Tomato plant monitoring system takes top prize as “Internet of the Backyard” competition comes to a close
November 19, 2014 – Chicago – The element14 Community, in partnership with Texas Instruments (TI) and Plotly, announce the winning design of their “Internet of the Backyard” design challenge – a competition aimed at bringing Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities to everyday backyard appliances and devices. Janis Alnis of Latvia was named the Grand Prize Winner for his Tomato Plant Monitoring System.
“A big thank to you to Janis and all of the competitors who took part in the Internet of the Backyard competition,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community, element14. “Janis’ plant monitoring system was chosen for effectively leveraging the power of IoT in a practical, personal and fun way. We look forward to seeing all of the competitors continue on with the designs that made this yet another successful Community challenge.”
Alnis’ solution used TI’s new SimpleLink
Wi-Fi
CC3200 platform to add connectivity to his garden, enabling him to automatically water the tomato plants in his greenhouse. A 20W solar panel drives power to a capacitor and water pump, carrying water from Alnis’ pond to plants, eliminating the need for a battery that would otherwise require constant replacement. For his prize, Alnis has a choice between a free trip to an upcoming Maker Faire event or an opportunity to visit Cisco in Berlin to collaborate on IoT projects.
Colin Gerrish of Ireland was named a runner up for his Grass Length Monitoring Device, a solution that uses light sensors to capture and relay data via the cloud and alert owners of when the grass in their yard is getting longer. Lukasz Krysiewicz of Poland was also named a runner up for his Intelligent Garden Umbrella, that automatically closes during strong winds and storms, changes its position based on the location of the sun and relays weather forecast warnings.
“The applications stemming from the Internet of the Backyard competition are innovative and inspired while also being practical for everyday use,” said Noa Chorev, product line manager, Wireless Connectivity Solutions, TI. “It’s exciting for us to see our SimpleLink Wi-Fi platform leveraged in these creative designs from such promising developers. As the IoT continues to gain traction we look forward to bringing connectivity everywhere, including backyards and homes across the world.”
All 10 finalists were given the SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3200 LaunchPad from TI, the industry’s first Wi-Fi solution with a user-dedicated, programmable MCU and on-chip high-performance ARM Cortex-M4, to drive out-of-the-box IoT applications from within a single IC. Competitors were also given access to Plotly, an online collaborative platform that makes it easy for design engineers to capture, stream and visualize data from their development kits. Plotly developed a custom API just for the LaunchPad to make it easy for challengers to connect their solutions to the Internet.
To learn more about the other participants’ designs and read the blogs documenting their progress, visit the Internet of the Backyard challenge page. To purchase the TI CC3200 LaunchPad, visit Newark.com.
-End-
About the Premier Farnell Group
Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.
Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.
The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43 local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14 Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools and the latest resources.
For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:
Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
YouTube – element14
Facebook – facebook.com/element14page
Email: pressoffice@premierfarnell.com
Premier Farnell Key facts
- Operations in 36 different countries
- More than 4,300 employees
- More than 3,500 leading suppliers
- More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
- Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation
For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.
Global Contact:
Ken Leitch
Global Head of PR
Tel: +44 207 851 4145
Email: kleitch@premierfarnell.com
Global PR Agency:
Darren Willsher/Andrew Hill
EML Wildfire
Tel: +44 208 408 8000
Email: element14@emlwildfire.com
European Contact:
Jen Cooke
PR Manager, Europe and Global
Tel: +44 113 279 0101
Email: jcooke@premierfarnell.com
APAC Contact:
Christina Loh
PR Manager, APAC
Tel: + 65 6671 8769
Email: cloh@element14.com
North America Contact:
William Polk
PR and Social Media manager
Tel: +1 773 907 5199
Email: wpolk@newark.com
North American PR Agency:
Allison Dreiband
Walker Sands Communication
Tel: +1 312 648 6010