy to announce the winners of the Upcycle It Design Challenge.

Prize	Project Name	Name	Username
Grand	Wake up to the Upcycled Clock	Carmelito Andrade	carmelito
Runner Up	PDU Upcycle for Automation	Jason Wier	jasonwier92
Third	Upcycled Nixie Display	Gerrit Polder	gpolder

Grand Prize Winner

Carmelito upcycled a mirrored clock into a truly functional household IoT Hub.

He used the Intel Edison to:

Check weather, check it against criteria then display a notification via a custom 3D printed diffusion panel.
Check the traffic based on Google Maps Distance Matrix API to warn him if he has to leave early.
Follow a hashtag on twitter and warn him if that hashtag has been used more than 5 times in a day.
Display email notifications.
Monitor and display environmental values such as Air Quality and Temperature.
Make the clock speak and read some of the values mentioned.
Upload his data to a cloud database solution.
Manage the notification LEDs and LCD screen.

The judges were impressed with the use of fabrication techniques used, such as 3D printing using a wood based filament and then staining it along with the rest of the wooden frame. Camelito's consistent build blogs are of the highest quality to go along with a top class IoT project, This is why he clinched the top spot.

Carmelito's Prizes

Keithley DMM7510DMM7510 Digital Multimeter
Dremel 4000 MultiTool Kit
Weller Digital Soldering Station

Grand Prize

Wake up to the Upcycled Clock

Carmelito Andrade

carmelito

Runner Up Winner

Jason upcycled the APC AP9211, a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) produced in 1999 into a functional modern IoT Power Distribution Unit.

He used the Intel Edison to:

Manage a custom, responsive web interface to control the relays with a modern handheld device.
Replace RS-232RS-232 serial and SNMP with MQTT to transmit the commands quickl.
Make control of the device wireless.
Communicate with his home hub to manage temperature and lights.
Display graphs of the captured data.

The judges were impressed with his prototyping, the use of MQTT to control something physical, and NodeRed to tie it all together.
They also felt that he designed a highly marketable project that they could see on the shelves of their local electronics store.
Jason's blogs described the whole process, victories and challenges as well as providing the detailed code involved.

Jason's Prizes

Motorola Moto 360 Watch
Dremel 4000 MultiTool Kit
Emulation Technology ET-413ET-413 USB 2MP Pen Microscope
Weller Digital Soldering Station

Runner Up

PDU Upcycle for Automation

Jason Wier

jasonwier92

Third Place Winner

Gerrit upcycled Electomatic’s Impulszähler EZK impulse counter (and its beautiful nixie tubes) into a web scraped value display device.

Although the data displayed is relatively simple, the method for gathering and displaying information really caught the judges' imagination.

He used the Intel Edison to:

Find and Display Time, Date, Temperature, Humidity and Pressure.
Find and Display Ran Vol in the last 3 hours.
Scrape and display Blog Views and Likes.
Control a custom PCB board that interfaces with the Nixie Tube controller.
Control I2C Node Red Module.
Make the display speak with a connected Wireless Bluetooth speaker.

The judges were impressed with Gerrit creating his own PCBs to interface the Edison and the nixie tube controller. Gerrit's blogs are very well written and feature lots of great videos and pictures of the process. The judges loved the concept of taking such a beautiful old technology, like nixie tubes, and hacking into them to display (and speak) up to date information from the Internet.

Gerrit's Prizes:

Marshal Touch Screen Smart Watch
Dremel 4000 MultiTool Kit
Weller Digital Soldering Station

Third

Upcycled Nixie Display

Gerrit Polder

gpolder

Thank you and congratulations to the winners of the Upcycle It Design Challenge.

Tags: upcycle, past_contest, upcycle it, upcycleit design challenge, intel_edison

Upcycle it Design Challenge: The Challengers

jwatson — Mon, 08 May 2017 15:44:38 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by jwatson on 5/8/2017 3:44:38 PM

Upcycle it Design Challenge
About this Challenge	The Kit	The Prizes	Intro Video	What is Upcycling Video
Unboxing Video	The Judges	Example Application	Terms and Conditions	The Challengers

Welcome to the Upcycle it Design Challengers!

'Upcycle it' begins with element14 in association with Intel® sponsoring the first 15 Challengers pairing their preloved electronics with an Intel® Edison for Arduino.

Please join us in congratulating the official sponsored Challengers. We look forward to reading all your initial blogs introducing your project designs:

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.

Carmelito Andrade's project blogs

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.

Daniel Friedman's project blogs

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.

Fernando Hila Ruiz's project blogs

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.

Gerrit Polder's project blogs

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.

Jason Wier's project blogs

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.

Joey Brock's project blogs

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!

John Kutzschebauch's project blogs

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?

Konstantinos Konstas's project blogs

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.

Megan Rose Bryant's project blogs

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.

Miguel Angel Garcia Fuentes' project blogs

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.

Ognyan Chikov's project blogs

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.

Ravi Butani's project blogs

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?

Sakthi Vvs's project blogs

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.

Sergey Vlasov's project blogs

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.

Workshopshed's project blogs

Not sponsored?

Why not challenge our Challengers? We still invite all engineers, DIY hobbyists and tinkerers to upcycle any obsolete item, computer, piece of electronic equipment or appliance in to something useful with greater functionality and value.

If you still want to take part, simply buy Intel® Edison for Arduino, post atleast 10 blogs on your finished design in Upcycle it before midnight (GMT) on the 4th June 2017 and you too will be in with a chance of winning fantastic finalist prizes.

Read full terms & conditions for more details.

Good Luck Everyone!

Tags: design_challenge, upcycle_it, intel_edison, the_challengers