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Improve Your Skills with a "Free" Minized Dev Board Project Contest

rscasny

There's something to be said for making something just for the sake of it. You can say that for learning as well. At some point in time, we all learn something for the pure enjoyment of learning. But let's flip the coin. On the other side is making or learning with an end goal in mind. Entrepreneurs are in this group; they make something to sell for profit. Other people learn something so they can do something; often times this boils down to winning a job, a contract, or be a member of the gig economy!image

 

Learn as if you were to live forever.

A famous man once said, "Learn as if you were to live forever." I was reminded of this old saying when I was given a Minized development board to giveaway for "free" to someone on the element14 community.image

 

A lightbulb illuminated above my head when it happened. I thought, "geez, this is a great opportunity to give a member the gift of learning."

 

Yes, I said...FREE.

 

So, what do you have to do to get a "free" Minized development board?

Enter in the comments section below how the Minized will help you learn and improve your skills. Tell me how receiving a Minized will challenge you and help you do something that you have been wanting to do for a long time. Tell me a little about your background and any experience you have with the technology that's packed into a Minized.

 

Are you new to the Minized? Well, here are the facts in a few sentences:image

The MiniZedTm is a single-core Zynq 7Z007S development board. This compact design features on-board connectivity through USB, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Peripherals can be plugged into dual Pmod-compatible connectors, the Arduino-compatible shield interface or the USB 2.0 host interface. JTAG circuitry is incorporated onto the MiniZed base board, so with a single micro- USB cable to your laptop you are already up and running. User LED’s, a button and a switch allow for a physical board interface.

 

Here's a few specs

  • Xilinx Zynq XC7Z007S SoC
  • Micron 512 MB DDR3L,128 Mb QSPI flash, 8GB eMMC
  • Murata Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
  • User button, switch, 2 x OSRAM bi-element LEDs
  • On-board USB to JTAG and debug UART circuit
  • Murata Bluetooth 4.1 plus EDR
  • USB 2.0 host (Microchip PHY), 2 x Pmod, Arduino interface
  • Dialog Semiconductor PMIC
  • ST Micro Accelerometer & Temperature sensor
  • ST Micro Digital MEMS microphone

 

Here's What You Get

  • Micro USB cable
  • MiniZed development board
  • Voucher for SDSoC license from Xilinx
  • TDM114 Camera Module, 1.26 Megapixel, Pmod, For ZED Development Kits
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  • Thank You! Randall Scasny. I often get a really big smile when I see words like Giveaways & Free. I totally fall in love with electronic gadgets.

     

    I am seriously learning about development boards. I really need some for my projects. As am learning about new boards and exploring them maybe MiniZED will help me in learning more about such high connectivity development boards. And maybe its just a co-incidence I have been planning a project for a week in which I needed a board capable enough to control some servos and manage some data about energy and it seems that MiniZED has the perfect size for my project and almost all the capabilities expected from a development board. And luckily the on-board sensors are a thing to rejoice for.

     

    I have various project waiting in the list (Some are fictional that's why I have not listed everything...)

    - Smart Cycle Module

    Problem - Here in India the cost of a smart cycle or even a geared cycle is way too costly for a common man like me but it is a dream to own a smart cycle.

    Solution - (not exactly a solution but works out in some way as a solution) A single module which can be placed on any cycle to make it smart. Not just a silly module fond on the internet but a peice of hardware module that would capture electricity for other uses and I also have an idea of placing low power Piezoelectric material under the wheel rubber. Well I have planned many low cost hardware to achieve this. But MiniZED will help me in programming different hardware which I have planned to buy.

    - Anti-Hack System

    Problem - Today many IoT devices can be hacked by even a kid. I seriously tried one on my own (followed some tutorials).

    Solution - So I have just thought of a hardware which can probably carry IoT device network in home through a encrypted protocol (Which I will be exploring later). Well its all about pure un-hack able IoT home network.

     

    I really don't have any cool idea as am new to exploring the depths of possibilities of achieving various problems using IoT.

    In other words am an explorer of new things coming up. I don't really have a wallet of my own so cant buy any new hardware right now.

    I have past experiences with Arduino and Raspberry Pi 3 b.

    And about the board it has a low energy Bluetooth module which will help in transmission of data among other IoT devices without needing much power. The on-board 8GB memory is enough to run my programs. And the Pmod GPIO will allow to connect controllable hardware on it. One of friends do have a small collection of Arduino compatible shields which can be connected to the 22 GPIO present on board. The on-board flash memory will help me in transferring small amount of data such as quick snaps and device details into the IOTA networks. I don't know much about zynq soc. I only know that A9 is powerful and good. I would totally love to win this giveaway but with almost no good experiences am not sure.
    Thank You! Randall, if not me someone will surely make a good use of it because it is really a board to look to. Thank you for presenting the giveaway I hope you come up with more giveaways and free stuff to learn and build intellectual personality. I love you element14, Hackster.io and just everyone helping to promote giveaways and free stuff to the newbies and poor.
    Finally THANK YOU!
Reply

  • Thank You! Randall Scasny. I often get a really big smile when I see words like Giveaways & Free. I totally fall in love with electronic gadgets.

     

    I am seriously learning about development boards. I really need some for my projects. As am learning about new boards and exploring them maybe MiniZED will help me in learning more about such high connectivity development boards. And maybe its just a co-incidence I have been planning a project for a week in which I needed a board capable enough to control some servos and manage some data about energy and it seems that MiniZED has the perfect size for my project and almost all the capabilities expected from a development board. And luckily the on-board sensors are a thing to rejoice for.

     

    I have various project waiting in the list (Some are fictional that's why I have not listed everything...)

    - Smart Cycle Module

    Problem - Here in India the cost of a smart cycle or even a geared cycle is way too costly for a common man like me but it is a dream to own a smart cycle.

    Solution - (not exactly a solution but works out in some way as a solution) A single module which can be placed on any cycle to make it smart. Not just a silly module fond on the internet but a peice of hardware module that would capture electricity for other uses and I also have an idea of placing low power Piezoelectric material under the wheel rubber. Well I have planned many low cost hardware to achieve this. But MiniZED will help me in programming different hardware which I have planned to buy.

    - Anti-Hack System

    Problem - Today many IoT devices can be hacked by even a kid. I seriously tried one on my own (followed some tutorials).

    Solution - So I have just thought of a hardware which can probably carry IoT device network in home through a encrypted protocol (Which I will be exploring later). Well its all about pure un-hack able IoT home network.

     

    I really don't have any cool idea as am new to exploring the depths of possibilities of achieving various problems using IoT.

    In other words am an explorer of new things coming up. I don't really have a wallet of my own so cant buy any new hardware right now.

    I have past experiences with Arduino and Raspberry Pi 3 b.

    And about the board it has a low energy Bluetooth module which will help in transmission of data among other IoT devices without needing much power. The on-board 8GB memory is enough to run my programs. And the Pmod GPIO will allow to connect controllable hardware on it. One of friends do have a small collection of Arduino compatible shields which can be connected to the 22 GPIO present on board. The on-board flash memory will help me in transferring small amount of data such as quick snaps and device details into the IOTA networks. I don't know much about zynq soc. I only know that A9 is powerful and good. I would totally love to win this giveaway but with almost no good experiences am not sure.
    Thank You! Randall, if not me someone will surely make a good use of it because it is really a board to look to. Thank you for presenting the giveaway I hope you come up with more giveaways and free stuff to learn and build intellectual personality. I love you element14, Hackster.io and just everyone helping to promote giveaways and free stuff to the newbies and poor.
    Finally THANK YOU!
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