element14 Community has announced the winners of its Twist, Turn and Move Design Challenge. Ten challengers were equipped with a selection of TE Connectors, an Arduino Uno and robotics shields, with competitors given 11 weeks to design and build a robotic arm or mobile robot to complete a specific task.
“We were blown away by the creativity of the challengers throughout the Twist, Turn and Move Design Challenge. Not only did they think practically about the use of robotics in everyday life, but they also truly showed their ingenuity,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “Through the challenger’s blog posts, it is amazing to see the thought process that goes into these creations. We are so happy to announce our winners and continue to support an amazing community of creative engineers.”
“I am amazed by the outcome of this exercise,” said Michael Steuer, Global Account Manager Industrial, TE Connectivity. “History has shown that great developments sometimes start small and with a good idea, so I’m excited to see where these ideas go!”
Of the 10 sponsored challengers in the Twist, Turn and Move Design Challenge, eight completed all five blog posts and presented their final projects. The element14 Community team of judges selected one Grand Prize winner and one runner-up:
- Grand Prize Winner – Ambrogio Galbusera from Italy created Rullit, a PV Cell Panel Cleaning Robot designed to clean solar panels using paint rollers. The robot has a fun and economic method of locomotion and is remote controlled through a mobile app. In the words of the judges, “The world is challenged to provide more green energy and the efficiency of a cell is dependent on the pollution. People are challenged to keep their cells clean and specially on roofs it is almost impossible.” Ambrogio received a Flash Forge Guider II 3D Printer and an iRobot Roomba Self Emptying Robot Vacuum Clearer for a total value of $2100.
- Runner-Up – Dale Winhold from Canada created Unlimited CNC which is an unrestrained CNC laser cutting prototype that can cut sans borders. One judge commented – “In general, I am amazed about the outcome of this exercise. History showed that great developments sometimes started small with a good idea, so I am excited to see where this goes.” Winhold received an iRobot Bravaa Jet Robot Mop and an Ender 3 V2 3D Printer valued at $500.
Challengers were judged on their ability to use the Challenger’s Kit most creatively, along with publishing media rich blog posts with photos, videos and code samples. The remaining six participants received a Multicomp Pro Multimeter valued at $30 as a finisher prize.
