It seems like just yesterday we covered the opening round of the Hackaday Prize 2018. Dexter, an open-source and highly trainable robotic arm, took home the grand prize of $50,000 at the Hackaday Superconference.
Four other winners also took home cash prizes. In total, over $200,000 has been distributed as part of this year’s proceedings. Let’s look back on the incredible year that has led to this ultimate victory for our top five winners.
The Path to Victory: Five Rounds and 100 Finalists
To recap, The 2018 Hackaday Prize was centered around the theme “Build Hope.” There were five rounds throughout the year that generated the finalists who would take home the top five spots:
- Open Hardware Design Challenge
- Robotics Module Challenge
- Power Harvesting Challenge
- Human Computer Interface Challenge
- Musical Instrument Challenge
Twenty entries from each of these five rounds advanced, so we had 100 finalists. Our panel of esteemed judges took this list down to what would ultimately be the top 5 winners. Let’s take a deeper look into the projects that won.
Five Winners Emerge Victorious!
During the Hackaday Superconference, the packed auditorium at LACM eagerly watched as Majenta Strongheart and Steven Tranovich announced the winners of The Hackaday Prize. Standing in the audience, the atmosphere in the room was positively electric.
After an epic drum solo from Tesla himself, the presentation began.
Grand Prize Winner: Dexter
Dexter is an incredible robotic arm design that offers many high-end features in an open-source package.
A combination of highly precise movements, and a trainable solution that can play back motions, rolled into an Open Source design makes this an affordable and approachable solution for makers.
Second Place: Hacking Wearables For Mental Health
This project took a clever approach to building wearables that circumvents costs associated with such devices. By utilizing established products, the creator could focus on customizing both the hardware and software.
This pursuit transformed the devices into wearables that possessed sensor suites ideal for mental health research. For example, it can help patients with compulsive behaviors recognize them and change over time.
Third Place: Portal Point Generator
This project takes the concept of DC motor generators to the next level by providing instructions for how to build the generator in efficient ways.
A winding jig is used to make the coils which sit inside of a 3D-printed housing. Permanent magnets round out the rest of the generator, and while this image showed the device’s wiund-power test in Antarctica, it can also generate power in other ways using things like water wheels.
Fourth Place: Emotiglass
While augmented reality is typically associated with changing or adding computer generated images to the world around you, Emotiglass does the exact opposite.
This technology, dubbed by the creators as the first “Modulated-Emotion Reality” device, explores ways to block or otherwise mask elements of your vision that cause stress or anxiety. The therapeutic applications of this device alone make it an exciting prospect in the continued battle for mental health solutions.
Fifth Place: PR-Holonet
PR-Holonet, was born from the need to communicate after a natural disaster. When infrastructure is down, PR-Holonet is here to save the day with a deployable system that is made from readily available electronics.
It is possible to build and deploy this device without any specialized training. Once active, it provides local devices using WiFi can send text-based messages via satellite to one another, effectively restoring some semblance of communication in any scenario.
What Will You Create Next Year?
The Hackaday Prize 2018 may be over, but it will return next year with a new theme, a new focus, and a new opportunity for members of both the Tindie and Hackaday communities to participate.
Thank you to all the Tindarians who submitted projects!
