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How does element14 influence which projects you work on?

dougw
  1. Do element14 contests and road tests influence which projects you work on?
  2. Do element14 projects reduce the number of other projects you work on?
  3. Do element14 discussions and blogs inspire or influence some of your projects?
  4. What observations, likes and dislikes do you have about the mix of project themes on element14?
    1. are they too technical? not technical enough? too onerous? not a good fit for your situation?
  5. Would you like to participate more but encounter obstacles?
  6. Do you find the prizes are a significant/sufficient incentive to blog about your projects?

To kick off the discussion, in my case, element14 does have some influence on my projects, but often it is more about influencing which projects get published than about which projects I tackle.

I always have multiple projects on the go or in the pipeline, but when an element14 contest is announced I often investigate if one of my projects can be adapted to fit the rules.

This can alter the priority of a project or even its objectives. Sometimes just thinking about contest themes, spawns a new project idea that goes in the queue.

Often an element14 project includes a subsystem that is useful in some other project in my queue.

Working on element14 projects always incurs a lot more documentation and blogging effort than private projects.

I like the contest / deadline format in the sense that it provides incentive to complete projects quickly.

Some of the other blogs on element14 definitely inspire new projects to be placed in my project queue.

I find that if I have no use for the prize, I am much less likely to participate, but the prize is not usually the main motive for participating in a contest.

Rarely, but once in a while, the prize is the primary reason.

  • I have found that I will join a contest or participate in a roadtest on element14 if I had a project in mind that would fit within the contest/roadtest.  The prizes do not influence by decision to join a contest, but I do admit that I will not like join in if I have no need for the offered prize.

    When I see blogs on interesting projects/problems, it does make me more interested in a new/existing project, if it offers a new approach or something that I would like to learn more about.

    I have fully enjoyed the mix of themes for contests here on element14.  If the theme is interesting, I will join in.  If not, I will follow with great interest to see how the theme excited others.

    Lately, I have been too busy, with too many projects and time commitments to get as involved as I would like.

  • 1.Do element14 contests and road tests influence which projects you work on?

    RoboG: absolutely - there are new devices and proto boards available that I'd never found or looked for otherwise.

    2. Do element14 projects reduce the number of other projects you work on?

    RoboG:  I purposely use an E14 project to procrastinate doing hunney-dooos. 

    3. Do element14 discussions and blogs inspire or influence some of your projects? 

    RoboG: absolutely - having someone dip their toes in the pool or provides a story of their trials provides inspiration and motivation

    4. What observations, likes and dislikes do you have about the mix of project themes on element14? are they too technical? not technical enough? too onerous? not a good fit for your situation?

    RoboG: In 2023 & 2024, the project & Road Test focus seemed to shift significantly more to embedded systems and sub systems, and away from Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, and instrumentation. 

    5. Would you like to participate more but encounter obstacles? 

    RoboG: Some the Challenges require significant time investment. I'm a bit disappointed that I havent done a road test for more than a couple years, the device offerings have become significantly more specialized. I did 5 road tests in 2019. 

    6. Do you find the prizes are a significant/sufficient incentive to blog about your projects? 

    RoboG: absolutely. Some prizes are quite generous. I did like shopping carts tho, as I could get parts & instruments that I wanted to try out, or to donate to a couple different school's robot clubs, the library robot club, and the local maker space startup.    

  • element14 contests and RoadTests absolutely influence the projects I do. They also significantly influence the time in which I get them done. The limited timeframes force me to be disciplined about completing the project where I might otherwise drift off onto another project. So... e14 projects do reduce the number of other projects that I work on - at one time. This is actually a very good thing for me. I allow myself fewer distractions when I'm working on an e14 project.

    elment14 discussions and blogs do inspire or influence some of my projects. During Holidays Competition 2024,  made a comment to me that inspired me to do something I'd been telling myself I wanted to do for years. Some day, I'm going to build WirePulser - just because it's cool.

    As to the project theme mix, I think it ebbs and flows. Sometimes it's within my skill set and interest and at other times... it isn't. That's okay. It will cycle back around at some point. For me to participate more, I would have to up my game; increase my skills. Or I can wait for the cycle to return.

    I do think that the prizes are sufficient to warrant good blogs and reviews. Wanting the prize definitely redefines how far out of my comfort zone I'm willing to go in and with the project. Not wanting or needing the prize has the same effect - in reverse. Some day, I'll take the time to learn about servos and stepper motors - but I had no interest in an electric bike. So I watched Start A Movement from the sidelines. Now, if it had been a spectrum analyzer... I might have put forth some effort. Or just wait for the cycle to return. Laughing

  • in reply to robogary

    I've occasionally used the project excuse to procrastinate, but the downsides can outweigh the upsides... Relaxed

    1. Do element14z contests and road tests influence which projects you work on?
      1. Not quite, but they are good motivation to explore ideas (or technology) that maybe I failed to find an "excuse" to use or build before.
    2. Do element14 projects reduce the number of other projects you work on?
      1. Well, if I decide to participate on a project on Element 14 there's a chance that I'd need to pause one of my own projects. But it's not like I have a consistent project schedule for my own stuff, so even without E14 projects in between, there's no guarantee that I would have finished them any sooner or would have completed more of them.
    3. Do element14 discussions and blogs inspire or influence some of your projects?
      1. So far no, but I can see some projects or blogs potentially inspiring me or influencing me down the road.
    4. What observations, likes and dislikes do you have about the mix of project themes on element14? 
      1. So far they seem pretty alright to me, although I just started paying attention to the projects after last year's Halloween event.
    5. Would you like to participate more but encounter obstacles?
      1. Would love to, but time is the biggest obstacle for me. I can absolutely allocate time for projects or RTs here and there, but I definitely can't participate in as many projects as I would like to. Otherwise I'd be participating in basically all of them!
    6. Do you find the prizes are a significant/sufficient incentive to blog about your projects?
      1. For the most of it, yes! Although there's a chance that I'll be posting about my projects even if they don't win me prizes.

  • > Do element14 contests and road tests influence which projects you work on?

    It has been my greatest motivation, I like to solve problems even if they are imaginary, and I have taken advantage of the contests to imagine problems and look for solutions as a form of entertainment.

    > Do element14 projects reduce the number of other projects you work on?

    Not really, I only work on element14 projects when I know I'm going to have a vacation period or time for myself.

    > Do element14 discussions and blogs inspire or influence some of your projects?

    They inspire me a lot, but almost everything goes to the list of what I would like to study more or build later.

    > What observations, likes and dislikes do you have about the mix of project themes on element14?

    I love that there is diversity, I am curious about many things that I have not been able to learn throughout my career.

    > Are they too technical? Not technical enough? Too onerous? Not a good fit for your situation?

    I like both very technical topics and a photograph of a trip that an active member of the community has taken.

    > Would you like to participate more but encounter obstacles?

    My participation is an escape route for me, I don't see it as an obligation, I'm comfortable doing a project for element14 as well as taking courses to keep myself up to date.

    > Do you find the prizes are a significant/sufficient incentive to blog about your projects?

    This question is difficult, I don't like to participate for the prize, but I recognize that I have not participated in several challenges because I would not have known what to do with the prize if I had won it. In my country, those prizes have to be declared as earnings and if it is something that I am not going to use it is an expense and one more thing at home.