Earlier this fall, excitement was palpable at the School of Management, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Warangal in India. It was the day of Lakshya Foundation’s Hackathon 4.0, where students were deep into designing and building solutions for various problems, with TI as the technology sponsor and Internet of Things (IoT) as the theme.
Earlier this fall, excitement was palpable at the School of Management, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Warangal in India. It was the day of Lakshya Foundation’s Hackathon 4.0, where students were deep into designing and building solutions for various problems, with TI as the technology sponsor and Internet of Things (IoT) as the theme.
A hackathon team using the MSPEXP430G2 LaunchPad to work on their prototype.
In their quest to build a working prototype while racing against time, students brainstormed with their team members, with support from mentors, and of course, we should not forget the crucial role played by the continuous supply of caffeine.
Students could pick from the published problems, such as fleet management solution, remote pipeline monitoring system and cloud-based measurement data management system, or students could contribute their own concrete ideas to provide definite outcomes.
TI provided all the technology support for the event which included:
- MSP430 microcontroller (MCU) – an ultra-low-power MCU for industrial and consumer applications
- BeagleBone Black – a low-cost, community-supported development platform based on TI’s Sitara™ Am335x processors
- SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi® CC3200 wireless MCU – the industry's first single-chip Wi-Fi solution with user-dedicated programmable MCU
- MSP432P401R MCU LaunchPad™ development kit – aimed at high-performance, low-power applications
As is its motto, TI wants to inspire students to leverage the latest in technology to build innovative solutions for real-world problems by giving them the opportunity to do just that. After all, experience is the greatest teacher!
The Hackathon 4.0 used a multi-pronged approach to ensure the students’ success and learning.
1. Pre-Hackathon Workshop
The TI university program organized an exhaustive pre-hackathon workshop a week before the event where final year mentors explained and demonstrated the TI technologies in play, as well as answered questions that the students had. The TI experts also suggested reading resources that would familiarize participants with the nitty-gritty details and ensure they were primed and ready for the hackathon.
In addition to technical support, the workshop provided guidelines to the participants on planning and executing a viable design plan for the 24-hour hackathon.
Final year mentors show hackathon participants a TI technology demo to aid in their design.
2. Mentorship from an experienced student
Every team was paired with a final year student mentor who had experience using TI technologies and had participated in reputed national events like the TI Innovation Challenge India Design Contest. These mentors helped students get acquainted with the hardware and technologies and guided the participants in chalking out a feasible 24-hour action plan for the hackathon.
The mentors helped the participants during the main event as well by reviewing progress at regular intervals and helping with the necessary course correction.
The result was that 89 hackers divided into 25 teams who devised 21 working prototypes addressed 8 stated problems, with a winner and runner-up announced at the event:
The Winners: Team Eureka
The Solution: A cloud-based data measurement system that gathers industrial parameters related to energy, temperature, pressure, etc. using sensors (or meters). The system processes the data to create meaningful information, which is then deployed to the cloud.
The Runner-Up: Team Noobz
The Solution: Controlling the wings of a Quadcopter using a Sony Dual Shock Controller Hack.
A Sony dual shock controller was used to build a low-cost remote, which can be used for robotics applications, such as controlling a quadcopter or drone as an alternative to RF remote controls.
The winners, along with 25 other students went on to participate in The August Fest, one of India's largest start-up conferences celebrating art and entrepreneurship. The winners presented their prototypes to an audience of more than 1,000 people consisting of investors and entrepreneurs, with both teams receiving further interest from investors and business leaders.
Participating in the Lakshya Foundation Hackathon 4.0 was a multi-dimensional experience for students. It allowed students to think of the best possible solution for a problem, plan the development, build the solution, use problem-solving skills, utilize TI technology, manage their time well, and prepare for a compelling final presentation. Overall, we were proud to be involved and to see the forefront of student innovation and creativity.
