element14 Community launches ‘Summer of Green Technology’

element14, an Avnet Community, is going green with its roll-out of the Summer of Green Technology series of programs designed to help community members develop environmental technology knowledge and skills. Over the summer months, element14 will be offering webinars, training courses, quizzes, and hands-on opportunities to experiment with and RoadTest green electronics.

“We are extremely excited to launch the Summer of Green Technology over the next four months,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “Green technology is important in protecting the environment, reducing emissions and mitigating or reversing the effects of human activity on our planet. The practice of designing electronic products that are environmentally responsible aids in this mission, which we are proud to be a part of.”

Capping off the program will be The Summer of Green Technology Design Challenge, which provides an opportunity for engineers to showcase their designs and compete for great prizes. The 25 selected challengers will receive a free kit which includes a Seed development board, Grove Sensor Kit and Xiao Break out board to spark their creativity.

Using the Seed Xiao sensor kit and a selection of sensors, challengers are encouraged to create green projects and prototypes. Examples of potential projects include:

• A bot that cleans trash from rivers
• Co2 monitoring equipment 
• A device to help children recycle 
• A device to monitor the growth of Co2 eating algae 
• An Industrial IoT device what will notify operators when energy is wasted

Participants are required to complete at least five blog posts by August 30, 2023 to be eligible for the challenge’s grand prizes. The winner will receive a lightweight aluminium folding bike and an indoor hydroponic IoT herb garden. The runner up will receive a portable power station battery with an inverter and an indoor hydroponic IoT herb garden. Each challenger who completes five blog posts will receive a Duratool screwdriver as a finisher prize.

element14 Community will also be hosting a webinar on April 27^th discussing smart agriculture and pest monitoring using AI and Arduino. Andrea Richetta, head of the Pro/IoT market at Arduino, will give an overview of Machine Vision and Machine Learning and will present a live demo using the Nicla Vision board and the MKR 1310, focusing on LoRa and the available solutions from Arduino. The three attendees who ask the best questions, determined by the host, will win a Nicla Vision Board.