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  • Author Author: dougw
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Re-Entering Old Projects In Project14 Contests

The question is pretty simple - Should old projects be eligible for Project14 contests if they have already been entered in previous contests?

Personally I see no reason why not but others may and probably do have different opinions.

If projects are re-entered they may suffer a natural penalty in judgments.

I expect some of the Project14 topics to recur, especially the popular ones, and members may want to tweak their old designs and re-enter.

And some projects may have been entered as a poor fit to a topic, but a more appropriate Project14 topic comes up later.

I realize there is more than one question to answer in the poll, but only one check box, so feel free to add comments.

This poll is really an experiment to see if I can embed this poll in an appropriate place, but the content may be interesting as well.

  • I ran a contest at the end of last year on Hackster.io and I can tell you, it is very hard to determine what deserves to win and what does not even qualify, this was with a prize worth many thousands of dollars and it was a couple of our own E14 members that ultimately won first and second prizes https://www.hackster.io/contests/IOT2020

     

    I found a few entries that were simply a post of an exact same entry the poster used in a different contest. No effort put in except the time it took to paste in the blog entry again or worst, just link to it. This to me was totally unethical but I had also specified in the rules that the entries were not to have been previous contest winners and if I remember correctly, needed work during the contest period to qualify, there were other rules about using specific products in the project too that helped narrow down the field so perhaps this may be the way to go... introduce an element that would force new and unique entries, maybe the latest raspberry PI / HAT or other vendor product, require planning, schematics to be shared and BOM etc. I ran a qualifying contest first were the hopefuls simply submitted the project idea, these were then narrowed down and the specific products were sent to the selected subset FOC, just like a road test

     

    I think a good prize requires a good effort to be put in specifically for the contest to hand, this does not mean it has to be a brand new project but does inspire the entrant to develop an idea / project to completion and document the progress as they go

  • In my opinion old projects originally presented as e.g. blog posts at Element14 should be eligible for new future contests.

  • Following the Project14 competitions is inspirational, educational, and entertaining.

    Watching a project develop from an inspirational idea gives people a better feeling of a similar objective being achievable.

    The "Here's one I made earlier" (for the Blue Peter fans/victims out there) could give newer inexperienced members an out-of-reach feeling.

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Microcontrollers are such general purpose building blocks, they can often be re-purposed in multiple projects, and it is an excellent strategy to design them as a general platform specifically so the IP can be re-used - minimizing future development costs and schedules. This is really important in short projects like Project14 where the member also must foot the bill. Re-use of, and expansion of, previous work will allow more complex projects to be completed within the time available. Designing a microcontroller card from scratch for a one-off Project14 is going to be a rare occurrence.

  • Define "old project".  Is the AR-Drone RGB LED string I entered considered "old" because I built it in 2014, or is it "old" only if it was published before?

    For the idealist, only a project started and completed during the contest month should be eligible.

    If that's the case, how do you prove the timeline?  Make the video with a calendar in the background?

    Scott

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Originality may be hard to expect in this context because if it was truly original, it might be secret or need to wait for its patent before publishing. However when originality is evident, voters already will take this into account.

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    How about a 'design originality'

    Is there such a thing nowdays??

    The Upcycleit had this as part of the marking, and to be honest it was difficult in some cases as the project was a different take on a design.

     

    Yes you can certainly engineer it to perform differently, but with the internet nowdays how much is plagurisim thinly disguised as 'new and improved'.

     

     

    Mark

  • I don't think you should be able to re-enter a project for another contest, especially if it is a previous winner. The option would be to have a contest once a year for just this, re-enter and improve an old project. This way you know what you're up against, no handicaps. The sponsor could give a credit for the Element14 store to help enhance your project as each re-entered project could be based on a different brand controller. There would be no theme to the contest, just old entries.

     

    Just my 2¢ worth

     

    Dale

  • This issue perhaps could get complex for microcontroller-centric type projects as the hardware design between two project entries could be almost identical e.g. a microcontroller, a display panel, some sensors/actuators and a 3D printed enclosure, making them physically look the same, however even subtle changes in the programming side could completely change the behaviour of the system as a whole.