What it is
We are pleased to announce that the Internet of Things Challenge is running again this year!
The IoT Challenge is a 3-day ‘making’ challenge where you will get together into teams, be given some equipment and have a go at tackling a real world challenge using IoT technologies! Whatever your experience level, even if you are a completed beginner or want to learn the basics of coding and working with hardware, come along and learn something new in a fun, relaxed environment.
We will have workshops and mentors throughout the event, so you will receive all the support you need to make something you can be proud of.
Project challenges
Camera Obscura and World of Illusions
Camera Obscura and World of Illusions is made up of five floors of interactive exhibits based on themes of light, colour, optical illusions, perception generally, with a little bit of Edinburgh heritage thrown in. 360,000 people visited in 2018, of all ages, from all around the world. It is, we believe, the most fun attraction in the world (based on the number of times ‘fun’ is mentioned in TripAdvisor reviews compared to every other attraction worldwide).
Your challenge is to find ways to map the customer journey, from start to finish, so that we can track how long people spend at the attraction, what order they do things in, how long they spend on each floor and at each exhibit. The analysis from this has the potential to transform the visit, helping us make the best use of our building, our exhibits and our staff, to best serve our visitors, at different levels of trade, all year, especially at peak, and to make it even more fun.
- Can we use IoT technology to gain a better understanding of how visitors to the Camera Obscura interact with the space and the different exhibits?
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Science
The goal of Supporting Evidence Based Interventions (SEBI) is to enable smallholder livestock keepers to fulfil their potential through better-informed decisions and technologies. We do this by mobilising and apply data and evidence to help the livestock community make better investments that improve livelihoods for smallholders in low and middle-income countries.
In Low and Middle-Income Countries, livestock offer a pathway out of poverty for hundreds of millions of smallholders. Milk, meat, eggs and other animal products and services provide vital nutrition, income and security for families and their communities. But productivity remains low, and poor animal health and ongoing threat.
The world has most of the technologies and techniques to improve livestock health and productivity in these countries, but we lack reliable information on which diseases to confront, where to target interventions, and which interventions work best in a given context. Vital data on disease and productivity is disparate and scarce, leaving governments, investors, businesses and farmers guessing at the best solutions. This data gap also means that we cannot track progress on achieving global sustainable development goals for agriculture. We need to close this gap and strengthen the evidence-base in order to sustainably transform the livestock sector. This work has the potential to be very high profile given the connections the project has with global livestock community and current initiatives.
- How might we use IoT to predict or combat the spread of disease in livestock in sub-Saharan Africa?
- How might we use IoT or embedded sensing to accurately predict the produce created by African Farmers (e.g. milk, eggs, meat etc.)?
Information Services Group
- How could IoT help combat sheep rustling?
- How could IoT improve student experience at the University?
When and where
Lunch will be provided across all three days. The event will run 9:30 am – 5:00 pm, and will take place in the Design Informatics teaching space (ground floor between The Bayes Centre and Inspace) except for the final afternoon, which will be in G.07, Informatics Forum.
On the last day you will present your ideas to industry experts and professionals. Prizes will be awarded and you will have a chance to attend drinks and networking at the end of the day.
The schedule for the event is as follows:
| Wednesday 20 February | |
| 09:30 | Tea / coffee / biscuits at arrival |
| 10:00 | Welcome, challenges presented |
| 10:45 | Team formation and challenges assigned |
| 11:15 | Technical workshop: Electronics I |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Technical workshop: Electronics 2 |
| 14:00 | Technical workshop: LoRaWAN |
| 15:00 | Induction session on using equipment room |
| 16:00 | Data privacy & ethics workshop |
| 17:00 | Conclusion |
| Thursday 21 February | |
| 10:00 | Daily stand up |
| 17:00 | Conclusion |
| Friday 22 February | |
| 10:00 | Daily stand up |
| The remainder of Friday's events will take place in the Bayes Centre | |
| 13:00 | Lunch with industry partners |
| 14:00 | Project presentations |
| 15:00 | Judges confer |
| Talks by industry experts: | |
| 15:00 | Stuart Traynor, Technical Specialist at Cisco |
| 15:15 | Ross McLennan, LAUNCH.ed ‘Start-up/Spin-out Support’ |
| 15:20 | Simone Mattsson, Thermodrones UK |
| 15:25 | Michael MacDonald, Casta Spes Technologies |
| 15:30 | Awards |
| 16:00 | Conclusion |
| 16:15 | Drinks and networking |
We hope to see you there!
The IoT Challenge is organised by: