[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh5yzP4ZINA&w=580]
For weeks we’ve been teasing you that something BIG was coming. This is it. Six months from now one hardware hacker will claim The Hackaday Prize and in doing so, secure the grand prize of a trip into space.
You have the skills, the technology, and the tenacity to win this. Even if you don’t take the top spot there’s loot in it for more than one winner. To further entice you, there are eyebrow-raising prizes for all five of the top finishers, and hundreds of other rewards for those that build something impressive. You can win this… you just need to take the leap and give it your all.
Wait, what?
We want the next evolution of connected devices to happen now and we want it to be Open. Why shouldn’t Hackaday be the biggest cheerleader, encourager, and enabler for the cause of Open Hardware?
Build a piece of hardware that moves past the rut of “Internet-enabled refrigerators” and billion dollar thermostats (we couldn’t resist). Think big, come up with a piece of hardware that has the potential to change the lives of many. Or just build something silly and fun. But do it at a high level, and share your work. We’re not disqualifying entries that don’t share their secrets, but we are giving a strong judging preference on just how open each design will be.
It’s no secret that Hackaday is in favor of Open Design. The benefits of Open Hardware and Open Source software are vast for all of society. Stop banging your head against the same wall that has already been broken down by another engineer who posted the solution for all to see. Learn new skills by reading the code of masters and studying the design files of successful products. But for this to happen, the Openness must grow.
You’ll Be in Good Hands
We like to think we know a thing or two about this stuff. But for a trip into space Hackaday reached out and recruited remarkable people to judge your work. So far, the panel includes: (alphabetical order) Limor “Ladyada” Fried, Jack Ganssle, Joe Grand, Bunnie Huang, Dave Jones, Ian Lesnet, Sprite_TM, and Elecia White are all on board. We expect a few others to join and will update as that happens. If you know them or follow them on social media, please reach out and say thank you. We’re both honored and lucky to have them for The Hackaday Prize.
Hackaday Needs Your Help!
Obviously we need to you to enter the contest and build something awesome. But we really need your help getting the word out too. For one thing, this is a great way to encourage more Open Design in the projects and products we see. But wouldn’t it be awesome to see The Hackaday Prize as a recurring challenge? It all hinges on the success of the program we launched this morning.
Please publicize http://hackaday.io/prize in as many ways possible. Call in favors from your friends who work in media, post it to your blog, Tweet about it until your fingers bleed, post on Reddit, Facebook, MySpace (kidding…), and anywhere else that will let you sing the praises of the awesomeness that is this initiative. The the hashtag #TheHackadayPrize and let’s see how far we can get with this thing!
You have the heartfelt thanks from all of the Hackaday crew for anything you can do to share the message. Thank you! Now get hacking.
OH. MY. GOD.
oh my god oh my god oh my god… this is awesome.
That’s fantastic. Congrats to whomever wins.
Don’t consign yourself to the audience! Get in there and think. It might be you!
Seriously, the worst thing you could do is watch this one pass you by. You can win this!
Sorry, but I realised a long time ago that I’m not a special snow flake. Not all of us can come up with revolutionary ideas just like that.
But you can build it, so you just have to steal the idea.
If you build it, they will come…. Or you may go… either way the price of entry is right.
Three months is no time at all for something like this. With a time frame like that, the only people with any chance of winning are those who already have their project almost done. Anyone who read this announcement and thought “Hmm, what should I make?” is already too far behind to have a chance.
I’ve lost track of how many opporotunities I’ve lost out on becausde I wasn’t 18 yet. One more year to go…
I can finally speak freely!
Oh boy. Not quite what I was expecting it to be, but I can’t exactly say that I’m disappointed either. :P
O.o!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!
WOW. I choked on my drink when I read that post. Still coughing…
Holy CRAP! This is really cool guys…
WOW, incredible! Bravo hackaday, you’re doing great things for the world and the individuals who hack.
Well… that’s not something I’m going to win…
Why on earth would you say that? Don’t be intimidated by the monumental awesomeness of the finish line. Get into the race.
I really don’t feel like I could do this alone, but if theres anyone else out there that feels the same way, maybe we can get together and do something awesome.
lol, ^ you already have the best idea, unlimited bacon, but for all!
So, you can choose a trip to space or ~$200k cash. In this case, it seems very likely that the winner would choose the cash…at which point the “trip to space” is just a PR stunt. That’s kind of disappointing, and I expect many people will be disappointed when that happens.
Would you spend $200k to go to space? If not, then the cash seems to be the option you would choose.
I also can’t imagine being able to pay the taxes on the prize if the trip to space is chosen – ouch!
Not everyone is physically fit for a trip into space. The cash alternative is worth less than the trip itself. And I suspect that your opinion isn’t universally adopted by all. I, for one, think that prizes should be something you are very unlikely to ever buy for yourself (that is one measure of a good gift). I would never buy a trip to space, but I probably take it if I one one.
“prizes should be something you are very unlikely to ever buy for yourself” – This says it. Who cares about cash equivalent of a trip to space? When did a trip to space become such a casual affair that one would think about the market value? This is just an option for those of us who are not so lucky to have the physical fitness to go.
Going into space would be cool, but that’s scary as hell to me (I have a hard time at 30k feet). You think the would let you transfer your prize to someone else?
I would take the cash, but mostly because that much money would be a good boost toward our eventual goal of going to space anyways. I’d rather have the money now so I can build my own space travel later, instead of hitching a ride with someone else.
Especially if the ride is suborbital – that’d be freaking awesome, but not “the most awesome”.
Actually, a trip to space is somewhat more expensive (Virgin Galactic is $250k). Cash alternative is something that’s mandated by the law so that people who are not eligible for the trip are not auto-disqualified (for example – people with disabilities etc.)
Thing is that no one, according to law, can buy you ticket for space trip, you have to do it yourself. That’s why they are paying money instead of giving you ticket …
C’mon… are we mice or men!… Take the trip in to space, you can make at least another $200k from the publicty.. talk about bragging rights…
We are Devo!
mu thoughts exactly , I’m just at the beginning of job hunting and adding “have been to space” would certainly impress whoever reads it.
Who wouldn’t take the trip to space, money isn’t everytything and its not like going to space is like flying to another country. Not everybody gets to do it.
It wouldn’t be had without someone whinging I suppose
Even if the cash prize was only $10000, I’d still take it over the “space” trip. You aren’t really going to space anyway. It’s just a brief peek above the atmosphere.
F*** Money!!!! I’d go to space without thinking it twice!
That said, maybe, with my idea I could win the prize, to bad I’m still not ready to make that idea a reality…. However, a person also needs to think that if her/his idea is a very commerciable one, you could take the money, sell the products and pay for your own trip, ha!
Although I could never come up with an idea cool enough to enter the contest, I can tell you right now that I would definatly take the trip into space.
I would so take the trip. I mean, no, I would not buy myself a trip to space for 200k, but if I already had it I would use it instead of cashing it out. It’s SPACE, man. How often are you going to get to go to space? 200k isn’t that much really, it’s not like you’ll be telling the tale of how you won 200k once. But going to space, a nice tale for the rest of your life.
*standing ovation*
Thank you!
Yes, us judges require cool projects to gawk at. Go make stuff! And if I read the docs correctly, there also are prices for runner ups and generally otherwise cool projects, so don’t let the feeling you’re not gonna go to space anyway stop you from entering something.
Absolutely correct. The top prize is so intimidatingly awesome that I fear many bright people will be scared off. Don’t give up before you try! Put your hacking mind to work and you WILL stand a chance.
Wait, what? Indeed.
Sadly, I don’t think I can revolutionize the hacker world in the next 3 months.
A project of this scale is definitely more than 3 months in the making, but someone who’s timing on their project is just right could certainly reap an awesome reward.
Well it’s 3 months until the first round of judging. People advancing on can continue to refine their idea, up until the final judging round (about 6 months out)
Not sure I would hold back…3 months is a long to time to get something going if you think about it. If the contest is “connected devices” then the HW Is pretty obvious. I would expect most of this to then be a SW problem and 3 months in SW is a loooooong time.
For commercial project, the short development cycle is like 6 months working full time with some software people pounding away for the code while you do designing/proto run/testing the hardware. So 3 months – 8 months time frame is actually quite short if you are doing this part time over the evenings and weekend/holidays. The weather is going to be a distraction on free time.
Given the rules, you are not likely to make final round if you duct tape arduino shields and copy pasting scripts together. The project could be judge on how production ready it is in final round if you are going for the $5k prizes and up.
Trying to be DFx ready for low cost production assembly for personal projects is a bit painful too. I am in my first proto design/layout cycle right now doing just that.
3 months from now to get going’d be a bit tricky for anyone doing A-levels or other such exams in the UK (Don’t know about other countries); That’s pretty much slap bang across the exam season, so I can’t really participate. Cool competition none the less.
Hope the winner doesn’t turn up for launch & see the flight controls are still on a breadboard!
Just don’t forget to turn off your cellphone during takeoff ;-P That’s probably still a thing for spaceflight.
Yup. Cosmic rays, no problem! What’s this, a Nokia 8210?! Argh!
You’re not from around here, are you? It’ll be an arduino, and it’ll have a proper shield, not a breadboard.
Do you really mean that the winner themselves will go into space – rather than their project? That sounds too awesome to be true.
That is what the press release says! The winner (person) goes to space!
Tempting… I’ve no chance of winning but I was going to work on my project anyway! The official rules link doesn’t appear to work.
I dunno but I think I would take the space option. Money comes and money goes, going into space would really be special though.
Don’t even say that. You’ve as much chance as anyone. Get to work. I’ll see you on the launch pad.
That comment.. RIGHT THERE! I am not an emotional person WHATSOEVER but that comment made me freaking burst into tears. you deserve a medal.
Jaw, dropped, floor, ouch – WOW
Oh a trip to space… I have seen this so often, come on this aint nothing special anymore. I propose the frirst prize should be an Arduino implant, this is something for the true hackers among us.
ok, call me stupid but “So if you’re getting serious about winning The Hackaday Prize you simply must read The Official Rules.”
fine, where do i find those?
They are on their way, last finishing touches going on today, should be out this afternoon.
I’m definitly going to be very happy when I get to go to outer space.
My eyebrows were fucking raised…
However, in the UK the prize probably counts as self employed income, as the competition requires significant work/skill to win, like writing competitions.
IIRC a seat on virgin galactic is 250k, so sounds like the better deal if you were thinking of going anyway :-D
I would like to know if a person can have multiple entries? Can a person crowd fund their design as a product during/after the competition?
Also sprach Zarathustra, 2001 etc, ok, the space reference is clear. But WHY 6047 (and not 42) at the begining of the sound track ?
We couldn’t resist one last puzzle. Hope someone figures it out eventually :-)
think i solved it… ;-)
could point to “the architect”
http://hackaday.io/hacker/6047
Kudos :-)
was it the solution?
or is it still unsolved?
Is it possible to enter more than one project per person? This should be clarified in rules. Also, I see slight problems :) if 10 people in a team win $200k, how they are going to split the prize. Or only 1st registered guy/girl in a team gets all?
Splitting the prize with a team is up to you to work out. But working as a team is both allowed and encouraged!
This is a wonderful theme that hackaday has been encouraging lately. Even the shy solo hacker can go so much further by joining forces with a like-minded ally. You don’t need to be childhood friends. You just need to share the same interest in making stuff.
I stopped reading when “week’s” made my brain do a double-take. Come on, guys. Basic proof-reading is still a requirement, even on the Internet.
Yep, basic proofreading is something we do. Thanks for the help though.
Can’t resist the snarky response to that: “The the hashtag”
I like Hackaday Soap because it is as pure as the sky itself!
+1 for obscure Heinlein reference
Okay, time to get dirty and actually Get Serious about something I’ve been blue skying for way too long now.The time to build it is now. I’ll be in this before it’s over! Love it, HackaDay! Love it!
Always great being from quebec … :<
Yeah, Quebec sucks for contests, time to move to a better province.
Not really HAD’s fault though, Quebec’s contest regulations are just too much of a pain for just about all companies to deal with.
Yeah we were surprised at the legal restrictions in countries worldwide to be honest. Italy and Spain I believe have similar restrictions. We tried to include as many as we can but at a certain point it starts to get prohibitively awkward.
Uh :( so no Italy? No Spain? uh.. :(((
…sry forgot to add the mail notify.
How long will my space mission last? I need to inform my work prior, plus check if I have enough vacation days before I commit to this project.
Read the fine print – they’re sending your ASHES into space, so I’d plan to be gone from work for quite some time.
Good idea, best get insurance ahead of time.
This is QUITE A ASTONISHING project. You’ve got me speachless. There’s so many good aspects to it that I don’t know where to start. Congratulations!
Meh. I was excited for about 30 seconds. Then I realised by “space” they meant high altitude. You know what would be truly awesome? A trip into orbit. :’-(
I’ll take the money and use some of it for a flight in a military jet to high altitude instead plus a small contribution to a house deposit. It all looks pretty much the same at 70,000 feet or 300,000 feet.
Actually there’s a fundamental difference.
A high altitude military flight does not qualify you as an astronaut. Whereas a trip on one of the civilian launch carriers at that altitude actually does. So you can add Astronaut to your linked in profile ;-p
Being a passenger on Virgin Galactic also will not qualify you as an astronaut. Being a pilot for them will qualify you as “civilian astronaut”, but not a passenger.
That’s an incredibly depressing way of looking at it :-p
Yup, although the virgin galactic trip is cool, it’s not orbit cool.
The competition is going to be incredible!
To win his somebody should build a warp drive or something like that!
:D
A working, real stargate… Unfortunately seed ship technology is still in the works…
Are you serious? That’s unreal…
VERY cool prize indeed! My hat is off to whoever A) thought of this and B) Actually made it happen.
Is there any consideration for a tax gross up in the prize? Whoever wins the top prize is in for an extremely nasty surprise when they do taxes and realize their income is now $250k higher than expected. This will lead to bumping into much higher tax brackets, losing exemptions, etc. and probably cost at least $50k in taxes alone.
Then consider the prize $150,000. Jeez, some people just love to complain!
It would be pretty bad for someone to get their hopes up about going to space, win the contest, and realize it will cost over $50k. Not complaining at all, in fact I think it’s incredibly generous of Hackaday and Supply Frame. However you need to be aware of the tax consequences for winning such a large prize.
I just read a mature copy of the Official Rules (I expect to receive the final copy for publication at any moment). The Grand Prize does include a % consideration for taxes if the winner chooses a ticket to space rather than the cash option.
Awesome, thanks for the followup!
Heck I might just make an attempt for the swag :D.
Kudos for the rendition of “Also sprach Zarathustra” : very neat !
Thanks fred!
This was performed by the Modified Toy Orchestra (http://www.modifiedtoyorchestra.com/). We’ll hopefully be doing a post about how they hacked all their toys soon.
I can’t see why anyone with a truly incredible idea would give it away for such a paltry prize. You could patent and produce it for many times that amount of money, if it really is that awesome. Or it will just be a case of whoever has the least bad of the bad or rehashed ideas wins the prize.
We’re not asking you to give away your idea. We’re asking you to actually build your idea and to make as much of it Open Hardware and Open Source Software as possible. You still retain your ownership of the IP.
This is exactly what’s on my mind right now, I’m wondering how open sourcing my designs will influence the strength of my patent. Anyone have real experience with this?
I’m seriously considering joining though, I’m working on a solar panel installation cleaning robot and was already planning on opening up the designs (in combination with crowd funding to get the first production run done).
I’ve been working on this for quite a while now, made a bunch of prototype parts to test certain aspects, evaluate sensors, etc. Can I enter with this project that has already started?
This is so awesome! Probably sponsored by some huge corporation who wants to get rid of this one lucky hacker… :D
This would be really cool!
Is there any way to enter this without having to deal with your thoroughly disorganized, painfully slow, and horribly slow projects website? (Seriously, that level of awful is usually reserved for government websites.)
Also, are there any details of this trip? Is it a *REAL* trip into space, or just a sub-orbital, glorified plane ride?
Haters gonna hate
+1
Sub orbital dude. I.e. Up and down within 15 mins. Keep the cash and become a crazy inventor instead. That’s what I’m going to do. Now that would be life-changing.
Talk about bad timing… I had a project in the works for the contest, but I doubt I’ll be able to finish in time… Not that I would have won anyways, but at least I would have tried, sadly, I just don’t have the time to work on it…
Oh well, good luck to all who enters! Looking forward to seeing your projects.
Oh my… now it’s time to pick my team like a game of lifeboat. I don’t need $200,000, $50,000 is more than enough to build my sail/solar powered river boat and never pay rent again. The space trip would be awesome, but the freedom of having a live aboard vessel would be truly life changing. OK I’m in.
Too bad the youtube video thing is part of the contest.
“next evolution of connected devices” Well clearly that’s Skynet. I better start stocking up on Coltan and looking into LIDAR.
“2014 Grand Prize is a trip into space on a carrier of your choice.”
So….. Roscosmos?
Or SpaceX once they get approved for manned flights?
I was thinking that too, but it might be more difficult to get NASA give up a seat, or let you aboard the ISS. The Russians seem a bit more willing.
Just looked this up and a seat on a Russian Soyuz costs about $63 million and a seat on a SpaceX Dragon will cost about $20 million according to http://www.universetoday.com/90100/spacex-completes-crucial-milestone-toward-launching-astronauts/
If those are options, someone involved has really deep pockets.
You have utterly forgotten — that the White Knight exists, didn’t you.
White Knight was the launch platform for SpaceShip1, so taking a ride on that wouldn’t get you to space. :P
Of course, it was assumed that by “2014 Grand Prize is a trip into space on a carrier of your choice.”, they really mean Virgin Galactic and possibly XCOR, but if I had *my* choice, I’d take a ride in something that gets me into orbit.
No this one :p
http://www.starfirescientific.com/
The contest says win “a trip into space” – what do you have to do to get back to earth?
Yay! A HaD competition I can finally enter! (don’t have to do the annoying team thing)
…and not have a hope in hell of winning anything because just look at the quality of hacks & hackers already out there :(
What in the actual HELL hackaday?! I can’t even concentrate right now! Amazing…Props to all those involved in putting this together. And you have a hard time getting a better panel of judges, especially bunny and sprite_tm. Was getting tired of blinking LED’s and wiping asses w/ arduinos….but you guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSr-VWc_7WQ
Not everyone has the same opportunities in this world.
“Residents of these area are specifically excluded from entry: Italy, Quebec, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any jurisdiction where the Prize would be restricted or prohibited by law.”
My country sucks… What a shame :(
Not really.. It’s just that your country stood up to the international bankers and globalists, and the people who control the U.S. right now don’t like that… (Except for Italy & Quebec WTF?)
Maybe you being fooled by my Exotic name :) but i am Italian and my country is Italy.
I can understand the particular geopolitical situation of the other areas in the list.
But Italy and Quebec aren’t in any Black list, last time i checked.
This is so sad…
Yeah that’s frekin’ strange, in case of Italy I would guess that something is MISSING or far too complicated to manage. Source: I’m Italian too…
The last prize is a bit inspecific:
“Grab Bag of electronics and components
($1000 approximate value each)”
How do you value a grab bag?
You’d never buy one for the price of every component or what would be the point? If I go by the prices I’ve paid (usually for very unusual or valuable components) this would be a bag weighing 50+Kg. That would be a pain to send to the other side of the world if someone like me won.
Seing as ten people will get one of these bags for every smart sole who makes it into the top five, is there any chance of elaboration on what this bag really contains (or were you hoping no one would notice)?
Actually, I’d probably rather just take a bunch of the Databooks that Supply Frame scan for Datasheet Archive.
Unfortunately “one man’s garbage is one man’s treasure” is especially true for grab bag. They could put a dozen of BGA chips that are worth $1000 in there, but you can’t use it. :(
I like the pay by the scoop in this picture with the white plastic Asian soup spoons on the right in the bin: http://blog.zaq.ne.jp/kyotani2/img/img_box/img20140322152357977.jpg
200 yen (~$1.95 US) per scoop
And the plastic spoon garantees whatever is scooped up will be ESD zapped!
Electronics Goldmine used to sell “transistors by the scoop”.
much wow
to the moon
Ok, the doge reference is kind of done. Like a lot of comments to this post. I mean, shut up if you don’t want to participate. If the first thing you think about when you see a contest is the tax you’re going to pay for the prize, I actually feel a bit sorry for you. Whiners gonna whine, I guess… but still.
As for the contest: AWESOME! :D
Amen. Quit bitching about free stuff!
Of course, the more of them who get pissy and leave, the better the chances for the rest of us, so hate on!
I’m super stoked and I can’t wait to get started!
I wonder if the prize monies would be enough to launch a nanosat. After all, if I go to space I want to stay in space. (Even if the “I” is only an electronic extension of my ego.)