Engineers challenged to find their ‘Sixth Sense’ in design

element14.com, the community for engineers, has launched the Sixth Sense Design Challenge, which tasks its community with creating a small remotely-operated or autonomous vehicle, such as a drone, robot or a tunnel exploration device. As an added twist, the project should showcase a “sixth sense” by displaying the capabilities of STMicroelectronics and TE Connectivity products to improve remote vehicle sensing and data collection.  Ideas of potential applications for the challenge could be as broad as a forest fire sensing drone, to a self-guiding drain snake or underwater pipeline monitor. 

The Sixth Sense Design Challenge highlights Newark element14’s commitment to being a champion of makers, to driving innovation and helping facilitate out-of-the-box designs that use technology to change the word for the better. The element14 community’s design challenges are geared toward design engineers, maintenance and test engineers and makers.

“As the Development Distributor, we encourage our half-a-million community members to create projects that are fun, inventive and beneficial to society,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for Newark element14. “Together with our partners ST Microelectronics and TE Connectivity, we’re providing kits to 20 participants to help them create innovative designs that take their projects to another level. With sensing at the core of the Internet of Things, this design challenge gives our challengers the opportunity to create something that can really test the capabilities of these devices.”

Sixth Sense Design Challenge now through October 15

Makers and engineers can apply to participate in the Sixth Sense Design Challenge now through October 15. 20 challengers will be announced on October 20 and will have 11 weeks to build their projects, producing at least 10 blog posts about the process to share their development with the element14 community along the way. Entries will be judged by a range of technical judges from TE Connectivity and ST Microelectronics on originality, innovation and technical merit.

The 20 element14 community members selected to compete in this design challenge will receive a free challenger kit from STMicroelectronics and TE Connectivity, including all of the kit development boards and kit components needed to create their designs.

The first place winner in the Sixth Sense Design Challenge will receive a Lulzbot Taz 6 3D Printer valued at more than $2,500. The runner up will receive the Lulzbot Mini 2 3D Printer worth more than $1,500. And each participant who completes the design challenge will receive a mystery prize.