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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

IoT design competition winners show breadth of embedded design

Three winners of a competition to design systems for the Internet of Things show the innovation of embedded systems.

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

The three “Your IoT” design contest winners include Christian Klemetsson, Hoang Nhu and Ekawahyu Susilo.


•       Christian Klemetsson designed his “DeviceRadio” industrial automation solution to connect the real world to applications through virtual wires specifically within the industrial automation market. The goal of this product design is to deliver a custom IoT device on a solderless breadboard and controlled through the Internet in three minutes or less.
•       Hoang Nhu developed a platform for extending the IoT through all parts of the home, from medication reminders to smart power plugs. The Apple HomeKit SmartHome and Wellness IoT Development Platform monitors home environments/energy consumption and daily activities to optimize home appliance settings as well as make recommendations and reminders for optimal wellness.
•       Ekawahyu Susilo rounded out the winners with “Snappy,” (below) - a modular robotics platform designed to help teachers engage students through science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Snappy can be used for a variety of science project applications such as determining altitude with water bottle rockets, measuring collision impact in physics experiments, and building a simple local/Internet-connected weather station with humidity and temperature sensors.




The competition was backed by distributor Digi-Key and chip designer Silicon Labs. Digi-Key supplied $10,000 worth of Silicon Labs components to each winner, who will select the Silicon Labs components they need (microcontrollers, wireless chips, sensors, boards and more) to bring their prize-winning IoT ideas to market as commercially viable products.

Contestants entered their IoT design at http://www.YourIotContest.com where all entries were initially voted on by site viewers. The top 15 entries were then judged using the following criteria: innovative application of technology, marketability of the product and the unique nature of the product, with bonus points awarded for a prototype.


“The IoT is the engine driving the growth and future of electronic component usage,” said David Sandys, director of technical marketing for Digi-Key. “Digi-Key could not be happier with the level of participation in the contest and being able to partner with Silicon Labs. The excitement really begins now, when we get to see where the winners will take their designs.”

“Developing connected ‘things’ for the IoT requires a combination of technical prowess, innovative design, and energy-friendly components and application development resources,” said Peter Vancorenland, vice president of IoT engineering at Silicon Labs. “We applaud the three contest winners for their outstanding IoT designs and wish them great success in bringing their inventive ideas to market using semiconductor and software solutions from Silicon Labs and Digi-Key.”

See the winners here