The challenges

We have 4 exciting challenges for you to choose from ranging from the fun and interactive to the deep and educational. Each are briefly described below and you can click on the "Get Started" button to learn more about each challenge and instructions for how to enter. 

Summer Fun with Arduino Challenge Terms & Conditions

These rules (and the CodeProject® Terms of Use and the CodeProject Contributors Agreement) govern the Summer Fun with Arduino Challenge (the "Contest") and set out the terms and conditions between CodeProject and its affiliates ("CodeProject" or "us/we") and each participant ("participant", "or "you"). A submission to this Contest constitutes your acceptance of these Official Contest Rules (the "Rules").

1.  How to Enter: CodeProject is offering the Contest and will award Prizes (as defined below) based on the results of judging all valid entries against the criteria established in these Rules.  

The Contest begins on 6 July 2018 at 12AM and ends on 8 August 2018 at 11:59:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time (“Contest Period”). CodeProject’s clock is the official time for the Contest. All entries must be submitted during this period in order to qualify.

To enter challenges 3 and 4, submit your entry at http://www.codeproject.com/script/Articles/SubmissionWizard.aspx and ensure you submit it within the Internet of Things chapter in the Arduino section. Participants must comply with the submission format provided by CodeProject on its website. Submissions must be in the English language.

No purchase is necessary to enter the Contest or to be eligible to win a Prize.

We are not responsible for lost, illegible, incomplete, mutilated or stolen entries; errors appearing within these Rules, in any Contest related advertisements or other materials; or other errors of any kind whether mechanical, human, electronic or otherwise. Entries that are late, illegible, incomplete, unreadable, damaged, delayed, lost, tampered with, incomprehensible, forged, mutilated, misdirected, inaccurate, unintelligible or otherwise not in compliance with these Rules will be disqualified. You must provide all of the requested information to submit a valid entry. Only those who live in jurisdictions in which this Contest is legal may enter.

Prizes may be withheld or awarded to another eligible registrant if these Rules are breached.

Prizes may not be exactly as shown. A reasonable US$ equivalent in lieu of the Prize may also be awarded at the sole discretion of CodeProject.

Entries shall be deemed to be submitted by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry unless clearly indicated otherwise. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g. business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.

2. Eligibility: This Contest is open to software development professionals & enthusiasts who are of the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence. Residents of Quebec and of the following countries are ineligible to participate due to legal constraints: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. All national and local laws and regulations of the participant’s country of residence apply. Residents of countries under U.S. embargo are not eligible to enter. Employees, officers and representatives (and members of their immediate families and those living in the same household of each) of CodeProject, its parents, subsidiaries and affiliated companies, advertising and promotion agencies, and any company involved in the design, execution, production of this Contest ("Contest entities") are ineligible. CodeProject reserves the right to verify participant eligibility at any time and all participants may be required to provide verification of eligibility. Void where prohibited. You must enroll or be enrolled as a member of Codeproject.com to be eligible to win a Prize in this Contest.

3.  Determination of winners:

Up to $5000 in prizes will be awarded, but only a valid entry in compliance with these Rules is eligible to win a Prize. Participants in challenge 1 will be eligible to win one of 20 Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Starter Kits from CanaKit and participants in challenge 2 will be eligible to win one of 20 Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen Displays from CanaKit. 

The Articles will be judged based on the following elements:

Working Arduino project articles:  

• how innovative and functional the project is;

• the overall execution and presentation of an entry itself

Advanced IoT tutorial articles:  

• how clear, pertinent and enjoyable the entry is;

• how effectively the participant is able to explain the new technology or platform and demonstrate his/ her IoT expertise

In addition, the votes and comments each submission receives on the CodeProject website may be taken into account. Judges decisions are final. You may withdraw your submission at any time by notifying CodeProject. Your right to win a Prize is terminated if a submission is withdrawn.

Winners will be announced on August 15, 2018. Winners will be notified by email following selection and may also be announced in the Daily Build newsletter or other sections of CodeProject.com. We shall have no liability for any winner notification that is lost, intercepted or not received by the potential winner for any reason and we are not obligated to leave voice mail, answering machine or other message. Proof of response by a potential winner does not constitute proof of receipt by us.

All winners will be notified via email. If after seven (7) days of the second notification to the winner, no acknowledgement or response is received, the Prize is forfeited, and CodeProject will select another winner.

Each winner acknowledges that, if and to the extent that CodeProject is legally obligated to provide a third party with information about any Prize claimed by a winner, CodeProject shall be entitled to do so.

4.  Ownership and Publicity: CodeProject does not claim ownership of your submission to the Contest (please see the “Ownership” section in the CodeProject Contributors Agreement), but by submitting an entry, you grant CodeProject, its affiliated companies and necessary sub-licensees a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully assignable and transferable right and license, to edit, adapt, translate, reformat your submission, to post your submission (e.g. publish, display, perform, digitally perform) to do what CodeProject feels it needs to do to manage and update the Site, to make and maintain back-up and archival copies, and to make your submission available to End Users in accordance with these Rules, CodeProject’s Contributors Agreement, and the specific EULA that you select.

By participating in the Contest, you expressly allow CodeProject to use and publish, in any medium or format, your name, city and country of residence, voice, statements, video, photographs and other likenesses in connection with any promotion, advertising or publicity without further consideration or notice to you. Any participant’s personal information may be used by CodeProject in order to conduct the Contest. By participating in the Contest, the participant agrees to the use of the participant’s personal information in accordance with CodeProject’s privacy policy, which can be found at http://www.codeproject.com/info/privacy.aspx.

5.  Participant Warranties:

By submitting an entry to the Contest, you warrant that your submission:

1. is a new article or a new version of an article and has not been published previously on CodeProject;

2. does not contain any content that infringes on any third party rights, including Intellectual Property (IP) rights, and that you own or otherwise have all rights necessary to make your submission, including any and all IP rights;

3. does not disclose any information which would constitute a violation of any confidentiality obligation;

4. does not violate any agreement that you have with any third party; and

5. does not contain any viruses, worms, spyware, or other components or instructions that are malicious, deceptive, or designed to limit or harm the functionality of a computer or computer system.

6.  Prizes:

As described below, there will be up to $5,000 in Contest prizes (“Prize” or “Prizes”) awarded.

Articles must be of an acceptable quality, fulfil requirement outlines for the article topic as determined solely by CodeProject, and abide by the Terms of this Contest. The total approximate retail value (“ARV”) of all Prizes will not exceed five thousand ($5,000) USD. All applicable federal, state, and local tax laws apply. The value for any prize is based on the ARV at the beginning of the Contest Period. Because the ARV for any Prize may fluctuate, CodeProject has the sole right to determine the value of any Prize, or its cash equivalent, at the time that any prize is awarded.

Substitution or transfer of Prizes is not allowed. In CodeProject’s sole discretion, it may award a substitute prize of equal or greater value. The winner accepts responsibility for all federal, state and local taxes and fees in connection with the Prizes. If you are a potential winner, we may require you to sign an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability/Publicity Release and a W-9 tax form or W-8 BEN tax form within seven (7) business days of notification. In certain countries, such as Canada, a winner may be required to correctly answer a skill testing question before becoming eligible to claim a Prize.

Apart from any Prize that may be awarded as part of the Contest, no compensation (monetary or otherwise) will be paid for your Contest submission. CodeProject is not responsible for Contest entries not received due to lost, failed, delayed or interrupted connections or miscommunications, or other electronic malfunctions. CodeProject is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by you or any other persons or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest.

The Prize will be shipped to the winner’s residence using standard delivery. CodeProject is not responsible for a Prize if it is lost, stolen or damaged during or after shipping, and it will not be replaced by CodeProject.

7.  Warranties and Disclaimers: Prizes come with the standard manufacture warranty only (if applicable), but Prizes are awarded “AS IS”. To the fullest extent allowable by law, CodeProject specifically disclaims any representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the Contest or the Prizes including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose and implied warranties arising from course of dealing or course of performance.

8.  Release of Liability, Issues of Law and Indemnity: By participating in the Contest, all participants release CodeProject, its affiliates, partners, subsidiaries, officers, directors, agents, employees and all entities associated with the development and execution of this promotion from any and all liability with respect to and in any way arising from participating in this promotion, acceptance or use of a Prize. CodeProject assumes no responsibility for incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry information, technical malfunctions, human or technical error, lost, delayed or garbled data or transmissions, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or failures of any telephone or computer line or network, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof. Entry materials/data that have been tampered with or altered are void. If for any reason, in the opinion of CodeProject in its sole discretion, the Contest is not capable of running as originally planned, or if the administration, security, fairness, integrity or the proper conduct of the Contest is corrupted or adversely affected, including by reason of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond its control, CodeProject reserves its right to cancel, terminate, modify, amend, extend or suspend the Contest including cancelling any method of entry, and select a winner from previously received eligible entries. CodeProject reserves its right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be violating the letter or spirit of the Rules or is otherwise acting in a disruptive manner. CodeProject reserves its right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent of the law for any attempts to deliberately damage the Contest web site or to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest. CodeProject shall not be held responsible for any errors or negligence that may arise or occur in connection with the Contest including any damage to an entrant's computer equipment, system, software or any combination thereof, as a result of their participation in this Contest or from downloading any material from the Contest website where applicable. All participants agree to fully indemnify and hold harmless CodeProject from any and all claims by third parties relating to the Contest without limitation.  

9.  Generally: CodeProject may make changes to these Rules at any time without notice to you. Participating in the Contest or accepting a Prize will constitute acceptance of the revised rules. These Rules prevail in the event of any conflict or inconsistency with any other communications, including advertising or promotional materials.

All trade names, trademarks, registered trademarks, product names and company names or logos mentioned or displayed in connection with the Contest are the property of their respective owners and may not be used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of their respective owners.

If, for reasons beyond CodeProject’s control (including, but not limited to, tampering or computer virus infection), the Contest is not capable of running as originally planned, CodeProject, at its sole discretion reserves the right to cancel or modify the Contest, without liability or further notice. CodeProject will not be responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, or illicit submissions, or for Internet, computer hardware and software, phone, and other technical errors, omissions malfunctions, and delays. Entries are void if they contain material typographical or other errors. All entrants agree to comply fully with each provision in these Rules. Any person attempting to defraud or in any way tamper with this Contest and any person who does not comply with these Rules, will be ineligible for any Prize(s) and may be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

For any feedback or questions regarding the Contest or the Prizes, please contact contest@codeproject.com.

10. Winners' List: For a list of Prize winners, please contact contest@codeproject.com with the Subject Line “Summer Fun with Arduino Challenge Winners List” by August 15, 2018. 

Discussions

 

Looking for Challenge 2 information? click here!

Challenge 1 - Build an Arduino LED binary counter

• Please read Ryan's excellent Arduino starter articles to get you on your way. You can choose between using an Arduino device or using Tinkercad. Either way, your entry counts
• Set up the Arduino IDE (online or Desktop)
• Follow the instructions provided in the above articles to build a binary counter by placing and wiring up a series of LED lights and connecting them to the Arduino
• Follow the instructions below to generate your secret code which you will enter in the Secret Code page.

Generating your Code

Once you have your Arduino (or simulation) up and running it's time to add a little code to generate a code that you will enter in our contest system to prove you've completed the challenge. It’ll only take a few easy steps to make your Arduino generate the contest code.

First, open your CodeProject profile page (click on your name at the top right of CodeProject.com while logged in)  and find your member ID number directly above your profile picture.

In the Arduino IDE or Tinkercad code window, paste the following function at the top of the file before any other code:

uint8_t Hash(String str)
{
   uint8_t hash = (uint8_t) str.length();
   for (uint8_t i = 0; i < (uint8_t) str.length(); ++i)
   {
      hash = (uint8_t) (((hash << 5) ^ (hash >> 3)) ^ str[i]);
   }

   return hash;
}    

Next, inside the BinaryCounter::increment() method, find the line that reads:

binaryDigits = getBinaryDigits(valuetoShow)

an change it to:

binaryDigits = getBinaryDigits(Hash(“00000000”))

Now, replace the string of zeros with your CodeProject member ID.

If you’re using Arduino hardware, connect the Arduino hardware to your PC and use the Arduino IDE to upload the code. If you’re using Tinkercad, you don’t need to do anymore more with your code as all the changes you make are available to the simulated Arduino immediately.

Proceed to the next section if you’re using a physical Arduino. If you’re using Tinkercad, skip ahead to the ‘Tinkercad Instructions’ section.

Hardware Instructions

• If your Arduino is plugged in to a power source, unplug it.
• Find the wire that connects analog port 0 on the Arduino to the breadboard
• Unplug it from the breadboard, and plug it into the top negative power rail on the breadboard. Leave it plugged in to analog port 0 on the Arduino.

• Connect your Arduino to a power source. The LEDs will light up and give you an 8 digit code to enter. If the LED is off, it represents a 0. If it is on, it represents a 1. For example, the LEDs in the image below represent the code 01110010.

Tinkercad Instructions

• Delete the wire connecting analog pin 0 on the Arduino to the breadboard.
• Connect a new wire from analog pin 0 on the Arduino to the upper negative power rail on the breadboard:

• Click the ‘Start Simulation’ button. The LEDs will light up and give you an 8 digit code to enter. If the LED is off, it represents a 0. If it is on, it represents a 1. For example, the LEDs in the image below represent the code 01110010.

Challenge 2 - Create Morse code using an Arduino

• Get started by following the instructions in the tutorial article.
• Check back here for instructions on how to generate a contest entry code.

Generating Your Entry Code

Start by opening your challenge 2 code in the Arduino IDE or in Tinkercad.

Next, open your CodeProject profile page (click on your name at the top right of CodeProject.com while logged in)  and find your member ID number directly under above your profile picture.

Once you have your member ID, look in your Challenge 2 code and find the line where your define your morse message. It'll look something like this:

const char *message = "codeproject\0";

Directly beneath this line, add the following line:

const char *memberNumber = "12345678";

Replace the digits 12345678 with your member ID.

Next, add the following code at the end of the setup() function:

Serial.begin(9600);
String morseNumbers = "";
int length = strlen(memberNumber);
for(int i = 0; i < length; i++){
  const char *ch = strchr(characters, memberNumber[i]);
  int index = (int)(ch - characters);
  morseNumbers.concat(mappings[index]);
}
Serial.println(morseNumbers);
Serial.end();

We're almost done! Now we'll just need to use the Arduino serial monitor to get our contest entry code.

If you're using the Arduino IDE, connect your Arduino to your PC using a USB cable, and then click on the Tools menu and choose 'Serial Monitor'. You'll see a serial monitor window appear. Once you've done this, upload the code to your Arduino.

If you're using Tinkercad, click on the 'Serial Monitor' button at the bottom left of the code editor. You'll see a serial monitor display area open. After you do this, click 'Start Simulation' to run your new code.

When the new code runs, you'll see a Morse code message show up in the serial monitor window. It'll appear as a series of dots and dashes. Copy this message, and then navigate to the contest code entry page. Choose Round 2 in the drop-down box, and then paste the Morse code message from your Arduino serial monitor into the contest entry code box.

Then, click submit and if your code is correct, your contest entry will be recorded.

Challenge 3: Showcase working Arduino projects

Post a working Arduino project, with full source, as an article on CodeProject in the Arduino section as a CodeProject article. 

Your project can be for any purpose: a plant watering system, a solar energy tracker, a security system, or something that randomly injects pics of Guy Fieri into npm packages. Whatever the purpose, just package it up and post your work as an article on CodeProject.

Winners will be judged on innovation, usefulness, ease of use of the code on a real Arduino, and general presentation of the project.

Challenge 4: Demonstrate your IoT Expertise

If you’re an IoT expert, this is the place to show it off! Post an article on CodeProject that highlights your choice in IoT development.  

The focus of this challenge is to teach concepts to readers unfamiliar with the technology (or teach readers how to stretch themselves with advanced concepts). Brief examples that are to the point are better than full blown projects. Focus on the concepts you are trying to teach.

Topics may include tutorials, code samples and walkthroughs, intros on how to program new and emerging technologies (eg. LoRaWAN, Low power operation, Bluetooth, Mesh). Maybe you want to write about embedded or Raspberry Pi development, or HomeKit or Google Home integration, or Docker with IoT, Azure or AWS. The possibilities are endless; let your imagination go wild!

Winners will be judged on clarity of ideas, readability, technical prowess and general presentation of the article.

How do I publish my articles?

Choose your topic and submit your article to the Internet of Things chapter. Contestants have until the contest deadline to write and submit as many articles as they wish (each article should focus on a single technology or platform)

Challenge 1 (Prize: Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Starter Kit)

1. Richard MacCutchan
2. Arun Maiya
3. Kornfeld Peter
4. John Duchek
5. OlaOluwa
6. Nish Nishant
7. Michael Jones
8. Khairul Alam
9. Mikhail Krivtsov
10. Adolfo Ruiz
11. Member 13933029
12. Member 11001765
13. Member 13914027
14. Anmol2701
15. Nguyenkhangtran
16. Member 13935775
17. Thanh1993
18. Fobdob
19. Vaghela Ravirajsinh
20. Mikhaylo Moroz

Challenge 2 (Prize: Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen Display)

1. Ebrahim Rupawala
2. Reggie Wyk
3. GKP1992
4. Supercoolezio
5. Marcuson.nn90
6. Member 10881441
7. Fatman45
8. Storm-blade
9. Jan Dolinay
10. Member 10526599
11. Ewen Phillips
12. Anneliston
13. Eugene Petersen
14. Vitor Breno
15. lpleo
16. Ron85262
17. Tuanhth95
18. Alfred90
19. Fabrizio Frusone
20. Fobdob

Challenge 3

First Prize: Phil Hopley - $350
Rodney - A long time coming autonomous robot (Part 1)

Second Prize: Raddevus - $250
GPS Walker: Get GPS Data With Your Arduino

Third Prize: Raddevus - $200
Monitor & Store Temperature Stats For Home Zones With Arduino

Challenge 4

First Prize: Sbarnes - $500
The WiFiTomic Clock

Second Prize: Ron85262 - $300
Controlling Smart Home within $15, Why Not?

Third Prize: Geek96boolean10 - $200
Let's IoT Hub: Tutorial 3