The Hackaday team is now calling on makers and hardware hackers to create an open connected device that will change the world. The reward is a trip into space on any carrier of the winner’s choosing, which will cost just shy of $200,000. The winner will also be given money to cover the taxes that are associated with a prize of this size.
"Space is not the only big prize, however," the Hackaday team writes. "The team has put together probably the coolest prize pool in hardware hacking history – $10k 3D printers, state of the art milling machines, team skydiving, an all-expense paid trip to the Akihabara electronics district in Japan etc."
Makers and hackers are asked to keep their project open source so that anyone can use the device. "The awards will be judged not only on openness (which is not a requirement, just a request), [but also] the basis of actual physical hardware built and the ability to connect to the Internet, so it will be a 'thing' in the Internet of Things," the team adds.
The list of judges include Andrew "Bunnie" Huang, Jack Ganssle (The Ganssle Group), Joe Grand (Grand Idea Studio), Limor "Ladyada" Fried, Dave Jones (eevblog.com), Elecia White (Logical Elegance), and Ian Lesnet (Dangerous Prototypes), among others.
June 28 was the deadline for preliminary submissions from contestants over 13. The team says that they have received some "really interesting entries" so far, including a Unity Candle that shoots a 30 foot fireball. Another entry is a 3D printer that was constructed with parts generated by a 3D printer. The team is looking for more gadgets to be submitted before the deadline of August 4.
"So far, the hackers working on these projects have not disappointed us. Some of the early entries have included a way to make your house listen to what you have to say, methods for making sure communications networks are easy to set up and available where needed, and even a concept for using swarms of mobile 3D printing robots to build domed cities," writes Mike Szczys, the managing editor of Hackaday.com.
For more information about the contest, head here.
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