Project14 | Quick Update on Upcoming Competitions + What Would You Like To See Happen In Project14?

In the background there might be many things going on with element14 staff. We know something about how things works. Hence, cant say much..But yes having a good explanation of what the competition is all about and it's requirements would make clear goal.

ntewinkel said:

Not sure if it would make things easier, to maybe separate sponsored competitions from regular open ones, or if all competitions should be considered sponsored and hardware-specific with once or twice a year having an open one.  ?

We've discussed this among the team, and decisions are still being made.

I wondered "But then what's the difference between it and a design challenge?"

Let's keep it as if was before. Just come up with themes or topics related to electronics. If I remember, occasionally, project14 did give arduino boards for posting about project14 ideas. But that was like 1-2 times a year. I feel the project14 in it's current for is the best one, where one is not restricted to use a given board/components and the prize is always cart money for e14 store which again gives the flexibility to the member to choose the prize.

(Im)Patiently waiting for project14 to resume

rsjawale24 said:

If I remember, occasionally, project14 did give arduino boards for posting about project14 ideas.

Yes, Project14 had been tied in with Arduino to help with the logistics of running the competition and also because we wanted to support Arduino, so they coincided on occasion; the thought often is "Well, why not do a competition based on hardware people like and find easier to use (and often have)?"

I really like the way Project 14 worked with overlapping themes and schedules. With a new contest theme being started each month, after a couple of months of discussion and voting, and a couple of months to complete the project. it meant that you could choose to work on any one of several themes, depending on which you liked best. (Instead of starting on one only to discover later that the next one would have been more fun for you)  Basically each project was in play for 4 or 5 months and with a new announcement every month there was always several projects in play or on the radar at any given time. This also kept the Project 14 activity at a more dynamic pace - there was always some activity, even while members were busy working on a project, before blogging, there was always some discussion activity about the next theme(s).

I like the idea of mini design challenges that have reduced expectations. They don't always need to be mega projects, just small sponsored kit projects could be a lot of fun.

I like the sound of this a lot, it could be a great way to use all the ideas and suggestions everyone has for design challenges.

I could see some potential in a theme based around the likes of Katie's Fidget Cube where you have to come up with a new side (or sides) to the cube. There could be 'extra points' for turning it into a tutorial blog, making it decorative as well as functional, sticking to a design standard (plays nicely with the cube), etc.

Allowable variations could be stand-alone sides that could be used as fidget decorations.

Ideally the end product could be used as a basis for an e14 'solder kit' series that can be used standalone or combined.

This sounds great, it could maybe fit into a mini design challenge series, depending on the complexity of each side that someone wanted to create.

Any update on when is Project14 resuming?
There was a contest on Halloween theme recently, but I guess that is already over.