2014 is coming to a close, and with that comes our annual Community Awards. This year we surveyed our Community's Top Members and Staff to determine this year's nominations for the six categories below. Voting was opened up for the members of the Community to select the winners. Congratulations to all of the 2014 Nominees. The winners are...
Categories:
Internet of Things - Winner - Technology 2014
Raspberry Pi B+ - Winner - Product 2014
CEL Robox 3D Printer - Winner - RoadTest 2014
Forget Me Not - Winner - Design Challenge 2014
The Modular Bench Power Supply++ - Winner - Project 2014
peteroakes Winner - Member 2014
Technology
The nominees for the 2014 element14 Community Technology of the Year category represent the eclectic nature of the content, discussions and products featured on the element14 Community. Let’s celebrate this years’ nominees:
It's a technology that has been around since the 1980’s but this year the element14 Community explored the world of programmable logic blocks, combinatorial functions, and programmable systems-on-a-chip. Product launches such as the LarkBoard and ValentFX LOGi FPGA Development Board contributed to FPGA being nominated for this year’s Technology of the Year award.
It's often said that a technological development will bring about immense change in our lives; in the case of Wireless Power, we are beginning to see this transformation take place. This year the element14 Community and its' members moved forward in liberating electronics engineering from being tethered to a power supply. Events like the ”Beyond the Phone" Design Challenge and product offerings from Wurth Elekronik and Texas Instruments led to the nomination of Wireless Power being this year's Technology of the Year.
By 2018, it’s estimated that 19 billion devices will become connected throught the internet. In 2014 element14 Community and its members helped to build a connected world through Design Challenges (Forget Me Not, In The Air, Internet of the Backyard), webinars featuring industry leading suppliers and product launches including the RIoTBoard, TivaC Launchpad , enOcean Sensor pack and many more.
Once upon a time, computers performing advanced calculations were so large they filled entire rooms. Today you can get more computational power from computers the size of a credit card. From the advanced graphics engine of the BeagleBone Black, parallel processor of the Gizmo2 or the versatility of the Raspberry Pi B+, Single Board Computers continue to make an impact on the element14 Community through its' inclusion in Design Challenges (BeagleBone Black Radio, Forget Me Not) and hundreds of projects featured in 2014.
Product
The nominees for this year’s Product of the Year award combine all of the elements in taking a project from an idea to prototype and beyond. Let’s celebrate this year’s nominees for Product of the Year:
As a major component to the Forget Me Not Design Challenge, this self-powered sensor kit is ideal for enthusiasts and designers getting started with home automation. Want more information about the kit? Check out this webinar and product review.
Raspberry Pi B+http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-bplus
Get more Raspberry Pi for your money with the Model B+. The new and improved Pi offers improved power management, an expanded GPIO and increased connectivity than its groundbreaking predecessor. The Pi served as the core product in the Forget Me Not Challenge and the subject of both entertainment and educational projects since its launch earlier this summer.
Including an integrated spectrum analyzer, arbitrary function generator, logic analyzer, protocol analyzer, and digital voltmeter/counter the MDO 3000 is six instruments in one scope. This completely customizable scope was a five star reviewed RoadTest product, and part of the prize package for both the Forget Me Not and Sudden Impact Design Challenge winner.
Texas Instruments CC3200 Launchpad
It was the Summer of Launchpads on the element14 Community. The industry’s first single-chip programmable microcontroller with built in Wi-Fi was featured in the Internet of the Backyard and In the Air Design Challenge. For more information around the CC3200, make sure you check out this webinar and these RoadTest reviews.
RoadTest
In 2014 almost 3000 element14 Community members applied for over 60 RoadTests including products that range from single board computers, development kits, test and measurement and 3D printers. These RoadTesters generated over 200 reviews for products from engineers from all over the world. Let's celebrate this year's nominees for RoadTest of the Year:
Over 75 Community members applied to take place in this RoadTest featuring the open source development platform built to address the needs of demanding applications requiring high levels of processing power. Read the reviews of this RoadTest here.
The element14 Community will have to wait to read their first reviews of this micro manufacturing platform 3D printer. With over 225 applicants, four kits were given away to test out this duel nozzle 3D printer. Make sure to check back to here for how this 3D printer stacks up.
Agilent N9322C Spectrum Analyzer & TI CC11XLDK-868
Agilent and Texas Instruments teamed up to provide three RoadTesters with kits to explore the rich features of the N9322C and maximize its usage to test an integrated RF device. Over 40 members applied for the kits. As part of this RoadTest, additional blogs and content were completed. These incredible reviews and can be read here.
TI Fuel Tank BoosterPack & MSP430F5529 Launchpad
This RoadTest from Texas Instruments includes a rechargeable lithium polymer battery BoosterPack to enable mobile application development and evaluation for any existing TI LaunchPads. With over almost 30 applicants, five kits were given out to be evaluated. Read the reviews of the product here.
Design Challenge
What do you get when you combine problems to solve, cutting edge electronic components and our element14 Community members? Design Challenges! In partnership with industry leading suppliers, the element14 Community created almost ten Challenges in 2014. Let’s celebrate 2014's nominees for Design Challenge of the Year.
This challenge asked members to help build a cleaner, less-polluted world by using amazing products from Texas Instruments, Wurth Elecronics, Cisco Systems and more. This contest is still underway so make sure you keep up with its progress here.
A Kit including a Raspberry Pi Model B+, an EnOcean Pi Transceiver and a PiFace Digital board was delivered to 20 Challengers from across the globe. The challenge? To deliver an IoT solution that would allow peace of mind while taking a vacation holiday. See who won here!
Ten Challengers embarked on a quest to build a web connected invention for their backyard. Featuring the CC3200 LaunchPad from Texas Instruments these contestants rose to challenge. See who was victorious here.
This challenge asked members to create an innovative, fully-featured Internet / Digital Radio using a BeagleBone Black, LCD Cape, Compact USB Wi-Fi adapter and an Adafruit kit that included a software defined radio receiver USB stick. Check out the winning submission here.
Project
This year members from all over the world came to the element14 Community to educate, entertain and solve problems. In addition to the incredible projects that come out of our Design Challenges and staff projects, there are thousands of projects members of the element14 Community produce on their own, or with support from element14 and suppliers. Let's celebrate this years' nominations for Project of the Year.
Electronic Referee – peteroakes
element14 Community member peteroakes used a TI CC3200 Launchpad to create an electronic referee to assist in making close calls for sports. You can read about this amazing project here.
This project is still in process. It is an attempt to develop an open source vehicle simulator for use by anyone needing realistic vehicle data delivered as it would be in a real vehicle. This was an idea suggested by element14 Community member shabaz . You can read about the idea here, and check up on dougw’s progress here.
Community member fvan set out to build an alarm clock that was able to detect delays in railway timetables in order to allow for its owner to get some extra sleep. Read how he successfully used a Raspberry Pi, Wolfson Audio Card and a WiFi dongle to complete this snooze lover’s dream gadget!
The Modular Bench Power Supply++ - peteroakes
According to peteroakes there is one thing you MUST build for your self at one time or another in your career as an electrical engineer or hobbyist. That project is a bench power supply. For this project he takes you step by step on how do to it. Join in on this fun and educational ride by following this project here.
Member
The element14 Community has over 270K members worldwide. Forty of these members are part of a group appropriately named Top Minions Members. This group of engineers, makers and enthusiasts help shape the element14 Community on a daily basis. We cannot fail to mention their contributions as we talk about the Member of the Year Award.
The element14 Community team would like to say thank you to all of our members for all that they do in Community in 2014. There were many deserving members to be nominated for this award, let’s celebrate this year’s nominations for Member of the Year.
Mcb1 has been a valuable member of the element14 Community since he first joined in March 2012. It’s been a busy 2014 for him on the Community as a participant in the Catch Santa, Beyond the Phone (Community choice Winner) and most recently the Forget Me Not Design Challenge where his Eldermon project earned him the People’s Choice award. You can read more about mcb1 in this element14 exclusive interview.
Shabaz is the defending Member of the Year from 2013 and a community member since March 2011. He has written incredible blog posts using Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black, Launchpads and other products. He has also been incredibly helpful in the forums and an excellent RoadTest reviewer. Make sure you read his recent review of the Agilent Spectrum Analyzer . Learn more about Shabaz in this exclusive interview.
After joining the element14 community in January of 2013, Frederick collected his third Design Challenge victory, earning him a trip to Electronica for his project Cats in the Forget Me Not Design Challenge. He also took home first place in the BBB Radio and Santa Catcher Challenge. He has also been nominated for Project of the Year for his IoT alarm Clock. Read more about this amazing member in an recent interview he did with element14.
Peter joined the element14 community to help his son with his Raspberry Pi. A year later he has been nominated to be Member of the Year. Peter is known around the Community for incredible tutorials and being helpful in the forums, Design Challenges and RoadTests. His Electronic Referee and Bench Power Supply projects were nominated for Project of the Year. You can read more about peteroakes in this exclusive interview with element14.
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