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  • Author Author: danzima
  • Date Created: 20 Jun 2019 3:14 PM Date Created
  • Last Updated Last Updated: 16 Dec 2019 9:33 PM
  • Views 17858 views
  • Likes 20 likes
  • Comments 293 comments
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Sensing the World Challenge

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About the Challenge | The Kit | Dates | Phase 1 | Raffle | Phase 2 | The Judges | The Prizes | FAQ  | Terms and Conditions | Azure Sphere Homepage | Starter Kit: Technical Specifications | Winners

 

 

SEE THE WINNERS OF THE CHALLENGE!

 

 

The Challenge

The element14 Community, in partnership with Avnet, is excited to announce our Sensing the World Challenge! The challenge is powered by the Avnet Azure Sphere MT3620 Starter Kit, a solution for creating secured IoT edge devices with a ton of potential applications.

This challenge has two phases:

 

  • Phase 1: Get Connected: get your kit connected to the cloud to send data
  • Phase 2: Sensing the World: use the kit in a real-world application by building a cool project

 

The Starter Kit is free* to anyone who applies, you'll only be responsible for shipping costs and any potential customs duties. For getting connected you could potentially win a $200 USD gift card, and for building your project application you can win a prize pack of Microsoft gear worth up to $3,500 USD!


  See all the details below, and go here to register for your free kit*! You may register for your kit on a mobile or desktop browser and receive your voucher code, but to complete your purchase order for the kit you must use a desktop browser. Please also disable any adblock software at the point when you are adding your voucher code on the e-commerce site, as these have been known to interfere with the use of the free kit voucher. Please note that your community registration entitles you to order one (1) free Azure Sphere kit if they are available to your country, and any attempt to abuse the process may forfeit your entry into the Design Challenges.

 

The Kit

image

The MT3620 reference dev board is a production-ready, fast and easy way to equip IoT endpoint devices to be highly secure, ensuring that developers can easily move from prototype to production. It has built-in Microsoft security, Wi-Fi connectivity, and the combined versatility and power of an Arm Cortex-A7 processor with the low overhead and real-time guarantees of two Cortex-M4F MCUs. A suite of on-chip peripherals, real-time clock, Flash, and RAM are present. Up to 27 configurable GPIOs and three configurable serial ports (UART, I2C, or SPI) are provided as I/Os on the module.
 
  The carrier board connects the Sphere module I/Os to a pair of MikroE Click sockets, an I2C Grove connector, a connector supporting the addition of a 128 x 64 OLED graphical display, a 3D accelerometer, 3D gyro, temperature sensor, and an ambient light sensor. Debugging is accomplished through a USB-to-UART interface, which provides the necessary 5V power for the board. There are a wide range of MikroE click boards available to add different capabilities; please note that we do not expect click boards at 5 volts to work with the kit, only those at 3.3 volts.

 

User applications for the embedded Sphere controller are developed in C using Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE and the Azure Sphere SDK. Visual Studio provides a powerful yet easy-to-use development environment for compiling and debugging application code. The combination of Visual Studio, the versatile carrier card, and the production-ready Sphere module delivers a powerful starting point for IoT developers interested in learning, prototyping, and deploying Azure Sphere based solutions.

 

To get started with your Azure Sphere Kit, we have two element14 bloggers who have written detailed instructions for startup: Workshopshed's Blog Series and Brian Willess's Out-of-Box demo.

 

Important Dates

 

         

Phases 1 & 2 Enrollment BeginsJuly 17th, 2019
Phase 1 Due DateNovember 30th, 2019
Phase 2 Due DateNovember 30th, 2019
Winners AnnouncedDecember 16th, 2019

 

Phase 1: Get Connected

 

Here's how to participate in Phase 1 and be eligible for the awesome prizes listed below. OCTOBER 2019 UPDATE: Phase 1 will now close November 30th, 2019, rather than October 27th, 2019. This is to accommodate those countries who were not until recently eligible for free kits, and those whose kits are ordered but still having the order filled.

 

1.

Register on element14Register on element14 or log in to your existing account.

2.

Navigate to the Azure Sphere space, and sign up to receive your Avnet Azure Sphere kit for free*. You will need to pay the cost of shipping and any taxes or customs duties for your country. You can still participate if your country is not eligible for free kits. See all eligible countries.

3.

Once you have your kit in hand, connect it and register it. Getting Started

4.

Once per day, for at least 15 days in a row, run the daily sync application which will let your starter kit ping Microsoft's server. On your first run of the application you will register your kit, and afterwards you will merely need to run the app again to check in. Instructions for this quick and easy process are provided here.

 

You have until November 30th, 2019 to complete Phase 1 and be entered in the running to win a gift card worth $200 USD (in your country's currency, of course). Go here for instructions on the sync process for Phase 1. See the Prizes section below for more details.

 

We are also hosting a Connections Raffle, so connect your kit to the contest server between September 11th and 25th for a chance to win a $200 USD shopping cart of parts you choose!

 

Also, for our Get Connected challenge the team at SoftWeb Solutions have built an amazing "heat map" of the Azure Sphere kits that have been connected for the element14 and Hackster.io challenges! Check it out here:

image

 

Azure Sphere Challenges Heat Map

 

 

Phase 2: Sensing the World

Build your Sensing the World project. We want you to use the Azure Sphere kit—as well as any peripherals you’d like to connect—to build a project and document it on our community. Your design must be based around the Avnet Azure Sphere kit, but the application you choose is up to you! We want you to use your ingenuity to show the potential applications of the Azure Sphere dev platform.

Here's how to participate in Phase 2 and be eligible for the awesome prizes listed below:

 

 

1.

You must complete Phase 1: Get Connected to be eligible to win in Phase 2. You can, of course, be working on your Azure Sphere project while completing the Phase 1 requirement.

2.

You must post one blog on element14 documenting your project thoroughly. Your build must be a unique submission for this competition.

3.

Your blog needs to be posted in the Azure Sphere space on element14.

4.

Your blog must include HD quality photos and/or video(s) of your project, as well as any code used.

 

You have until November 30th, 2019 to complete your project and upload your blog onto the element14 community.

 

If you're new to our element14 Design Challenges, here are a few examples of projects that won challenges, to demonstrate both what we think is a great build and what it means to explain that build to the broader community: RFID Fingerprint Skeleton Key, Bluetooth Smart Doorbell, and Raspberry Pi IoT Alarm Clock.

 

Also, Hackster.io is running a sister design competition to our Sensing the World called Secure Everything, and you are allowed and encouraged to participate in both challenges!

 

If you complete Phase 2 you will be eligible for its prizes (see Prizes below), as long as you have also completed Phase 1.

 

Register to BlogPost Your Blogs

 

Judging:

The projects will be judged on their ingenuity, how well they achieve their stated purpose, and on how thoroughly the project is documented in your blog. If you propose to build a flying car with your Azure Sphere that’s super cool, but probably difficult to complete by the deadline of November 30th, 2019, so choose great ideas that are also achievable within the allotted time frame and document them thoroughly.

 

The challenge judges will include element14 staff, top members of element14 who are not participating in the challenge, and guest judges from Avnet.

 

Prizes:

image

Phase 1 Prizes - There will be 50 winners selected in total, who will receive gift cards worth the equivalent of $200 USD in their local currency. To be eligible for this prize, you must connect your kit to the cloud and send data once per day for 15 consecutive days, as detailed above. Phase 1 ends November 30th, 2019, so get started with Phase 1 as soon as you receive your kit!

 

The 50 winners will be selected after the November 30th, 2019 close of the design challenge. These winners will be selected randomly from among those who have completed the Phase 1 requirement. You may choose to compete in this challenge and only complete Phase 1, but since the prizes available for Phase 2 are much more exciting we strongly suggest you compete in both! To be eligible for Phase 2 prizes you must have also completed Phase 1.

 

image

Phase 2 Prizes - The prizes for Phase 2 are based on the project you build using the Azure Sphere kit. For Phase 2 there will be 10 runner-up prizes and 3 grand prizes. To be eligible for either a runner-up or grand prize you must have completed the Phase 1 requirements.

 

Each Runner-Up or Grand Prize winner can choose one (1) of the following prize bundles. The availability of the products might depend on your country, so we will work with you to be sure you get an equivalent bundle.

 

 

10 Runner-Up PrizesXbox One X, Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox One Stereo Headset, Surface Go Tablet (128GB HD Intel 4415Y 8GB Ram), Surface Keyboard, Surface Mouse OR
Surface Laptop 2 (256GB HD Intel i7 8GB RAM), Surface Mouse, Surface Pen
3 Grand PrizesHoloLens 2 (these are currently only for pre-order, we cannot guarantee they will be available at the close of the challenge for purchase) OR
Surface Book 2 (15” 512GB HD Intel i7 16GB RAM), Surface Mouse, Surface Pen, Xbox One X, Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox One Stereo Headset OR
Surface Studio (1TB HD Intel i7 12GB RAM)

 

Attachments:
imageSensing the World Terms and Conditions MBC 20190823.pdf
  • azurespherech
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  • sensing the world
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Top Comments

  • tednunn
    tednunn over 5 years ago in reply to randomfactor +10
    I found a comment on a different blog to add a PAUSE command at line 26 of sk_check.bat. This gives the device some time to re-establish the wifi connection, and resolved the issue for me. @echo off :…
  • danzima
    danzima over 5 years ago in reply to dixonselvan +7
    Hi Dixon! We definitely are planning to support India, as well as a number of other Asia / Pacific countries. We've just needed more time to work out how the distribution of the free kits will happen,…
  • danzima
    danzima over 5 years ago in reply to Fred27 +6
    Hi David! We have conferred with Hackster and agreed that one person can submit a project to each challenge (Sensing the World and Secure Everything) but that they must be submitting unique projects for…
  • peterfenn
    peterfenn over 5 years ago in reply to wizio

    Georgi

    The "GA" (General Availability) release is scheduled for February, at which time you can expect Beta APIs to get "promoted" etc

    The Element14 and Hackster.io hosted design challenge contests have provided valued feedback to the Microsoft development teams, supporting their work on refining the overall software enablement and OS supported features. Expect to see significant products (and brand-name customers) dependent on Microsoft-secured devices from Mediatek, NXP, Qualcomm and others in 2020 and beyond...
    -Peter

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  • wizio
    wizio over 5 years ago

    Question:

    What will happen with Azure Sphere from now on? ( as a development )

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  • sanyaade
    sanyaade over 5 years ago in reply to danzima

    @Daniel Zima

     

    Will those of us who had ping/sync with the server for 15/30 continuous days or more be getting the Raspberry Pi 4?

     

    Many thanks!

     

    God blesses!!!

     

    Best regards,
    Sanyaade

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  • xeonaj
    xeonaj over 5 years ago in reply to Fred27

    Exactly what I with my dad were thinking about!

    20,000 board giveaway. less 150 projects!

    Cant say much as my project wasn't even worth carrying a $200 gift card now!

    But I felt like someone was playing with me! Cause after I saw that I won a $200 gift card I was busy thinking what I should buy now. But then after few days a message came saying okay you have been selected for "Ai at the Edge Challenge" and that was the end of my $200! Its a chain reaction of projects from one to another!

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  • Fred27
    Fred27 over 5 years ago in reply to danzima

    Fair enough.

     

    I've really enjoyed the Azure Sphere challenges - and I'm very happy to have won a Tier 2 prize in Secure Everything so I'm not complaining. I must admit it's been one of the strangest I've ever entered though. Not least the fact that sticking to the rules / theme of the contests didn't seem relevant at all. There are winning projects in "Sensing the World" that don't include a sensor, and in "Secure Everything" that have absolutely nothing to do with security (despite that being one of the build requirements). I'm guessing that there weren't quite as many entries as expected and that made running the contests difficult. The effort that everyone at E14, Hackster, Avent and Microsoft have gone to on this is really appreciated. It still seems odd though!

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  • danzima
    danzima over 5 years ago in reply to Fred27

    Fred27

     

    So in this instance on the Hackster.io side, this project won a prize that was not part of their Secure Everything challenge, which is related to sustainable development and can be awarded to prizes from various parts of Hackster. More details are below:

     

    https://www.hackster.io/impact

     

    Since this prize was not awarded for their Azure Sphere challenge but a separate program, it should not be considered a duplicate prize winning in the context of the Azure Sphere challenges.

     

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  • danzima
    danzima over 5 years ago in reply to Fred27

    Thanks for the heads up, I am almost certain we awarded that person our grand prize and Hackster confirmed to me on the phone yesterday that he had not been a winner on their side, I am reaching out to them right now.

     

    EDIT: of course I am certain we awarded him a grand prize, since I was part of that decision! But we conferred with Hackster regarding all winners to avoid duplicates.

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  • Fred27
    Fred27 over 5 years ago in reply to danzima

    danzima  wrote:

    We have conferred with Hackster and agreed that one person can submit a project to each challenge (Sensing the World and Secure Everything) but that they must be submitting unique projects for each, as you've said.

    Hmmmm... this looks very much like the same project not just entering both contests but winning prizes in both.

     

    I was there! ... sensing citizens recycling.

    https://www.hackster.io/javagoza/i-was-there-recycling-the-waste-fcc895

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  • danzima
    danzima over 5 years ago in reply to jph290

    Hi Jason! It will be in a separate post, but there will be a link to the winners right at the top of this post as well to make navigation easy.

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  • jph290
    jph290 over 5 years ago in reply to danzima

    Will you be updating this post with the list of winners or creating a separate blog post?

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