Earlier this year, I was asked to be a judge for the element14 Pi IoT Smarter Spaces Design Challenge. It has been fantastic to be involved in a contest where so many brilliant ideas were developed.

The purpose of the competition was to get designers to use a kit of components that included Raspberry Pi, various accessories, and EnOcean products, to take control of the spaces they are in. Spaces could be at home, at work, outdoors, or any other space the designer could think of.

Each entrant provided an initial outline of what they wanted to achieve, after which they were given three months to design, build, and implement their system. All the designers have detailed their work fantastically on the element14 website, and if you’re looking for inspiration for your next project I would recommend you read through the entries to this challenge. It has been excellent to see such a great breadth of projects undertaken, all of which had a unique perspective on what “space” was and how it needed to be controlled.

3rd place

Gerrit Polder developed his Plant Health Camera. Gerrit’s project was fantastic, combining regular and NoIR Raspberry Pi Camera Modules with some very interesting software to monitor plant health in real time.

2nd place

Robin Eggenkamp created a system called Thuis – that’s Dutch for “at home”, and is pronounced “tous”! Robin presented a comprehensive smart home system that connects to a variety of sensors and features in his home, including a keyless door lock and remote lighting control, and incorporates mood lighting and a home cinema system. He also produced a great video of the system in action.

1st place

Overall winner Frederick Vandenbosch constructed his Pi IoT Alarm Clock. Frederick produced a truly impressive set of devices which look fantastic and enable a raft of smart home technologies. The devices used in the system range from IP cameras, to energy monitors that can be dotted around the home, to a small bespoke unit that keeps track of house keys. These are controlled from well-designed hubs: an interactive one that includes a display and keypad, as well as the voice-activated alarm clock. The whole system comes together to provide a truly smart space, and I’d recommend reading Frederick’s blog to find out more.

Thanks to each and every designer in this competition, and to all the people in the element14 community who have helped make this a great competition to be part of. If you’re interested in taking part in a future design challenge run by element14, they are run regularly with some great topics – and the prizes aren’t bad, either.

I urge everyone to keep on designing, building, experimenting, and creating!

https://players.brightcove.net/1362235890001/NkxiVJdjx_default/index.html?videoId=5135362047001