Pi in the sky

May 12, 2015

Who wouldn't want a crack at making a working version of one of the gadgets from your favorite sci-fi movie, t.v. show or book? A tricorder? Your personal R2D2? The engineers in the element14 Community have raised that challenge with their Sci-Fi Your Pi challenge. What gadget inspired by science fiction can you build using Raspberry Pi? Twenty five engineers are taking the challenge.

Element14 Community, an online information hub and forum for electrical engineers, has selected the 25 finalists for its “SciFi Your Pi” design competition, sponsored by Raspberry Pi (Trading), Ltd.  and the element14 Community. The competing engineers will have from now until September 2015 to create Raspberry Pi-based devices inspired by their favorite science fiction films.

Each competitor will receive a full suite of Raspberry Pi accessories, including the PiFace Control & Display, Raspberry Pi B+ and Raspberry Pi A+ boards and PiFace Digital from Newark element14 .

Competitors will also be given a free license for CadSoft Eagle PCB design software to execute their projects

Competitors will be judged on the innovativeness of their designs, as well as the level of inspiration drawn from the world of science fiction. Each participant will document their progress through photos, videos and blog posts at the element14 Community.

The winner, chosen by a panel of expert judges, will receive $500 worth of sci-fi movie memorabilia. A Community Choice winner will be selected by popular vote at element14 and receive an introductory robotics set.

So for all of you out there who would rather binge-watch the Star Wars movies than an Ingmar Bergman retrospective, this is a competition you might want to follow. check out the list below. Which one of these gadgets would you most like to see?

To learn more about Sci Fi Your Pi and to follow all of the competitor’s blogs, visit element14.com/scifiyourpi.

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