Summer Project Theme

A Wireless Summer could be an interesting season and a broad enough topic to include several topical platforms. ML summer is good, too. 

It must be general topic enogh and there must exist several sponsors. For this reason I think Audio and Video are out of game I think. Microcontrollers are boring and there is only minor progress in recent years I think. Robotics sounds cool but I do not think there is enough sponsors and only remaining is AI and ML which sounds possible because in recent years many companies added AI and ML to their products and SDKs. Namely for example Cypress/Infineon allows AI algorithms integration as part of ModusToolbox, Edge Impulse is very often interested in promoting their AI and ML based products to communities, Maxim released new generation of theri MCU with AI accelerator, Renesas published several MPUs with AI accelerators recently, NXP have some in preproductions, ST developed several sensors with AI engines for in-sensor data processing, several vendors start using processors with AI accelerators (for example Beagle Bone) and most probable there are many other which I do not know about.

Lots of different perspectives are what make these discussions interesting. I agree that sponsors are critical to these programs but  I also think all of these topics are exciting. Audio and video are fundamental to human interfaces, and they are far from being ignored. A huge proportion of manufacturers have products in development that leverage audio or video. Many AI and ML systems are focused on audio or video applications. AI and ML are just starting to become mainstream with hardware and software platforms popping up regularly. However AI is complex and the number of members who would be willing to try to complete such a project in a couple of months may be limited. If something like audio is the theme, sub-topics could include members who were into ML as well as those who aren't. Microcontrollers are still rapidly evolving and many manufacturers have new microcontrollers in development. For example the Pi Pico created a big stir when it came out. Even when new products aren't radically different, they can still be used in very interesting applications. Robotics is still in its infancy, but it is multidisciplinary, incorporating all of the other technologies mentioned..

Summer = sunshine = solar/thermal/wind... often equates to mobility (scooting/skating around)... keeping/looking cool... so how about summer of Power Management Integrated Circuits (PMICs).

Summer of Green Tech' ?

I think what Chris is mentioning is an idea that we are thinking seriously about as we have sponsors and a lot to talk about - low power, energy harvesting, etc.  rscasny  perhaps  you can weigh in here on ideas you were thinking of under green tech to see what our members think?

I’ve been thinking about ideas for a Summer of Green Technology. The following list includes topics that could be explored:

• Solar Power/Wind Power
• Energy Harvesting
• LED Lighting
• IoT that leads to energy savings (Smart Buildings, Smart Cities) – Ambient IOT
• Vertical Farming
• MEMS devices
• Upcycling
• Ultra low power electronic Devices

Here are some specific ideas that I thought of:

List of Content Ideas

• Upcycling Design Challenge: Several years ago, we did a Design Challenge on Upcycling. (/challenges-projects/design-challenges/upcycleit/#pifragment-1926=3 ) I thought it was well received. In that design challenge, the participants could upcycle anything. Perhaps for this design challenge, we could frame it as Upcyle Efficiency: upcycle a low efficiency thing and with a higher efficiency for power conversation.
• Energy Harvesting Roadtests: https://www.newark.com/analog-devices/adp5091-2-evalz/evaluation-kit-energy-harvesting/dp/49AK8766?st=eval-adp5091 https://www.newark.com/mikroelektronika/mikroe-3814/peltier-click-board-rohs-compliant/dp/51AH9935  www.adaptivete.com/.../
• Spotlight article: How MEMS Devices Are Energy Harvesters. Write an article based on this paragraph: “Micro-electro-mechanical Systems (MEMS) have shown significant promise in providing robust, low-cost transduction capabilities. MEMS sensors and actuators are ideally suited for small-scale energy harvesting and power generation applications where overall device dimensions are critical. Furthermore, MEMS technology can also be harnessed for large scale energy applications by augmenting these systems with sensing and actuation capabilities in order to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.” (source: researchgate.net)
• Ebook: How IOT Saves Energy or Sustainable IOT. www.watchnetiot.com/.../ https://www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/feature/How-to-use-IoT-for-energy-efficiency-and-sustainability  https://www.digiteum.com/internet-of-things-energy-management/#:~:text=What%20does%20IoT%20energy%20management,strategy%20based%20on%20usage%20patterns. https://www.softeq.com/blog/how-iot-transforms-energy-management-key-application-areas
• Show Me Your Solar and Wind Projects – this could be a project14 or design challenge or video or unique competition. Any solar wind generation project would fit.
• Ultralow power microcontrollers – renesas, nxp, stmicroelectronics, analog devices, infineon

All great topics. The Show me your Wind and solar could be both project14 and a design challenge events. Perhaps the design challenge could incorporate various specific vendor components , the project14 would be more novel and small scale projects beyond a solar cell or a generator shaft with blades. Energy storage may also be included. 

Another energy harvesting review was Epishine...

 Epishine LEH Solar Cell Evaluation Kit Review 

All of those topics on the green list sound interesting!

Green solutions (and more broadly systems that could form sub-systems of green solutions) are or could become top-of-mind for lots of engineers because people all over the world can relate to the needs for them currently.

There's been a fair amount of interest in USB-C Power Delivery with half a dozen blogs from people in the past month. USB-C PD is relevant for low-voltage solar/wind power sources and battery power.

Personally I'm interested in LED lighting a lot, but am currently just finishing a blog on it, so it would be too early to be part of a summer theme (and my project isn't green related as such, but again could form a sub-system of a green solution), but plenty of others would be interested to create projects for that topic I bet. Maybe it might give ideas to help with the summer topics, I'll publish it in a few days.

Regarding IoT for energy saving, smart thermoostats/heating control is low-hanging fruit for meaningful levels of fast cost-saving for homes, and that would be useful for many, if some of the IoT projects from people ended up involved in this area.