Milan, 100 people and the first European Intel IoT Hackathon.
13th March. More than 100 people, between makers and developers, met in Milan to experiment new solutions based the Intel Edison Dev Kit.
Few days passed and here we are with a recap from our point of view.
The hardware
Intel organised in Milan its first european Hackathon of the year. More than 100 people came out to test (and get for free) the Intel Dev Kit, a bundle including the Intel Edison, the Development Board and the Grove Starter Kit (which includes several sensors and actuators).
The people
There were developers, makers, creatives, students and curious. Most of them were Italians (as expected), but a big number was coming from all over Europe with great surprise for me.
The event, created by Intel, in collaboration with BeMyApp, FabLab Milano, Fondazione Mike Bongiorno and Lelylan lasted 36 hours and during the two days, the goal was to solve a real world problem using a combination of hardware, software and creativity. The business world was left outside.
These are the moments where mistakes become virtu, going further to the next step, without worrying too much. Simply making. — Maud, BeMyApp
From what I saw, most of us enjoyed the hands-on creative learning. Intel gave us a lot of tools, a safe environment and tech people listening to our questions (although sometimes they didn’t have an answer ☺). The number of teams starting the hackathon was more or less 30, but some of them disappeared after the first night. Reasons? Who knows. Probably the some teams didn’t have enough makers ☺
An Hackathon is the perfect place to meet crazy people you would love to work with — Reggie, CEO of Lelylan
The projects
When I hear people talking about the Internet of Things and their projects, the creative part is not always considered. And I have to say, this is a pity.
Transforming a product to a connected product is the first step.
The second, and most important one, is to make it smart adding new services.
Before coming to this Hackathon I was doubtful. Every day a new object is connected to the internet, but most of them, don’t add a real value to the final user. That’s why (with a bit of surprise), I was really happy to see ideas coming out from different teams and being realised in a couple of days.
In Hackerleague you can find the complete list of the submitted projects. In my opinion the best ones were Baby Cloud (to not forget your baby in the car) and Intelly Kitchen (to not burn your food anymore), but below you can find the Jury final decisions.
And, the winner is…
After a marathon lasted 36 hours, every team presented their prototypes in front of a Jury made up of four people coming form Intel, Microsoft and Lenovo. Every presentation was a pitch session of three minutes, with a two minutes follow up for eventual questions (which always were coming out).
The winner is an Italian team made up from the founders of Laboratorio Creativo Geppetto, who created waste management solution named Trashly, capable to recognise the object you had in your hand (e.g a plastic bottle), and open the right bin (e.g. the plastic bin for a plastic bottle). The camera was able to recognize the object, and thanks to the Intel Edison, the correct bib was automatically opening. Nice proof of concept guys!
Ranks
At the end of the hackathon were announced 1 first, 2 seconds and 3 third placed projects. Each of them with a prize (Amazon Gift Certificates). Follow the list of the winning projects.
1st Place | Trashly | $1500 prize | Hackerleague | Instructables
An IoT trash bin that helps you recycling your rubbish and reminds you what bin you have to deliver every day.
2nd Place | Baby Cloud | $1000 prize | Hackerleague
Connect your Baby Cloud App to your Baby Cloud devices mounted the baby car seat to be alerted when you forget your child in the car.
2nd Place | Stamp | $1000 prize | Hackerleague
A system which tracks your activity on public transport, allowing you to pay for the distance you actually travel and not the standard ticket.
3rd Place | Intelly Kitchen | $500 prize | Hackerleague | Instructables
Creating smart and safer devices for our kitchens that alerts us when the food you’re cooking is getting ready or needs new ingredients.
3rd Place | PubSumMom | $500 prize | Hackerleague
A Message Orientend Middleware build on top of Google Cloud Pub/Sub: Internet of Things meet Internet of Screens!
3rd Place | Zebra | $500 prize | Hackerleague | Instructables
The Project is is focused on the safety of pedestrian crossing, thanks to the implementation of sensors palced on the crossing able to make them light and increase visibility for driver coming.
The experience
Lelylan was involved as Media and Tech partner to the event and I (Reggie) was there to help any team who was using Lelylan with the Intel Edison. I had lot of fun, mainly meeting many smart people, building projects together, making drinking games and checking out people collapsing on every available couch☺
Intel made a good thing starting the IoT intel roadshow and I’m glad I could be part of it. So, heads on, and see you at the next Hackaton!
