In 2014 we organized our first Hackathon competition. The competition was launched as an internal challenge within the organization and engaged 30 programmers for 24 hours straight.
Technologies and equipment consisted of Raspberry Pi computers, Arduino, camcorders, accelerometers, gyroscopes, thermometers, Magnetic Hall sensors, WiFi adapters, Bluetooth adapters, LEDs, small engines, toy vehicles, and Android devices.
The talent and enthusiasm of the programmers who joined the competition were reflected in the success of the developed projects and were the reasons behind the hackathon.
The Winners:
- The Veggie Gym project was named the winner of the competition and the tablets made available as prizes. The team created a prototype for an automated plant growth control environment. The solution comprises two pumps (one for pumping water, one for pumping the fertilizer), two humidity sensors, a light sensor, a sensor measuring the water amount, all controlled by an Arduino device and managed from a web interface.
- As a runner-up, the R-Motion project was by far the most comprehensive solution. R-Motion is a video surveillance system that allows you to remotely monitor your rooms via a web browser or an Android application. R-Motion provides end users with motion detection mechanisms and notifies them in real time via email and text messages. Based on a Raspberry Pi model, the prototype is designed to capture images through the attached camcorder and send them to a server.
Romanian IT engineers are attracted to such opportunities as the work environment is competitive, dynamic and encourages a high level of creativity and analytical skills. Likewise, such competitions provide an accelerated professional development framework. Teams are truly heterogeneous, so the contribution and impact of each member bring added value.
“The next immediate step is to secure funding for the best ideas that were developed during this hackathon. Tremend will fully support the team members to further develop their project”, said Marius Hanganu, Managing Partner at Tremend Software Consulting.
