element14, an Avnet Community, in collaboration with Bourns, recently launched the Experimenting with Flyback Transformers Design Challenge.

This innovative competition invites design engineers and enthusiasts to explore the world of flyback transformers, integral components used in switched-mode power supplies, converters, inverters, and more. Participants will have the opportunity to compete for prizes tailored to inspire and reward their creative endeavors.

The challenge aims to expand the understanding and application of flyback transformers through a series of hands-on experiments, tests, and designs. Whether you are an experienced engineer or a passionate hobbyist, this challenge offers a platform to showcase your skills and innovations.

“We invite engineers and enthusiasts to join us on an exciting journey of innovation as we explore the untapped potential of flyback transformers,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We look forward to observing the innovative approaches our members take throughout this challenge.”

The challenge is open to all element14 Community members, with free registration available here.

Applications for the Experimenting with Flyback Transformers Design Challenge are open now till 23 October, with participant selection on 27 October. Challengers must submit their projects and blogs by 15 January, and winners will be announced in January 2024.

Prizes include:

• Grand Prize: The grand prize winner will walk away with an impressive package including an MP720015 Handheld Oscilloscope from Multicomp Pro, a BeagleV Ahead Single Board Computer from BeagleBoard, and an MP710258 single-channel programmable DC electronic load from Multicomp Pro.
• Runner-up Prize: The runner-up prize winner will receive an equally fantastic package featuring an MP740784 Hot Air Station from Multicomp Pro, an MP710086 Linear Bench Top DC Power Supply from Multicomp Pro, as well as a BeagleV Ahead Single Board Computer from BeagleBoard.
• Finisher Prize: All challengers who complete the competition will be rewarded with a Heat Shrink Tubing Kit from Multicomp Pro.

For full details about the Experimenting with Flyback Transformers Design Challenge and to register, please visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-flyback-transformers/.

element14, an Avnet Community, in collaboration with Microchip, recently launched the “Upcycle IoT” Design Challenge, a pioneering initiative aimed at inspiring the element14 Community to repurpose electronic waste into innovative IoT-connected projects. The challenge invites community members to breathe new life into old or malfunctioning electronic devices by integrating them into their unique IoT creations.

20 selected participants will be given the Microchip SAM E51 Curiosity Nano and a selection of MikroE Click Boards to utilize and give an old piece of hardware an IoT upgrade or reinvigorate a failed control board, all while learning about the beauty of upcycling and competing for prizes.

“With more than 50 million metric tons of e-waste generated globally, we’re excited to launch a challenge that educates our community about upcycling while reducing some of the e-waste for the year,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We’re looking forward to seeing the creative ways our members bring new life to a project and generate great results.”

Designers participating in the challenge can let their imaginations run wild, potentially creating projects such as:

·       Upgrading a malfunctioning washing machine with IoT capabilities to notify users when the laundry is complete

·       Adding a remote notification system to a child's electric scooter to remind them when it's time to head home

·       Repairing broken laboratory equipment and enabling it to report findings to an IoT data platform

·       Transforming an outdated air conditioning unit into a smart, IoT-connected device controllable via a smartphone app

Applications for the "Upcycle IoT" Design Challenge open on 8 September and will remain open until 29 September. Selected participants will then receive the SAM E51 Curiosity Nano platform and must submit their projects, along with a minimum of five blog posts, by 12 December 2023.

The grand prize winner of the challenge will receive a Jackery Solar Generator 1000 and a Jackery SolarSaga 100W Solar Panel. Additionally, the runner-up prize winner will receive a Jackery Explorer 550 Portable Power Station. All challengers will be awarded a finisher prize consisting of a Wall Mounted Can Crusher.

For more details about the "Upcycle IoT" Challenge and to register for the competition, please visit https://community.element14.com/UpcycleIoT.

element14, an Avnet Community, has announced two upcoming webinars in time for back-to-school season, Seamless Power Integration: Ensuring the Safe Operation of Test & Measurement Racks on Thursday, September 7 at 9 a.m. C.T. and The Tech Driving Bi-directional EV Charging on Monday, September 11 at 11 a.m. C.T.

“We take pride in educating our community of makers, designers and engineers on the latest trending technologies,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We’re excited to share new EV charging insights as we continue to expand our product line-up to meet demand and also educate around the latest power integration solutions.”

Attendees of the Seamless Power Integration webinar will learn about:

• Strategies to integrate Power Distribution Units (PDUs) with Emergency Stop functionality, ensuring enhanced safety measures and minimized downtime in your test rack.
• Benefits of implementing remote management capabilities in your test rack, enabling flawless operations, power consumption monitoring, and remote issue troubleshooting.
• The functionalities of Intelligent Power Distribution Units (iPDUs), such as energy monitoring, sequenced switching, power cycling and how they can significantly enhance your test rack's efficiency and performance.
• Practical insights and real-life examples showcasing the successful integration of power solutions in test and measurement racks.
• The latest technology trends and advancements in power integration, empowering you to stay informed in the dynamic field of test engineering.

Attendees of The Tech Driving Bi-directional EV Charging webinar can expect to learn about:

• How bidirectional charging is part of the answer to today's global challenges of decarbonization and increasing energy demand.
• Power conversion topologies for bidirectional DC charging.
• An application example based on Infineon's 50 kW reference design.
• Why secure communication is an important issue for electric vehicle charging.
• Solutions that go beyond power, such as control and security.
• How on-board chargers (OBCs) follow similar trends and solutions.

Following each of the webinars, there will be a short quiz where participants will be able to test the knowledge they learned and earn a certificate.

To learn more and to register for Seamless Power Integration: Ensuring the Safe Operation of Test & Measurement Racks on September 7 at 9 a.m. CT, please visit

https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1665

To learn more and to register for The Tech Driving Bi-directional EV Charging on September 11 at 11 a.m. CT, please visit

https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1667

element14, an Avnet Community, along with NI recently launched an educational program, “A Beginner’s Course in LabVIEW and Test Automation.” This comprehensive course aims to equip element14 Community members with valuable skills in LabVIEW programming and automated testing, enabling them to build cutting-edge projects and compete for exciting prizes.

As a leading electronics community, element14 is dedicated to empowering its members with the latest knowledge and tools. The journey of an engineer extends beyond the realm of innovation and design, with the process of validating, verifying, debugging, and testing new products equally crucial. Therefore, this program seeks to introduce community members to the world of automated testing, an essential skill for engineers involved in new product development.

LabVIEW is a widely used graphical programming environment that facilitates the development of automated research, validation, and production test systems. By enrolling in the program participants will gain a deep understanding of LabVIEW and have the opportunity to create their own LabVIEW automated test projects.

"We are thrilled to team up with NI and introduce this valuable educational initiative to our community members," said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. "LabVIEW and test automation are indispensable skills for modern engineers, and we believe this course will significantly benefit our members in their professional pursuits."

Open to all element14 Community members, the program provides a user-friendly learning experience. To qualify for the prizes, participants need to engage in the course material, which includes reading lessons, completing quizzes, and successfully executing the final test automation project using the LabVIEW Community Edition.

Applications for the program are now open and will be accepted until September 8. On September 15, the chosen participants will be announced, marking the commencement of the challenge. Quizzes must be completed by October 5, and project blogs are due by October 21. Winners of the program will be unveiled in November 2023.

The grand prize winner will receive the LabVIEW Base Edition Software and the Multicomp Pro MP720011 US Digital Oscilloscope. Additionally, the runner-up will be awarded the LabVIEW Base Edition Software and the Multicomp Pro MP730424 EU-UK Digital Multimeter Bench. All challengers will receive a finisher prize, the Multicomp Pro’s MP700393 4PCE ESD Electronics Cutter Kit.

To learn more about the program, A Beginner’s Course in LabVIEW and Test Automation, and sign up before September 8, please visit the element14 Community.

element14, an Avnet Community, recently launched its Experimenting with Supercapacitors Design Challenge. This unique competition provides participants with the opportunity to explore the potential of Cornell Dubilier’s supercapacitors and compete for some exciting prizes.

Supercapacitors, also known as ultracapacitors and electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), are advanced capacitors with significantly higher capacitance values than traditional capacitors. These high-capacity energy storage and delivery devices offer rapid and reliable bursts of power, making them ideal for various applications.

From wind turbines and mass transit to hybrid/EV vehicles, consumer electronics, energy harvesting devices, and industrial equipment, supercapacitors have become a key component in revolutionizing energy storage and extending battery life. With their ability to deliver millions of duty cycles, even in demanding conditions, supercapacitors provide cost-effective alternatives to traditional batteries or supplementary power sources.

"Supercapacitors are a key component for energy storage and extending battery life in renewable energy systems," said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. "We look forward to observing the innovative approaches our members take when using supercapacitors, as they conduct tests to experiment with their unique energy storage capabilities."

Applications for the Experimenting with Supercapacitors Design Challenge are now open and will continue until July 17. The selected participants will be announced on July 19, and the experimenting period of the challenge will officially commence on July 20. Winners will be announced in September 2023.

All competition finishers will receive an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express Advanced Pack valued at $100. The runner-up will be awarded a Digital Oscilloscope from Multicomp Pro worth $700, along with a GoPro HERO10 Black Sports Camera valued at $350. The grand prize winner will receive a Spectrum Analyzer and DC Electronic Load from Multicomp Pro, worth $1144 and $400 respectively.

To learn more about the Experimenting with Supercapacitors Design Challenge and to enter the competition, please visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-supercapacitors/.

element14 and Hackster, two Avnet communities, announced the launch of the “Little Free STEM Library Design Challenge,” encouraging their communities of makers, designers and engineers to host, build or upgrade a local Little Free Library with the STEM experience.

The goal of this challenge is for the 3 million members of the element14 and Hackster communities to use their love of STEM to enhance a Little Free Library in their neighborhood, promoting the importance of STEM/STEAM education. Participants are encouraged to blog about their project on either the element14 Community or Hackster websites so other members of the online communities can learn from their experience and spread their creativity.

“Little Free Libraries are an important way to share a love of books and reading with local communities, but have generally not been STEM-focused,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “With this design challenge, we’re encouraging our members to have their local book exchange locations also reflect the importance of STEM education and highlight the important balance of encouraging both a love of reading and an excitement for creating something new using STEM skills.”

The Design Challenge is a fun way to get creative in building or enhancing what is already a great community service. Potential projects could include:

• Creating a way for a song to play every time the door opens to a Little Free Library
• Building a solar lighting system to illuminate a Little Free Library at night
• Securing a touchscreen to a Little Free Library that requires individuals to answer fun questions or riddles before accessing the books

"With the 'Little Free STEM Library Design Challenge', we're excited to create an opportunity for global innovators to reimagine the Little Free Library as a captivating center of STEM resources,” said Jessica Tangeman, CEO of Hackster. “Hackster hopes to empower exploration into STEM education by inviting developers to over-engineer a traditional literary access point into a fun, approachable representation of engineering in their local community. Collectively, let's ignite a passion for learning and showcase the incredible creativity that lies at the intersection of literature and STEM education."

The top 5 participants, groups or community spaces with the most innovative Little Free Libraries will each receive 20 x Micro:bit’s and a bundle of Maker Shed books. In addition, winners will receive a $100 Rybbon gift card prize for their efforts in helping promote STEM in their community. Build, host or upgrade an existing Little Library for a chance to win.

The “Little Free STEM Library Design Challenge” is open now through September 15. Winners will be announced in September 2023.

This Design Challenge is created in partnership with Avnet Cares. Since March of 2022, Avnet (based in Phoenix, AZ) has worked with the Literary Society of the Southwest, in collaboration with the Rural Activation Innovation Network, Southwest Human Development, and public libraries around Arizona to compile over 1,000 themed STEM kits for rural areas. Providing science-enabled content to promote STEM/STEAM education and awareness is one of the core missions at Avnet Cares.

 To learn more about the element14 and Hackster communities and the “Little Free STEM Library Design Challenge,” visit http://community.element14.com/STEMLittleLibrary

element14, an Avnet Community, is excited to announce the continuation of their Summer Green Technology series with three upcoming webinars dedicated to the use of sustainable technology. These informative sessions aim to educate attendees on the benefits of power-efficient devices, isolation technologies, and robust industrial motor encoder signal chain solutions in reducing carbon footprint and promoting a sustainable future.

The first webinar, titled "Summer of Green: Power Efficient FPGAs and SoCs," will take place on 15 June 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CT (3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. GMT). As the demand for power-efficient devices continues to rise in both professional and personal settings, this webinar will explore various applications where performance per watt is a critical criterion. Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Gain insights into applications where performance per watt is crucial
• Observe a machine learning application used to estimate the power budget for a camera application
• Discover a utility that automates the comparison between different silicon vendors, facilitating effective decision-making for optimal performance per watt ratio
• Learn about the benefits and methods to achieve power-efficient designs and understand their impact on the environment and product lifecycle

The second webinar, “Advanced Motion Control: Precise Position and Torque Control using Encoders and Magnetic Position Sensing” is scheduled for 6 July 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CT (3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. GMT). The webinar will explore the crucial role of precise position and torque control in achieving higher quality and faster machining of complex components. Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Gain an overview of different encoder types, including optical, resolvers, and magnetic encoders, and understand their associated requirements
• Learn about the full signal chain requirements for encoder designs and discover key enabling technologies from ADI for next-generation encoder designs
• Explore ADI's high-performance magnetic position sensing technology specifically designed for encoders

The third webinar, "The Benefits of Optocouplers and Industrial Fiber Optics in Energy Storage and Power Converters," will be held on 10 July 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. CT (1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. GMT). This session will focus on the latest technology trends and the role of optocouplers and industrial fiber optics in power electronic converters. Attendees will explore the application of isolation products in energy storage systems and learn about the advantages of opto-isolators and industrial fiber products for energy storage power conversion. Key takeaways from this webinar include:

• Understanding technology trends in Energy Storage Systems
• Identifying the areas where optocouplers and industrial fiber optics products are utilized in power electronic converters
• Exploring Broadcom's portfolio of optocouplers, including gate drivers, current/voltage sensors, and digital optocouplers
• Discovering Broadcom's industrial fiber portfolio for energy storage applications

"We are thrilled to continue our Summer Green Technology series with these three webinars focused on sustainable technology. By exploring power-efficient devices, isolation technologies, and robust industrial motor encoder signal chain solutions, we aim to empower engineers and professionals to make informed decisions that reduce carbon footprint and contribute to a more sustainable future,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “Join us as we delve into the possibilities of green technology and showcase its potential in creating a positive impact on the environment and product lifecycle."

For those unable to attend the live sessions, recordings of the webinars will be made available to interested individuals to view on demand.

To learn more about these free events and secure your spot, please visit the element14 Community website.

element14, an Avnet Community, recently announced the winners from the Save the Bees Design Challenge, a competition that aimed to combat the alarming decline in bee populations using innovation solutions. The challenge, which ran from November to April, witnessed impressive participation from individuals passionate about safeguarding the global bee population.

With 1 in 4 species of bees facing the risk of extinction, the Save the Bees Design Challenge encouraged participants to harness the power of the Arduino MKR1310 and Arduino Pro Nicla Vision Boards. These cutting-edge tools empowered the participants to address critical issues plaguing bees worldwide.

“We are immensely proud of the creativity and ingenuity demonstrated by the winners of the Save the Bees Design Challenge. Their remarkable projects not only highlight the power of technology but also emphasize the urgent need to protect our bee populations,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “Through their innovative solutions, these individuals have shown that a collective effort can make a tangible difference in safeguarding the environment. Congratulations to all the winners for their exceptional contributions.”

Of the 25 challengers, two outstanding projects were crowned as winners by the element14 Community team of judges:

• Grand Prize Winner: Ralph Yamamoto – USA – Bee Healthy: Ralph created a LoRa WAN connected IoT Bee Monitor which collects data on a Mocked up bee hive. This project has been trained on the sound of a healthy hive, monitoring the movement within by using the Arduino Nicla Sense and Nicla Vision. The remote node is Solar powered and uses the Things Network for communication.
• Runner Up Prize Winner: Gough Lui – Australia – Bee Watch: Gough created a low power remote Bee Monitoring platform, with an OMRON environmental Shield, an Infrared Time of Flight Sensor, LoRA WAN communication and a light weight MQTT of telemetry. These are incredible blogs with great use of Computer Vision that is trained on the letter B, due to a lack of access to real Bee.

In recognition of the exceptional quality of challenger entries, element14 Community will also be sending prizes to two honorable mention winners:

• Doug Wong – Canada – BeeAInspector
• Nico Te Winkel – Canada – Honey Bee Safe

Winners were selected based on various criteria, including the creative use of their kits to devise effective bee population solutions and the competition of a minimum of five blog posts through the competition.

As part of their well-deserved rewards, the grand prize winner received VIVI Electric Bike for Adults valued at approximately $1,399, along with a $500 donation to a bee charity. The runner-up prize winner was awarded a Segway Ninebot ES1L Electric Kick Scooter valued at approximately $800, accompanied by a $500 donation to a bee charity. Moreover, all challengers received a finisher prize in the form of a Bee Hotel.

To explore the winning designs and learn more about the remarkable work of the element14 Community and its members, please visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/save-the-bees-design-challenge/b/blog/posts/winners---save-the-bees-design-challenge.

Additionally, element14 has launched a new global campaign aimed at saving the bees. For every element14 order placed globally, one bee will be saved via donation, supporting the company’s mission to adopt three million bees worldwide in the next 12 months. For more information, please visit: https://in.element14.com/save-the-bees.

element14, an Avnet Community, is teaming up with industry leader, AMD, to host a webinar on machine vision with the Kria KR260 Robotics Start Kit. The webinar will take place on May 18 from 11:00am to 12:00pm Central Time / 5:00pm to 6:00pm GMT.

With the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit and the Kria Robotics Stack (KRS), users can easily build a complete robotics system using a ROS 2-based environment with low-latency, deterministic communication connecting production-ready Kria SOM to Kria SOM. In the process, creating an adaptive system that can readily implement evolving and diverse algorithms as well as scale across multiple projects. 

In this webinar, Karan Kantharia from AMD will introduce the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit and demonstrate how it can be used to hardware accelerate ROS 2 and machine vision designs.

“We’re excited to partner with AMD to host this exciting webinar,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “The Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit is a powerful tool for developing adaptive robotics systems, and we can't wait to see the amazing projects that our community members will create using it.”

What you will learn by attending:

• Key technologies driving the future of robotics
• Overview of the KR260 starter kit hardware
• Ubuntu 22.04-ready apps available for out-of-the-box robotic system creation
• How KRS makes ROS 2 (Humble edition) development simple and productive
• Benchmarking against popular robotic development platforms
• Capabilities for additional industrial connectivity like SLVS-EC, 10 GigE Vision, and Time Sensitive Networking

In addition, element14 Community and AMD will be giving away three Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kits, each valued at approximately $430, to the three attendees who ask the best questions during the Q&A session.

Registration for the webinar is open now at the element14 Community website. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the future of robotics and the exciting capabilities of the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit.

Visit element14 Community to learn more and register: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1646.

element14, an Avnet Community, is celebrating Earth Day (April 22) with the announcement of their Summer of Green Technology, a series of programs designed to help community members develop green technology knowledge and skills. Over the summer months, element14 will be offering webinars, training courses, quizzes, and hands-on opportunities to experiment with and RoadTest green electronics.

“We are extremely excited to launch the Summer of Green Technology over the next four months,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “Green technology is important in protecting the environment, reducing emissions and mitigating or reversing the effects of human activity on our planet. The practice of designing electronic products that are environmentally responsible aids in this mission, which we are proud to be a part of.”

Capping off the program will be The Summer of Green Technology Design Challenge, which provides an opportunity for engineers to showcase their designs and compete for great prizes. The 25 selected challengers will receive a free kit which includes a Seed development board, Grove Sensor Kit and Xiao Break out board to spark their creativity.

Using the Seed Xiao sensor kit and a selection of sensors, challengers are encouraged to create green projects and prototypes. Examples of potential projects include:

• A bot that cleans trash from rivers
• Co2 monitoring equipment
• A device to help children recycle
• A device to monitor the growth of Co2 eating algae
• An Industrial IoT device what will notify operators when energy is wasted

Participants are required to complete at least five blog posts by August, 30, 2023 to be eligible for the challenge’s grand prizes. The winner will receive a lightweight aluminium folding bike and an indoor hydroponic IoT herb garden. The runner up will receive a portable power station battery with an inverter and an indoor hydroponic IoT herb garden. Each challenger who completes five blog posts will receive a Duratool screwdriver as a finisher prize.

element14 Community will also be hosting a webinar on April 27^th discussing smart agriculture and pest monitoring using AI and Arduino. Andrea Richetta, head of the Pro/IoT market at Arduino, will give an overview of Machine Vision and Machine Learning and will present a live demo using the Nicla Vision board and the MKR 1310., focusing on LoRa and the available solutions from Arduino. The three attendees who ask the best questions, determined by the host, will win a Nicla Vision Board.

In addition to the design challenge, the Summer of Green Technology will also feature a variety of unique hands-on activities, including webinars, RoadTest product reviews, tech spotlights, essentials learning modules, quizzes, experimenting challenges, and more

To ensure members of the element14 Community can get the most out of these sessions, element14 Community has partnered with the leaders in green technology including Microchip, ADI, Bulgin, AMD, EAO Switches, Eaton, ST, Infineon and more.

Topics covered across multiple webinars and events this summer include:

• Energy harvesting
• Green hydrogen
• Low power
• Energy efficiency
• Solar and wind
• LED lighting
• IoT – smart buildings
• Vertical Farming

To learn more about the great opportunities available through element14 Community this summer and access a full list of the program’s offerings, visit: https://community.element14.com/SummerofGreenTech

element14, an Avnet Community, along with AMD recently launched Path to Programmable III; a free training program that includes an FPGA-based SoC development kit and a design/build phase where selected participants will have the opportunity to win up to $4000 in prizes.

Path III is the third session in the element14 Community’s structured FPGA-based system-on-chip (SoC) training. The first Path was held in 2018 and focused on programmable logic devices (PLDs) and featured the AVNET MiniZed development board, based on AMD’s Zynq-7000 SoC. Path II convened in 2019 and offered more advanced learning opportunities and featured the AVNET Ultra96-V2 development board, based on AMD’s Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC.

Path III will double the fun by offering structured training on both the MiniZed and Ultra96-V2 boards. Each training track will be followed by a design/build phase. To spice up the competition, element14 Community is offering up to $4000 in prizes and four different design paths.

“The Path to Programmable series offers our members a unique opportunity for professional growth, and with programmable technology driving innovation in various industries, this training will equip participants with the knowledge and tools to advance their careers,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We are excited to see what our participants will create and look forward to the continued innovation that programmable technology will bring.”

After participants complete the training modules for the MiniZed and Ultra96-V2, they will design and build a project following one of four design paths:

• The Vision Path: Embedded/Machine Vision, Face Recognition, Accelerated AI Video, Image/Video Streaming
• The Core Technology Path: AI/Machine Learning, Connectivity, DSP, Ethernet
• The Market Path: Health, Home, Gaming, Industrial
• The Environmental Path: Dirt & Plants, Streets & Highways, Pets & Critters, Water & Oceans

Applications are now open through April 30. Participants will be announced on May 3. The training begins on May 12 followed by the design/build phase beginning on July 14. Winners will be announced in August 2023.

element14 Community will award the grand prize winner an MP720025 US Digital Oscilloscope and HP OMEN 17-ck1020nr 17.3” Gaming Laptop of $1900 value. The runner-up will receive an MP720644 US CAL DU Oscilloscope of $1000 value. The third-place prize winner will receive a FLIR C3-X WIFI Thermal Imager of $600 value. The fourth-place prize winner will receive a FLUKE-175 ESFP Handheld Digital Multimeter of $400 value.

To learn more about Path to Programmable III, and to sign up to enter before April 30, please visit community.element14.com

element14, an Avnet Community, along with Multicomp Pro, is hosting a virtual Ask Me Anything with Will Bales of Team HyperShock from the hit robot combat television series, BattleBots, on April 12^th from 5:30 to 6:30 pm Central Time.

This exclusive AMA session provides a unique opportunity for participants to gain insights into the intricate electronics powering a Battlebot – from the motor choices and electronic remote controls to the design considerations for emergency repairs. HyperShock, Team Captain, Will Bales will share his insights on the process of designing and building a robot for Battlebots, as well as provide behind-the-scenes stories from the show.

Team HyperShock, known for its wild driving and devastating weapons, is one of the most popular robots on Battlebots and has been a fan favorite for years. Team HyperShock had an exciting Season 6 where they earned themselves the award for the Most Destructive Robot, making them one of the most awarded teams. HyperShock also holds the record for the fastest KO, throwing Skorpios out of the arena in just 24 seconds.

"We are very excited to have Will Bales of Team HyperShock join us for this exclusive Ask Me Anything session," said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. "With his extensive knowledge and experience in the field of robot building and combat, we believe that this AMA session will be highly informative and engaging for our community.

The Ask Me Anything session will be hosted on the element14 Community website, where members can submit their questions and join the conversation. This is a unique opportunity for engineers to learn from one of the top robot builders and gain insights into the fascinating world of robot combat.

Additionally, attendees who ask the best questions will have a chance to win free Team HyperShock merchandise, including beanie hats and stickers, as well as an MP740686 from Multicomp Pro which is a 65W economical soldering station with LCD display screen making for easy control and visualization.  

To join the AMA, interested participants must create an element14 Community account – signing up is free, fast and easy. The element14 Community is a great resource for anyone interested in getting started or looking to expand their knowledge in electronics and robotics. Members can share and join in on the discussion and conversation about topics, technologies, products and events, or simply what's going on at the moment with fellow engineers, developers and makers.

To learn more, visit: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1633

Multicomp Pro, exclusively sold by Newark, is also proud to sponsor Team HyperShock in the newest season of BattleBots, which is currently being aired. “Special thanks to Multicomp Pro for sponsoring us and providing some great equipment to build HyperShock. From supplying the Multicomp Pro tools and equipment to supporting us through all the craziness of getting here this year. It’s been a wonderful season and I can’t wait to showcase everything we've done together," said Will Bales, HyperShock Team Captain.

Multicomp Pro is developed by engineers for engineers and features products and components that meet the quality standards engineers require and the value they need to build and maintain quality projects, even destructive robots, at a lower cost without sacrificing quality. The Multicomp Pro range includes more than 70,000 products and is suitable for engineers at any level, with average savings of 20% percent compared to branded products.

element14, an Avnet community, is celebrating Pi-Day with the Sci-Pi Design Challenge, encouraging their community of makers, designers and engineers to creatively solve problems facing scientists and labs by utilizing Raspberry Pi.

“Raspberry Pi has been a part of some of the most creative projects from our community,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “To celebrate Pi Day, we are excited to launch the Sci-Pi design challenge to allow a space for our community to innovate and help scientists solve for their pain points.”

Once selected, each of the 25 sponsored participants will receive a free challenger kit which includes a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B to build into their projects. The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is the latest product in the popular Raspberry Pi range of computers. It offers ground-breaking increases in processor speed, multimedia performance, memory and connectivity compared to the prior-generation Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Its key features Broadcom BCM2711, quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz, 4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM, True Gigabit Ethernet and 2 Micro HDMI Ports Supporting up to 4K 60Hz Video.

In addition to the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, challengers are welcome to use any other Raspberry Pi products from the Raspberry Pi Family.

Designs created in this challenge will be geared toward supporting scientists in experiments. Potential project examples include:

• Using the Raspberry Pi as an open-source logging system
• Building a Raspberry Pi home lab
• Helping run remote experiments on a low-cost computer.
• Using Raspberry Pi to create an IoT Interface for aging lab equipment

Applications are now open and will close on April 15. The challengers will be selected on April 21. Each participant who completes at least five blog posts will receive a finisher prize of a Precision Screwdriver set. The runner up will receive a 4K Digital Microscope set and the winner will receive a High Definition Automatically Tracking Telescope valued at $2000. Winners will be announced in June 2023.

More information can be found here: http://community.element14.com/scipi

element14, an Avnet Community, in partnership with industry leader, AMD, is pleased to announce two upcoming virtual events scheduled in March and April. The first event is a virtual panel, which will delve into the latest design trends in industrial embedded computing and feature the innovative ZUBoard 1CG development board. The second event, a webinar, will explore the selection process for choosing the right 7 Series FPGA or SoC for your new designs.

"We're excited to partner with AMD for these two events, which offer a unique opportunity for electronics and design engineers to learn about the latest trends in FPGA and SoC design and explore the possibilities of industrial embedded computing," said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. "We're committed to providing our members with the resources and expertise they need to stay at the forefront of their field, and we're looking forward to a great turnout for both events."

Enabling Intelligence: Design Trends in Industrial Embedded Computing – 8 March 2023, 11:00am to 12:00pm Central Time / 5:00pm to 6:00pm GMT

This panel discussion of experts from Avnet, AMD, and Samtec will discuss Design Trends for Industrial Embedded Computing using the new ZUBoard 1CG development board from Avnet as an example. The virtual event will also highlight what Avnet, AMD, and Samtec will be showcasing at Embedded World 2023.

Key topics to be discussed are:

• Design trends (e.g. intelligence at the edge)
• Devices and tools that enable development
• The ZUBoard 1CG and how it can be a great starting point for industrial embedded computing
• What makes the AMD Zynq UltraScale+ 1CG MPSoC device ideal for embedded computing
• Expanding capabilities of a development board
  • High speed connectivity
  • Diversity of connectivity
  • Flexibility

AMD Xilinx 7 Series FPGAs and SoCs Live On (Win a Cora-Z7 Board) - 5 April 2023, 11:00am to 12:00pm Central Time / 5:00pm to 6:00pm GMT

AMD recently announced that all 7 Series FPGAs and SoCs would have their lifecycle extended through at least 2035. As a result, this webinar will show where 7 Series provides the most optimal value and performance in your designs, contrasting this with some of the newer families like Artix UltraScale+ and Zynq UltraScale+.

What you will learn by attending:

• Learn the details about the 2035 7 Series Extension
• Explore the differences between families and choose 7 Series device for your new design
• Check out available resources, like Webpages, Dev Boards and Trainings
• Answer a survey and for a chance to win one of five Digilent Cora-Z7 Boards!

To register and learn more about the virtual events, please visit: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1640 and https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1641

element14, an Avnet community, announced the release of a series of eBooks written by industry experts that take a deep dive into trending topics in the electronics industry, including transistors, diodes, circuits and more.

element14 Community’s eBooks are designed to help students, professors, and professionals looking to enhance their electronics knowledge and skills. The eBooks are free to download via the element14 Community website.

“The element14 Community team is excited to continue our efforts to bring the best products, tools and services to our community members,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “The series of educational eBooks provides a deep dive into important areas of the electronics industry and help our community enhance their electronics knowledge and skills.”

The series covers a variety of topics of interest to the community, including but not limited to:

• Introduction to Transistors Part 1: A dive into transistors and how they are used in electronic circuitry, what to consider when using one, and how they're designed, made and implemented in a practical project and application.
• Introduction to Transistors Part 2: Building on from part 1 of 'Introduction to Transistors,' this eBook goes into more detail about the functional properties and theory behind their operation, focusing on the basics of biasing with a bipolar junction transistor as a switch and an amplifier.
• Fundamentals of 555 Timers: A discussion on 555 timers and their influence over the electronics industry. It highlights the wide variety of practical applications for the timer from flashing lights, beeping prank devices, security trip alarms, music synthesizers and more. It also discusses how versatile integrated circuits like the 555 timers can be.
• Introduction to Mosfets: An introduction to the popular transistors, Mosfets. It covers the two major types of transistors: bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and field-effect transistors (FETs).
• Introduction to Diodes: Providing the reader with essential baseline information on Diodes, including what they are and how they operate, as well as where they fit into the larger world of electronics.
• Introduction to Circuits: Introducing circuits, one of the fundamentals in electronics. Learn the basics of circuits and the different types along with how to build a simple circuit. 

The wide range of element14 Community eBooks currently available for free download and can be found here:  https://community.element14.com/learn/publications/ebooks/?ICID=menubar_learn_ebooks

element14, an Avnet community, has announced the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors Design Challenge, the first community challenge of the new year. Participants will have the opportunity to experiment with Amphenol’s waterproof connectors in a watertight enclosure and catalogue their process in a series of blogs.

Many electrical and electronic systems are used in rugged environments where contact with water, sprays, and moisture can impede normal system operation. Ensuring electrical safety and signal integrity when operating in these tough environments requires electronics to be housed in watertight enclosures and interconnected by cables connected to waterproof connectors.

In these environments, panel-mounted waterproof connectors achieve a watertight seal preventing water from leaking into the enclosure. Using a kit featuring waterproof connectors provided by Amphenol CS and Amphenol RF, this competition harnesses the ingenuity of the element14 community to test what they can achieve with waterproof connectors.

“Challenge after challenge, we are impressed by the creativity and talent of our community members,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We look forward to observing the innovative approaches our members take when using these connectors, as they conduct tests to guarantee electrical safety and maintain signal integrity in rugged environments.”

Applications are open now through March 15. Participants will be announced on March 20. The challenge will begin on March 24. Each participant will receive a customized kit worth over $400 consisting of Amphenol waterproof connectors, a customized watertight enclosure by Hammond and the single board computer LattePanda DFR0418.

The challenge is judged on a point-based system, with four ways that participants can win points:

• Introductory Blog: Write a blog in the first two weeks of the challenge that describes how the participant will experiment with waterproof connectors. Challengers who complete their blogs before April 7 will earn 60 points.
• Final Summary Blog: The most important blog of the challenge. Write a standalone, detailed final summary blog. Within this blog, challengers should restate their experimenting premise, describe their experiments and/or methodology, detail the results obtained, and share any tips and tricks that were discovered. Challengers who complete their blogs before May 24 will earn up to 300 points.
• Extra Credit Blogs: Up to 5 additional blogs will be judged by the element14 team. Each additional blog can receive up to 20 points.
• Forum Participation: element14 Community will review the participation in the forum associated with this competition and award up to 40 points based on a participant’s forum engagement.

 Winners will be announced on May 31, 2023.

Each participant will receive a finisher prize of a AKX00026 Arduino Opla IoT Kit, the runner up will receive a MP710079 US CAL Multicomp Pro 3-Output Programmable Bench Power Supply with Calibration and the grand prize winner will receive a Keysight DSOX1204G Oscilloscope.

To learn more, and to enter the design challenge, please visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-waterproof-connectors/

element14, an Avnet Community, has announced the winners of its annual Community Awards for 2022. The awards celebrate and recognize the remarkable contributions of its members driving innovation and collaboration in the electronics industry.

This year’s winners demonstrated exceptional technical expertise, creativity, and a passion for electronics. The Rising Contributors award honored individuals who made significant contributions to the community, helping it grow and thrive. These are members showing that they are more than just about creating content, they contribute to the community and the people in it.

“We are grateful for the contributions of every member of our global community of over 850,000 individuals,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “With the abundance of amazing projects, designs, ideas, videos and reviews, we wanted to celebrate as many members as possible and therefore have multiple winners across serval categories this year.”

The winners of the element14 2022 Community Awards are:

• Top Contributors of the Year – Douglas Wong, Jan Cumps, Enrique Albertos, Rushiraj Jawale, Gary Yohe, Sean Conway, Stephen Kruglewicz, Gough Lui, Scott Stobbe, Dave Ingles, Andrew J and misaz
• Rising Contributors of 2022 – Colin Gerrish, Jon Clift, Milos Rasic, Ger Rud, Saad Islam Tiwana, Cristian Pitigoi, Kamran Kazem, Caden Kuhn, wolfgangfriedrich, and dang74
• Design Challenge - Best Project - Congratulations to Christopher Kettell for being our staff pick of 2022 with the Robotic Canary Air Monitor
• Design Challenge - Best Blog Post – Congratulations to Milos Rasic with their Orb-Weaver Rover blog for consistently writing and presenting their project with a high contribution quality
• Favorite RoadTests of 2022 – Each year there are products made available to RoadTest that stand out from the rest. Here are the ultimate top three:
• Sound and Vibration Measurement Hat for Raspberry Pi from Digilent
• Nordic Bluetooth LE Audio Development Kit from Nordic Semiconductor
• LattePande 3 Delta from DF Robot
• Best RoadTest Reviews of 2022 – Multiple Winners – With so many impressive RoadTest reviews this year, element14 did a roundup of all the best ones, including member favorites, staff picks, as well as best new RoadTest reviewers recognizing those who are new to the RoadTest program and their fantastic contributions
• Project14 Competitions of 2022 – Multiple Winners – element14 provided lists of the most viewed Project14 blogs by members as well as the favorite member contests and projects of the year
• element14 Presents in 2022 – Multiple Winners – element14 provided lists of the most viewed episodes of 2022, as well as member favorites.
• element14 Essentials in 2022 – Multiple Winners – To introduce its members to learning and demonstrating their knowledge, element14 created the ‘element14 Essentials’, peer-reviewed and researched information presented in a factual manner, along with a quiz to test what members have learned

The annual Community Awards are just one of the many ways that element14 Community recognizes and support its members. The awards serve as a celebration of achievements and impact made by its community of engineers and makers. By harnessing their knowledge and skills in electronics design, they are making a positive difference in their community and the world.

To learn more about the 2022 Community Awards, visit element14 Community.

element14, an Avnet community, recently announced the winners from the Summer of Sensors Design Challenge which launched alongside a series of educational webinars this past summer and ran throughout the year. Participants had the opportunity to advance their skillsets and showcase what sensors can do while utilizing specific sensory kits provided by the challenges’ sponsors.

“We are excited to celebrate the hard work of all competitors throughout the course of this challenge. We are especially thankful for our partners who helped us supply the sensory kits for each challenge and made this possible,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We are blown away by the ways that our community continues to innovate and think outside of the box during these challenges and are excited to continue to support them with new opportunities this year.”

Of the participants, four were selected as winners by the element14 Community team of judges:

• TAG You're It: Best use of NFC smart asset tracking sponsored by ST Microelectronics: With five blog posts completed, the winner of this challenge is Rahul D. from India. He created smart container tracking which featured NFC enabled GPS fleet tracking, online thing speaks IoT web dashboard, NMEA messaging, GPS RTK receiver and GUI.
• In the Air Tonight: Best air quality application sponsored by Renesas: With 15 blogs completed, the winner of this challenge is Michal Zurek, from the Czech Republic who created his own PCB. He also explored the color sensor in another six-blog series after completing the challenge.
• Exploration Station: Best use of SensorXplorer sensors sponsored by Vishay: With more than nine blog posts, the winner of this challenge is Owen Jeffreys, a UK based community member who created an adaptative light bulb controller which he named IntelliLight.
• Under Pressure: Best use of Bio Sensors sponsored by MikroElektronika: With over five blog posts completed, the winner of this challenge is Milos Rasic, from Serbia who created a small health monitoring system for the elderly.

Winners were judged on a variety of components, including how creatively they used their kits and the completion of at least five blog posts throughout the competition. Every challenger received a finisher prize of a Multicomp Pro Multimeter and the winners all received an 11" iPad Pro plus a second gift specific to their challenge, including a Philips AC0820 Series 8 Air Purifier, an Apple Air Tags 4 Pack, a Garmin GPS Rugged GPS Smart Watch, and an Under Bed IoT Sleep Tracker.

To see all the winning designs, and to learn more about the element14 Community please visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/summer-of-sensors-design-challenge/w/documents/27919/summer-of-sensors---winners-announcement

element14, an Avnet community, is celebrating its engineers and the winter holidays in the U.S. by combining giving back and ingenuity through three holiday-themed offerings including an Engineer/STEM Holiday Shopping Wishlist, an end-of-year Hack-a-Thon and a chance for local STEM groups to win electronic sets gifted by element14 Community members.

Engineer and STEM Wishlist: Shopping for an engineer is not a walk in the park. element14 has made gifting easier by creating an Engineer and STEM Wishlist. Targeted lists across multiple interests including automation, robotics, Raspberry Pi, 3D printing and more provide great ideas for those looking for the perfect gift for the engineers in their life.

Hack the Holidays: Six years running, this end-of-year Hack-a-Thon gives engineers the chance to win some of the coolest prizes element14 has given away, including a Samsung 50-inch Picture Frame TV for the best “Work of Art Hack”, a Bluetooth record player with floor speakers for “The Most Festive Hack” or a 2022 iPad Pro for “The Most Original Hack.”

• element14 is seeking festive projects that capture the awe and wonder of the holiday season.  Like in years past, participants can work on a project inspired by gifts, food or cards exchanged during the holidays, as just some examples.
• The competition is currently open and closes on January 11, 2023, with winners announced on January 18, 2023.
• Learn more and sign in/sign-up.

Give the Gift of STEM: This holiday season element14 is giving the Gift of STEM to small makers and STEM Groups throughout December. Community members have the chance to play Santa and help a local STEM group receive a selection of electronic kits.

Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14 said: “We care about our community members throughout the year and the holidays are no different. This year we want to celebrate the uniqueness of each engineer through our holiday activities and help their loved ones celebrate alongside them.”

Learn more about element14 Community’s Holiday Activities: https://community.element14.com/members-area/w/documents/27882/holiday-season-2022-at-element14-community---round-up

Farnell and its element14 Community have proudly signed on as a platinum sponsor of aUToronto, the University of Toronto’s student-led self-driving car team, as they compete in the SAE/GM AutoDrive Challenge™ II. Farnell and element14 Community will provide funding and electronic parts over two years as an ADC II Hardware Sponsor to assist the aUToronto team in building their autonomous vehicle capable of navigating complex environments by 2025.

aUToronto took first place in the first AutoDrive Challenge series (2018-2021), where they successfully converted a Chevrolet Bolt EV into a self-driving car.  This second series (AutoDrive Challenge II) encourages participating university teams to develop and demonstrate an autonomous vehicle (AV) that can navigate urban driving courses as described by SAE Standard (J3016™) Level 4 automation. aUToronto’s team from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering has already taken the top spot overall in the first competition of the four-year AutoDrive Challenge II. The achievement by aUToronto continues an impressive winning streak for the team.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be a part of what the aUToronto team of university students are doing for this impressive SAE/GM AutoDrive Challenge II,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “This intercollegiate competition presents no small task and we are in a unique position to provide mentoring and support from our global element14 Community and a wide selection of needed parts from Farnell’s vast catalog. In the upcoming challenges students will need to o demonstrate knowledge and expertise across 2D, 3D, light, lane and radar object detection, and perception tracking alongside leadership in overall system safety testing and operations.  We couldn’t be prouder of the incredible creativity and effort made by this exceptional group of students.”

element14 Community will also be providing regular updates on their website regarding aUToronto’s accomplishments and success throughout the coming year.

Learn more: Meet the aUToronto Team | Read the Team’s Mission | Learn more about the AutoDrive Challenge II

element14 has today announced the results of the second annual Global Women in Engineering Survey, in the process revealing that all genders share united views on supporting women in the electronics/engineering industry.

The results show that inequality needs to be addressed and is important to achieving the equal treatment of all, while also revealing that women around the world remain underrepresented in the industry and continue to experience various forms of sexism and discrimination.   

element14, in partnership with its Community element14.com, launched the second annual Global Women in Engineering survey in June 2022 to help shed light on women’s experiences, career paths, wider challenges and opportunities in the engineering/electronics industry. The global survey is designed to gain direct insight from all members of the industry to understand current barriers to achieving equality and how to diminish discriminatory practices in the workforce while presenting a vision for the future.

New questions covering discrimination, sexism and equality were added into the 2022 survey as these critical issues were noted as key areas in the 2021 survey analysis. 

Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social-Media for element14 says: “The results of this year’s Global Women in Engineering survey were a strong indicator that the positive trends for achieving the equal treatment of all genders are continuing. Differences in opinion were expressed on the challenges women face in our industry, which could help employers to understand what is working well for women in the workplace and what could be improved. Overall, we hope these inclusive, real-world insights will help organisations around the world to deploy new policies to create better working environments for all.”

Key insights

Key insights from the Global Women in Engineering Survey included:

• Seventy per cent (70%) of survey respondents said they would intervene when seeing discrimination. However, the seniority of the person exhibiting discriminating behaviour was cited as the biggest obstacle to intervention. A small percentage believed they would not intervene because discrimination or sexism is part of their company’s culture.
• Women expressed the belief that they were perceived to be less technically capable than men, but this view was not supported by male respondents.
•  Men cited that woman “missing out on career development opportunities” was an issue.
• It is evident that sexism and discrimination are still occurring, but the situation is improving. Twenty-five per cent (25%) of survey respondents said that they have never experienced sexism in the electronics/engineering industry.
• Other discrimination challenges cited some women as obstructing other women in their career progression, although the barrier was not as great as that presented by men. Self-promotion by women was highlighted as a key issue in this year’s survey, both in reference to being discriminated against for not positively communicating their achievements versus the perception of being ‘aggressive’ when doing so.
• Genders think similarly about how to address work/life balance, however pay is one area where there is a significant difference in opinion. Men are less likely to say they have seen pay differentials, with 12% of men compared to more than 40% of female respondents.
• All genders shared similar views about the enforcement of policies. However, there was a combined decrease in enthusiasm for inclusion and diversity initiatives from 40% in 2021 to approximately 25% in 2022.
• More than half of the survey respondents said providing mentorship and development opportunities to women was important. Mentors are seen as the key to ensuring recognition by being advocates. More than three-quarters of women felt mentorship helped them in their careers.

Success stories

• The survey uncovered many anecdotal success stories of women who are already achieving great things in the electronics/engineering industry, including:
• One woman cited a major achievement of securing a 233% increase in new business from a client. She commented: “I took on Google as a customer when I was in Inside Sales. Through hard work, high level collaboration and intense focus on value-added services… we grew their account from less than 30K to 1 million over several years. Visiting their campus and connecting with those engineers in person during this timeframe was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had.”
• Another woman commented: “Twenty-seven years in engineering. I’m proud of that.”
• “BOSCH accepted my Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) when I was an intern in an automotive company.”
• There was an overwhelming response from all genders encouraging women to be more confident, trust in their abilities and take on the challenge of working in engineering. Some of the top drivers leading women to enjoy a career in engineering included the ability to work on diverse projects (25%), opportunities for getting a preview of what’s coming next in technology and seeing that come to life (16%), and career development (10%). The option for women to have flexibility and work/life balance (21%) was much higher than in the 2021 results.

More to be done

The 2022 survey matches the trends revealed in the 2021 survey, highlighting the positive steps forward the industry has made, however, there is more to be done to eliminate sexism and ensure fairness for all. Some real-world examples of sexism and discrimination shared as part of the survey included:  

• “I was in a role where I was the only female and a top performer, yet I was being paid 20% lower than the lowest paid male on the team.”
• “I was told by management before my first big conference to ensure I shop in the women's department for clothing for the event and to ensure I dressed more feminine.”
• “I have been told to ‘dress sexy’ when pitching presentations for new business to executive directors.”
• “Being told by a mentor/professor on my course that being female I would not make it in engineering as I would have to be a lot better than the men.”
• “Director level opportunities being passed directly to a male colleague without the role being advertised.”

Process

element14’s eight-week global survey was open to all genders working in the electronics/engineering industry and launched on International Women in Engineering Day (June 23). Most this year’s survey respondents (75%) were from Europe and North America with further submissions received from Asia Pacific, Central and South America, China, Middle East and Africa. There was an even distribution of age, particularly from the 25 to 54-years (totalling 74%), and 57% of respondents had more than 10 years of experience in engineering.

element14 Community, announced the Save The Bees Design Challenge at electronica 2022. Bees are essential to the global food chain; one in three bites of food is pollinated by bees, however, at present, one-in-four bee species are at risk of extinction. Interested engineers are invited to develop solutions toward eliminating some of the issues facing the global bee population.

At this year’s electronica event, engineer MayerMakes will exhibit his first prototype project to help combat Braulidae (bee lice) in beehives. Phil Hutchinson, Senior Specialist Community Programs at element14 Community, and MayerMakes will be available at electronica at Farnell’s Stand (Hall C2 -101 in the Avnet Village) to connect with the element14 Community, announce the Save the Bees Challenge in person, and demo the Bee Lice Project.

“We recognize that some things are bigger than ourselves. Saving the bees has become a priority for many around the world as it is for us here at element14 Community,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14 Community.  “We are excited to harness the creative minds of our community to create impactful solutions toward the growing problem of pollinator extinction. The Bee Lice Project is just one example of how innovative this community can be. We are excited to see what clever engineers create throughout the course of the challenge.”

From the applicant pool, 25 challengers will be selected to receive the challenger kit which includes an Arduino Pro Nicla Vision board and an MKR1310 for LoRa connectivity. Throughout the challenge, participants must blog about their process at least five times to show their progress.

The challenge will begin when participants are announced on January 4, 2023, with projects and blog posts due March 15, 2023. Winners will be announced by the end of March 2023.

element14 Community will announce one grand prize winner and one runner-up will be selected once the challenge is completed. The grand prize includes a ViVi Electric Bike with 50 Mile Range with a value of $899. The runner-up prize includes a Folding Electric Scooter valued at $300. For the remaining 25 participants, finisher prizes include A Bee Hotel for your garden worth $20.

Applications for the Save the Bees Design Challenge are now open and will close on December 15, 2022. For more information and how to apply to participate, please visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/save-the-bees-design-challenge/.

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.

Learn more about the Twist, Turn and Move Design Challenge and other challenges from element14, an Avnet Community.

element14 Community is co-hosting a webinar with KEMET to give design engineers an overview of RF and RF applications before looking into ceramic RF capacitors. Attendees who ask the best questions will win a free RF and Microwave Ceramic kit from KEMET.

Radio Frequency devices are used frequently in our daily lives as everything shifts toward wireless functionality. In this design space, engineers now must use RF capacitors to achieve higher frequency bands. Through the webinar, you will learn the basics of an RF capacitor and what characteristics are important when designing with these capacitors.

The webinar, “A Deeper Look into Ceramic RF Capacitors,” will take place on Wednesday, October 26, at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT.

“With the increasing use of Radio Frequency devices in our daily lives, especially as everything moves towards requiring wireless functionality,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We’re thrilled to partner with KEMET and offer design engineers a deeper understanding of RF capacitors.”

What you will learn by attending:

• What is RF?
• RF Applications
• Ceramic Capacitor Basics
• What are RF Capacitors?
• KEMET HiQ-CBR Series
• Characterization and E2Di

Following the presentation, there will be a short quiz to test your knowledge. Complete the quiz and watch the presentation either live or On Demand to earn a certificate. If you attend and demonstrate what you have learned, your certificate will be emailed to you.

The webinar will feature Jake Michels, Technical Marketing Engineer at KEMET Electronics Corp. Michels builds technical material for electrical engineers in design. In his current role, he works with various product groups to create learning material on a wide variety of topics. He spends his off time building various DIY projects and camping.

To register and learn more about the webinar, please visit: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1624.

element14, an Avnet community, in partnership with Infineon Technologies, presents the “At the Core” Design Challenge and webinar featuring the newly unlocked Cortex-M0+ Dual Core on the PSoC^TM 62S4 with Infineon’s ModToolsbox ^TM 3.0 Platform. Design challenge participants will develop projects utilizing the Cortex-M0+ low power modes and the Cortex-M4 power. A webinar discussing the core of the PSoC ^TM 62S4 will take place on November 10, 2022.  

Thirty applicants will be chosen to participate in the challenge and become the sponsored challengers. They will receive the PSoC^™ 6S24 + Pioneer Kit for free to incorporate into their project. Sponsored challengers are required to:

• Use ModusToolbox ^TM  3.0 development environment as well as demonstrate use of both M0 and M4 cores in their project
• Post their progress and final project as at least 5 blog post before the closing date
• Posts that show inter-core communication and are media rich with Photos, Videos and Code samples will be viewed more favorably in the Judging Process

“We are extremely excited to be partnering again with Infineon Technologies. In the past, we have seen many fantastic innovations from our participants,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We expect this challenge to showcase the bright minds of our community as they push the limits on the newly unlocked M0 Dual Core on the PSoC 62S4 with Infineon’s ModTools Platform.”

The “At the Core” Design Challenge encourages innovation and ingenuity amongst participants to take advantage of the Cortex-M0+ core’s low power modes and the Cortex-M4 core’s power. Low-power can be utilized in a variety of industrial design applications and projects.

Applications will close on November 24, 2022, and the challengers will be announced on November 28, 2022. The chosen challenge participants will have 11 weeks to work on and complete their projects and they will be due on February 6, 2023. The winners will be announced in February 2023.

Judges will evaluate the projects and award prizes to challenge winners. The first-place winner will receive a Microsoft Surface 256GB 16GB Ram Platinum valued over $1,000 and a Sonos One (Gen 2) Two Room Set Voice Controlled Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa Built in (2-Pack White). The runner up will receive a Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5 Inch 2-in-1 Tablet PC - Silver - Intel Pentium Gold G5600, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD and Sonos One (Gen 2) - The Powerful Smart Speaker with Alexa Built-In, Black. Those who complete the challenge will receive a Fitbit Inspire 2 Health & Fitness Tracker with a Free 1-Year Fitbit Premium as a finisher prize.

To learn more about element14 and the “At the Core” Design Challenge and webinar, visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/at-the-core-design-challenge/

element14, an Avnet Community, is showcasing the latest offerings from Raspberry Pi with a series of educational webinars. The upcoming webinar is on September 29 and will cover the more in-depth applications of the new RP2040 from Raspberry Pi’s own Principal Software Engineer. The first webinar in the series was featured in August and offered an introduction to the RP2040 microcontroller chip and its applications. Those who are interested can view a recording of the first webinar On Demand.

“Raspberry Pi products are by far some of our most popular offerings,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Raspberry Pi to provide the latest insights on their new products to our community and anyone interested in learning about this topic.”

The upcoming webinar, “The RP2040 and More In-Depth Uses with Principal Software Engineer,” will take place on Thursday, September 29, at 11 a.m ET / 8 a.m. PT

Join this webinar to learn about:

• Introduction to the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller
• Technical exploration of features and functions
• Designing the RP2040 microcontroller in your application
• Next steps for replacing / updating / new designs of your application
• Software options

This webinar is intended for design engineers and people with an interest in using the Raspberry Pi RP2040 within their designs and specifically more software-aligned questions. Following the presentation, attendees will have a chance to ask questions to Raspberry Pi’s Principal Software Engineer, James Hudges.

For those who are unable to attend the webinar, there will be a recording available after to view On Demand. Following the presentation, there will be a short quiz to test your knowledge. Complete the quiz and watch the presentation either live or On Demand to earn a certificate of achievement.

To learn more and to register for the upcoming webinar, please visit https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1626

To watch the recording of the latest Raspberry Pi webinar, please visit https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1622

element14, an Avnet community, has launched the 555 Timers Madness Competition in honor of the release of the first 555 timer IC (555 oscillator). Members of the element14 Community can participate in the challenge by submitting projects that utilize a 555 timer to win free swag or parts to use in future projects. Applicants are encouraged to produce something special or unusual using 555 timers given their versatility for use with a variety of circuits.

The 555 timers were first released 50 years ago and quickly became one of the most affordable and helpful precision timing devices that can act as a simple timer to generate single pulses or long-time delays, or as a relaxation oscillator producing a string of stabilized string waveforms of varying duty cycles, ranging from 50 to 100%.

“The 555 timer defied expectations when it was released 50 years ago and has become the largest quantity sold of any IC,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We are thrilled to celebrate this incredible milestone for the 555 timers by flexing the creative minds of our community. All of us at element14 are excited to see what innovative products the community will produce.”

The 555 timer is extremely adaptable and can be used to create Schmidt triggers, egg timers, continuity times, Morse code timers, beeping prank devices, security trip alarms, music synthesizers and more.

Submissions will close October 18, 2022. To enter the challenge and learn more, community members can visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/555timermadness/.

Participants who are looking for submission inspiration can review recent creative projects developed by community members to spark inspiration, including: Magic Potion Bottles | Flashing LED Headband | LED Dominos. To learn more about the 555 timers, read the eBook, The Fundamentals of 555 Timers.

element14, an Avnet Community, is co-hosting a webinar with OMRON to educate its members on the new high-power 200A PCB Relay for energy-efficient Inverter products. In this webinar, OMRON will present the G9KA PCB relay which achieves lower heat generation that helps extend end product life for Solar PV String Inverters, Online UPSs, and other diversified Inverter designs.  The use of flow soldering will be discussed with respect to mitigating PWB aging risk and benefiting Industrial contactor replacement. 

The webinar, “PCB Relay Solutions for Energy Management,” will take place on Wednesday, September 14, at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT.

“With the energy industry working towards self-generated solar power as a primary source of electricity, engineers and designers need affordable, reliable products for their energy management solutions,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We’re proud to be partnering with OMRON to share this new offering with our community and dive deeper into some of the sustainable energy design options we provide.”

Members of the element14 Community can join the webinar to understand more about:

• A detailed understanding of OMRON's Power relays 
• How the G9KA relay expands your design possibilities with ultra-low contact resistance maintained throughout the lifetime of the relay 
• The G9KA PCB relay performance in an actual application
• Description of a >200A reference PCB design
• Reference soldering condition

Attend this webinar to receive a hardcover book on Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) Systems (a $165 value) by asking the best questions during the presentation. In addition, following the presentation, there will be a short quiz to test your knowledge. Complete the quiz and watch the presentation either live or On Demand to earn a certificate.

The webinar will feature Steve Drumm, Strategic Marketing Manager at OMRON Electronics Components. Drumm provides application support for component and module-based solutions in energy management products, including Solar PV Inverters (PVI), Energy Storage Systems (ESS), EV chargers (AC & DC), fuel cells and smart metering. With a tenure of nearly 30 years at OMROM, he can provide both technical and commercial application guidance for webinar participants.

To register and learn more about the webinar, please visit: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1602.

element14, an Avnet Community, has launched the Sensor Fusion competition as part of its ongoing Summer of Sensors program, a multi-supplier event where members of the element14 Community have the opportunity to explore, learn and test sensor technology. Participants will receive a free hardware evaluation kit by AMD-Xilinx to focus on experimenting with sensor fusion.

Participants have eight weeks to test, experiment or build with the SP701 Evaluation Kit, equipped with the best-in-class performance-per-watt Spartan-7 FPGA, which is built for designs requiring sensor fusion such as industrial networking, embedded vision, and automotive applications.

“Sensors allow us to observe details to a degree that our human senses cannot. When multiple sensors are integrated, known as ‘sensor fusion,’ we see a more informed and accurate picture of the world around us,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We are excited to see what the talented participants in our sensor fusion competition are able to create.”

Two sensor modules from Digilent have also been featured in the kit. The entire kit includes:

• Evaluation Board EK-S7-SP701-G
• Power Cords
• Adapters, Ethernet & Micro USB Cables
• Digilent Pcam 5C Imaging Module
• Digilent Pmod NAV 9-axis IMU plus barometer

To enter the competition, element14 members should apply to the program in order to obtain one of the free AMD-Xilinx Spartan-7 SP701 FPGA Evaluation Kits. If chosen, applicants will be shipped a kit free of charge. To be eligible for the grand prizes, participants must blog at least twice. At the end of the competition, judges will determine the best and award the prizes. The first-place winner will receive an iPad Mini valued at $499 and an Apple Watch Series 7 valued at $400. The runner-up will receive an Apple Watch Series 7 valued at $400.

Enrollment for the Sensor Future Competition begins August 31, 2022, through September 30, 2022. Applications are then selected on October 6, 2022, and the competition starts on October 13, 2022. The first blog is due by October 28, 2022, and the second blog is due by December 13, 2022. Winners will be announced in December.

To enter the challenge and to learn more, community members can visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-sensor-fusion/

To learn more about the great opportunities available through element14 this summer, visit: https://community.element14.com/SummerOfSensors

element14, an Avnet Community, has opened submissions for a chance to win PiMassive, a larger-than-life replica Raspberry Pi, which can be displayed as wall art. Applicants are encouraged to be creative in their application and express why they would like to own this unique prize. 

PiMassive was created by Wesley Gardner for the element14 PiCasso Design Challenge, and was completed in 2019 after 440 hours of 3D printing, CNC work and painting. Today, the 13.9 pound, 20x32-inch Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is a one-of-a-kind piece of art.

“We are extremely excited about the PiMassive giveaway and are happy to share it with the element14community, which includes a good deal of Raspberry Pi enthusiasts,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We are eager to read the submissions and learn more about what community members plan to do with PiMassive if they’re selected as its new owner.”

To enter to win PiMassive, applicants should include the following in their submission: 

• Photographs of where the PiMassive will be showcased
• Motivation for wanting to own PiMassive 
• Interesting or compelling reasons for ownership
• Expression of appreciation and value for wall art
• Meeting the goals and intentions of the challenge as set forth in these terms

Submissions can be made in the comment section of the PiMassive Contest Site. Applications are currently open and close on September 21, 2022. The winner will be announced on September 28, 2022.

To learn more about element14 and its design challenges, visit the element14 website.

element14, an Avnet Community, is hosting a webinar to educate its members on Edge Impulse’s newly developed technique, “Faster Objects, More Objects” (FOMO), that performs constrained object detection on low-power devices, such as microcontrollers.

FOMO provides the location of target objects in an image but does not give arbitrary bounding box information about the size or distance of objects. As a result, it requires up to 30x less processing power and memory than MobileNet V2 SSD or YOLOv5. In this webinar, we will describe object detection, how FOMO works, and provide a live demonstration of constrained object detection on a microcontroller.

The webinar will take place on September 6, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. (Chicago Time).

Join this webinar to learn more about:

• Overview of popular image processing techniques using machine learning
  • Image classification
  • Object detection
  • Image segmentation
• Constrained object detection (FOMO)
  • Architecture
  • Use cases
  • Limitations
• FOMO demo with OpenMW

Register and ask engaging questions during the webinar for a chance to win a Nicla Vision Board!

Following the presentation, there will be a short quiz to test your knowledge. Complete the quiz and watch the presentation live or watch the recording On Demand to earn a certificate.

Edge Impulse is the leading development platform for embedded machine learning, used by over 1,000 enterprises across 45,000 ML projects worldwide. Edge Impulse specializes in industrial and professional applications including predictive maintenance, asset tracking and monitoring, and human and animal sensing.

To register and learn more about the webinar, please visit https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1621.

element14, an Avnet Community, recently launched the Experimenting with Gesture Sensors Design Challenge. Eight successful applicants who propose a project with the best use of gesture sensing technology will receive an evaluation kit by Maxim Integrated free of charge to experiment, test, or build a project.

With gesture recognition control technology, sensors are used to read and interpret hand movements as commands. One of the most common examples of touch-free gesture control can be found in cars where drivers and passengers can interact with the vehicle, including controlling their infotainment systems, without touching any buttons or screens.

“Gesture control has left the realm of science fiction and can now be found integrated into smart appliances, touch-free smart home hubs and thermostats, gaming controllers, virtual reality systems, and more,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We’re excited to continue our Summer of Sensors series with this design challenge that offers our community the chance to experiment with this cutting edge sensor technology.”

Participants have eight weeks to test and experiment with the gesture sensing kit, which is a complete system for demonstrating the MAX25405 optical IR sensor in a typical gesture and proximity-sensing application. The MAX25405 enables recognition of hand swipes, finger/hand rotations, air clicks, proximity detection and linger-to-click.

The application circuit operates by illuminating the user’s hand with a precision-controlled IR light source and measuring the reflected signal with the MAX25405’s 6x10 (60 pixel) IR sensor array. The four-LED IR light source is PWM controlled with external FETs from the MAX25405’s onboard FET driver. The return signal is analyzed with an embedded microcontroller that interprets the gestures. The EV kit consists of the following:

• MAX32620FTHR microcontroller platform
• Interface shield board
• MAX25405 sensor board
• Ribbon cable (connects sensor board to shield board)
• 3.3V power supply
• USB 2.0 Type A to Micro B cable

To be eligible to win, participants must post at least two blog posts about their process. At the end of the competition, judges will determine the best work and award prizes. The first-place winner will receive an HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR Headset valued at $700 and an iPad Pro valued at $1400. The runner up will receive a Tap Strap 2 Wearable Keyboard, Mouse and Air Gesture Controller, valued at $250 and an Air Neo (POCKET-SIZED, ULTRA-LIGHT AERIAL CAMERA) valued at $160. Anyone who completes the two blog posts around their experience with the MAX25405 evaluation kit will receive a Handheld Capacitance Meter.

Applications for the Experimenting with Gesture Sensors Design Challenge are open now through August 30, 2022. Participants will be announced on September 6, 2022 and blogs will be due on October 30, 2022. Winners will be announced in October.

To enter the challenge and to learn more, community members can visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-gesture-sensors/

element14, an Avnet Community, is continuing its Summer of Sensors with a series of free educational webinars providing insights on the latest sensor offerings. The webinars will take place throughout August 2022 and will be presented along with Omega, ST, and Analog Devices.

“With sensing technology continually evolving, it can be challenging for our community of makers, designers and engineers to stay up to date on the latest offerings available,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We’re proud to partner with Omega, ST, and Analog Devices to share their expertise with our global community and educate them on the latest sensor technology capabilities.”

The series of three webinars will provide a range of insights, from how existing equipment outputs can be digitized with new sensors on the same platform to achieve Industry 4.0, to how new pressure sensors can be used to meet challenging industrial harsh environment needs and how the latest low-power sensors solutions are designed to extend battery life while still achieving accurate measurements. 

The webinar schedule includes:

Transitioning to Industrial IoT with Existing Equipment and New Sensing Capability – August 3, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT

This webinar presented by Omega will go over how to achieve an Industry 4.0 facility, gain an understanding around edge monitoring and control, discover the mechanisms needed to deliver and maintain data, and suggest steps for everything from pilot evaluations to a full system installation.

Industrial Pressure Sensors for Air and Liquid Monitoring Applications – August 10, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT 

This webinar presented by ST will cover the new pressure sensors designed to meet the challenging needs of harsh industrial environments. Following the presentation, there will be a short Q&A session where the five attendees that ask the best questions will each win an ST Pressure Sensor Evaluation Kit.

How to Design Low-Power Sensor Solutions and Interfaces – August 31, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT

This session presented by Analog Devices will review how design engineers can use the combination of analog front-end/signal conditioning and interface solutions to design low-power, high-precision and high-performance systems along with robust data communication.

Following each webinar, there will be a short quiz where participants will be able to test the knowledge they learned and earn a certificate.

For more information on upcoming webinars from element14, please visit https://community.element14.com/learn/events/.

element14, an Avnet community, is continuing its “Summer of Sensors” with a series of four design challenges that encourage participants to advance their skillsets and showcase what sensors can do.

For each challenge, participants will receive one of four free kits provided by “Summer of Sensors” sponsors: Renesas, ST Microelectronics, Vishay and Mikroe. For each challenge, sponsored participants must use the provided products within their project and blog about their build process in at least five separate posts, including one detailing the final outcome of their project. Good integration of the challenge kit components and an interesting resolution of the prompts, as well as posts that are media-rich with photos, videos and code samples, will be graded favorably by the judges.

Below are the four design challenges, kit components, and sample projects:

• In the Air Tonight - Best Air Quality Application Wins: Each sponsored challenger will receive a gas sensor from Renesas. Sample projects could be anything from a COVID-19 air monitor, to a monitor that detects the air quality in a welding shop.
• TAG You’re it - Best Use of NFC Smart Asset Tracking Wins: Each sponsored challenger will receive an NFC Dynamic Tag Sensor Node from ST Microelectronics. Sample projects could be anything from a theft prevention device, to medical monitoring, or even a hazardous materials handling system.
• Exploration Station - Best Use of the SensorXplorer Sensors Wins: Each sponsored challenger will receive a SensorXplorer from Vishay along with sensor modules for color, ambient light, proximity, and gesture sensing. Sample projects could be anything from applications in IoT, consumer and industrial for object detection, gesture control, automatic system wake-up, brightness control, lighting control, color detection and more.
• Under Pressure - Best Use of Bio Sensors Wins: Each sponsored challenger will receive a range of products from Mikroe which can sense and measure a variety of physiological responses including oxygen levels, ESG\GSR, and heart rate as well as an Arduino UNO. Projects could be anything from a COVID-19 health monitoring system, to elderly monitoring, or even long-term monitoring for patients with chronic conditions.

“With sensors playing an integral role in just about everything our community members create, we knew one design challenge could never capture all of the different possibilities,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Social Media and Community at element14. “We’re thrilled to be hosting four separate design challenges to quadruple the number of our community members who can participate and greatly expand the range of products they can create.”

Applications for the “Summer of Sensors” design challenges are open now through July 25. Challengers will be announced on July 29, with challenge kits shipped the same day. Final projects will be due on October 7, with winners announced and prizes shipped later that month. 

element14 will reward a grand prize winner for each challenge with an 11” iPad Pro with 128GB and WiFi, a $915 value. Grand prize winners will also receive an additional item for each challenge, ranging from a Philips AC0820 Series 8 Air Purifier for the In the Air Tonight challenge to a Garmin GPS Rugged Smart Watch for the Exploration Station challenge. In addition, finishers for all four of the design challenges will each receive a MultiComp Pro Multimeter Set.

For more information and to apply to participate in any of the four challenges, please visit Community.element14.com/SummerOfSensorsDC.

Farnell, an Avnet company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, has today announced the launch of the annual Global Women in Engineering Survey in partnership with the element14 Community. The survey is an opportunity for professional women in engineering to share their insights and experiences, shedding light on career development as well as the broader challenges and opportunities within the electronics engineering industry.

The survey opens on International Women in Engineering Day (June 23), and will run for two months, closing on Saturday, August 20. The global survey is designed to gain direct insight from all members of the industry to understand current barriers to achieving equality and how to further diminish discriminatory practices in the workplace while painting a vision for the future. Results of the survey will be announced in September 2022. 

Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14, said: “This year we have added new questions addressing issues highlighted in the analysis of previous survey responses. While it’s clear that our industry is moving in the right direction, there is more to be done. We are also looking forward to uncovering even more amazing success stories of women who are achieving great things in our industry.”

The 2021 global survey drew responses from 370 people. Most of the respondents were aged between 25-54, and just over half said they had more than 10 years’ experience in the electronics engineering industry. The survey showed that while women in engineering are gaining support from all genders, they are still underrepresented overall and experience various degrees of discrimination.

The 2021 research further highlighted that all respondents believe the most important goal for the modern workforce is to achieve is the equal treatment of all genders. This year’s survey will be a key indicator of whether that positive trend has continued.

Other key findings of Farnell’s Global Women in Engineering Survey 2021 included:

• All genders have similar views about the benefits women bring to the engineering industry and believe that inequality needs to be addressed. Elevating more women into leadership positions where they can act as role models and mentors to other women will strengthen the implementation of equality policies and reduce inequality and sexism in the workplace.
• The research showed strong agreement on many issues, while some key differences were uncovered. Despite women citing good pay as a benefit of working in engineering, they still believe that the gender pay gap is still an issue.
• One powerful finding was that women were less worried about the need to travel for work than other genders perceive them to be. Only 15% of women surveyed suggested that reduced travel would be beneficial to their work-life balance and career prospects in contrast to the 25% of all other respondents who believed this to be true. This response suggests a further reduction in one perceived barrier to advancement in engineering careers for women.

There was an overwhelming response from all genders encouraging women to be more confident, trust in their abilities and embrace the challenge of working in engineering. Some of the top drivers leading women to enjoy a career in engineering included the opportunity to work on diverse projects, being involved at the birth of next-generation technology and establish and nurture a good work/life balance.

Farnell’s continued support for the survey will provide a comprehensive view of the challenges professional women working in the electronics engineering industry continue face and how they can successfully turn them into life-changing opportunities for themselves and the organisations they represent.

To get involved in Farnell’s new Global Women in Engineering Survey, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FarnellWiE2022

element14, an Avnet community, has launched a new challenge for its members to develop a project involving 7-segment displays. As part of the challenge, community members can use 7-segment displays to build their own calculators, digital clocks, weather clocks, electronic meters, information displays, testing equipment, a timer for a pet feeder, and much more.

7-segment displays gained popularity as an easy way to display decimal numerals and an alternative to the more complex dot-matrix displays. Most digital equipment uses 7-segment digital displays to convert digital signals into a form that people can easily understand. They can be used in a wide variety of applications.

“We’ve had so much fun reviewing previous 7-segment display projects from element14 Community members. We’re excited to engage the rest of our community to see how they leverage these displays to create innovative designs,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Social Media and Community at element14.

Community members can check out a selection of element14 projects using 7-segment displays to inspire their own project for this challenge:

• A Gigantic 3D Printed 7-Segment Display Clock
• Geocaching Cache
• A 3D-Printable Servo clock
• A 7-segment display with the Arduino Nano Every

The contest is now open and accepting submissions through June 20. To participate, element14 Community members can submit a blog post on the progress of their project and send a video of the project in action. element14 will reward a grand prize winner with a $200 shopping cart and award three top contestants with $100 shopping carts.

For more information and to submit your project, please visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/7segmentdisplay/b/blog/posts/project14-build-projects-using-7-segment-displays.

element14, an Avnet community, is providing educational enrichment and skill-building opportunities for engineers all summer long with its ‘Summer of Sensors’ program, a multi-supplier event where members of the element14 Community will receive the opportunity to enhance their sensor-specific knowledge and develop new skills.

“Today’s sensing technologies are the building blocks of just about everything in our world, from industrial IoT to healthcare, machine learning and everything in-between,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “Engineers and designers need specific knowledge and development skills to successfully implement the latest sensors, so we’re partnering with leaders in the sensor technology space and sharing their expert advice all summer long.”

element14 will be offering a wide range of webinars, training courses, sensor quizzes, and even opportunities to experiment with sensors and test out the latest sensor products from leading suppliers. The events and training opportunities will be geared toward everyone, from makers who are just getting started to experienced engineers looking to keep their skills sharp. element14 Community members will also have the chance to win some of the latest sensors to include in their designs.

To ensure members of the element14 Community are able to get the most out of these sessions, element14 has partnered with leaders in the world of sensors and related technologies, including ST, Renesas, Amphenol, Vishay, Omega, Maxim Integrated, Molex, Monolithic Power Systems, XSens, Bridgetek, Fluso and more.

To cap off the program, element14 will host a live virtual panel on June 21 with some of the top sensors experts from Renesas, Amphenol, and Xsens to discuss new technologies and the future of sensing. This lively conversation will dive into current trends, where the market is going and what is next in sensing. There will also be time at the end for an audience Q&A.

The series continues with the launch of the “Summer of Sensors Design Challenge” on June 27, where engineers will be encouraged to showcase their prototype designs and compete for great prizes. element14’s biggest design challenge series yet, the “Summer of Sensors Design Challenge,” comprises four separate challenges, featuring four sensor development kits and four prize packages. Participants will each receive one of four potential free kits to help create a project for one of the challenges:

• In the Air Tonight, sponsored by Renesas, where participants will work to design the best air quality applications using the ZMOD4510-EVK gas sensor 
• TAG You’re it, sponsored by ST Microelectronics, will ask challengers to find the best use of smart asset tracking using the STEVAL-SMARTTAG1
• Exploration Station, sponsored by Vishay, rewards the best use of the SensorXplorer and sensor range
• Healing Touch, sponsored by MikroE, looks for the best use of MikroE Biosensors and the Arduino Uno

Participants will have ten weeks to complete their designs where they will be able to blog about their build process, show their journey from components to creation, and be eligible for one of the several prizes, with total prize packages valued at $8,000.

Some of the additional programs, challenges, and opportunities will include:

• A Spotlight on how Piezoresistive Absolute Pressure Sensors are used in smart industry 4.0 applications and another on tracking human motion with wearable sensors
• An Essentials Course around key considerations when designing with an IO-Link sensor
• A design challenge around experimenting with sensor fusion and another focused on experimenting with gesture sensors
• A RoadTest product review opportunity for the Xsens GNSS/INS Development Kit

element14, a global engineering community of over 800K members, is part of Newark, an Avnet company, which helps design engineers, maintenance and test engineers, makers, parents, and teachers develop the future generation of coders and products that apply technology to change our world for the better.

To learn more about the great opportunities available through element14 this summer, visit https://community.element14.com/SummerOfSensors

element14, an Avnet Community, has launched the Twist, Turn and Move Robotics Design Challenge. Participants are tasked with designing and building a robotic arm or mobile robot that performs a specific task.

“From robotic arms on the international space station to home vacuums and mops, using robots to help with everyday activities is a normal occurrence for many people and no longer science fiction,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We’re so excited to see what kind of robots our community members create and are looking forward to seeing how they enhance their robotics skills and create something innovative in their designs.”

Examples of tasks that can be performed in the projects created for this design challenge include but are not limited to:

• A robot arm that can pick up and set down an object
• A mobile robot that follows a line
• A robot arm that moves in all degrees of freedom
• A mobile robot that can avoid an object in its path

Submissions for the Twist, Turn and Move Robotics Design Challenge are open now through June 6. 15 sponsored challengers will be selected and announced on June 10. Those participants must use four or more TE Connectivity-provided products in their designs, which will consist of dynamic series connectors, circulator plastic connectors series, M8 connectors, an IM relay, and more.

Once they receive their kits, participants will have 11 weeks to build and blog about their projects. Challengers must post their progress and final project through a series of a minimum of five blog posts by August 19. Good use of the TE Connectivity components and an interesting use of movement will be graded more favorably.

Winners will be announced in August. The first place winner will receive a Flashforge Guider II 3D Printer along with an iRobot Roomba Self Emptying Robot Vacuum Cleaner. The runner-up will receive an iRobot Braava Jet Robot Mop and an Ender 3 V2 3D Printer. Anyone who completes five blogs and a project with the featured products will receive a MultiComp Pro Multimeter Set.

The element14 Community is the first community specifically built for engineers and now has over 800,000 engineer, maker and designer members. To learn more about element14 and the Twist, Turn and Move Robotics Design Challenge, visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/twist-turn-and-move-design-challenge-with-te-robotics/?ICID=DCHmain-featured-top3challenges.

Farnell, an Avnet company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, is teaming up with champion competitive sailor Alberto Riva - oceanic sailor, design engineer and Farnell’s brand ambassador - to redesign his nautical autopilot.

Farnell is enlisting the help of its global element14 Community to develop new and innovative ideas through its “Ready for Tomorrow” challenge to help improve the nautical autopilot within Alberto’s boat to achieve higher performances with better cost efficiency.

Members of the element14 Community are being encouraged to share detailed, feasible and cost-effective ideas by May 14 for how Riva’s autopilot could be enhanced to set him up for success for any of his future  cross-Atlantic solo race on an offshore racing boat. .

The nautical autopilot controls two crucial elements: data acquisition and the control of the rudder. Several sensors are connected to the system to perform the vectorial calculation of the wind and gain information about the heading of the boat: IMU compass, wind sensor, boat speed sensor and a rudder sensor. The calculated variables are used to keep the boat on a particular true wind angle or on a particular course. All elements of the nautical autopilot work together to collect data to inform the control system.

According to Riva, the nautical autopilot is a sailor’s best friend, allowing the person steering the boat to adjust the sails, sleep, eat, focus on weather conditions, and be able to move the rudder in the best possible way to optimize speed and efficiency on the desired course throughout demanding multi-day regattas.

“Since Riva is not only a multi-competition winning skipper but also a trained engineer who has worked as a data analyst and on-board electronics expert racing boats, he is a perfect person to team up with our element14 Community,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We know our global community of designers and engineers will be able to come up with inventive ideas to further improve his nautical autopilot.”

Winners of the “Ready for Tomorrow” challenge will be announced on May 30 and will each receive one item from the prize pool, which includes a Multicomp Pro MC-120 3D printer, a Multicomp Pro handheld oscilloscope, a Multicomp Pro PC USB oscilloscope, a Multicomp Pro soldering station or a Mulitcomp Pro handheld multimeter.

Community members can share their ideas here on how to best improve the nautical navigation here: https://community.element14.com/technologies/internet-of-things/w/documents/27490/sailing-auto-pilot---competition---ready-for-tomorrow-2022?_ga=2.194169448.492512492.1647257458-447568410.1643622825&_gac=1.216793634.1643823111.EAIaIQobChMIs5Dmk8bh9QIVRKR3Ch2kJAsUEAEYASABEgKPTvD_BwE 

element14, an Avnet Community, has launched Op-Amp-a-Palooza, an open-ended exploration of op-amps using low-cost components. Members of the element14 Community can participate in Op-Amp-a-Palooza and win the chance to receive an operational amplifier (op-amp) kit provided by Renesas, Microchip, and Maxim for sharing their unique project proposals.

An op-amp is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input and, typically, a single-ended output. It got its name by being able to be configured to perform arithmetic operations. In this configuration, an op-amp produces an output potential that is typically 100,000 times larger than the potential difference between its input terminals.

“We love the versatility of op-amps,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “The possibilities are endless, from building amplifiers and buffers to current measurement, audio vs. RF vs. HT, precision circuits, and more. We can’t wait to see what creative projects the members of our imaginative community dream up.”

Op-Amp-a-Palooza is open now through April 25th. Participants can submit a project proposal, sharing what they could build using an op-amp bundle, including the specific steps needed to complete the project. The grand prize winner will receive an op-amp testing kit, including an Arbitrary Waveform Generator, a bench power supply, a handheld oscilloscope, and a $200 shopping cart. In addition, three first-place winners will receive an arbitrary waveform generator, a bench power supply, a USB oscilloscope, and a $100 shopping cart. Winners will be announced on May 4th.

Participants looking for inspiration for their Op-Amp-a-Palooza submissions can review recent creative projects developed on the community featuring the op-amps, including:

·   An Amplified Stereo Mic Kit 
·   A Phonograph Preamplifier 
·   A Smart Coin Sorter

The element14 Community is the first community specifically built for engineers and now has over 800,000 engineer, maker and designer members. To learn more about element14 and Op-Amp-a-Palooza, visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/opampapalooza/b/blog/posts/project14-omp-amp-a-palooza-win-an-op-amps-testing-tools-for-your-op-amp-project

In celebration of Pi Day, element14.com, an Avnet community, launched the Raspberry Pi Pi-Fest Design Challenge. This design challenge will put Raspberry Pi Pico at the center stage as community members will use the device, coupled with any other Raspberry Pi products of their choice, to create music or audio-themed project.

Fifty sponsored challengers will receive a Raspberry Pi Pico kit free of charge to build and blog about their music or audio project. Community members can use the Raspberry Pi Pico to produce music and audio projects, including:

·       Synthesizers 
·       Podcasting Rigs 
·       Live Production Machines 
·       AI Music Machines 
·       Sound Level Logging and Monitoring Devices

“We always love seeing the innovative designs and projects the element14 Community creates,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Pi Day than engaging our community to put their creativity to the test and create a musical project with the Raspberry Pi Pico.”

After receiving their Raspberry Pi Pico kit, challengers will have until July to complete and blog about their projects. Successful projects will be featured on element14’s Pi-Fest Live Stream and a Pi-Fest Tour Poster. The first-place winner will receive $500 in Ticketmaster vouchers, a Shure SM7B Professional Microphone and Stand, a Go XLR professional USB Audio Interface, a headline position on the live-streamed festival, and a headline position in their very own Pi-Fest Tour Poster. The runner-up winner will receive $250 in Ticketmaster vouchers, a Shure MV7 USB microphone, a headline position on the live-streamed festival, and a headline position in their own Pi-Fest Tour Poster. Finisher prizes include a feature on the Pi-Fest Tour poster and a Multicomp Pro Multimeter Set.

Community members can now apply for the Raspberry Pi Pi-Fest Design Challenge through April 14 at community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/pi-fest/.

Farnell is offering exclusive deals on select Raspberry Pi products in celebration of Pi Day, including the Raspberry Pi Pico, Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera, and other products. Newark customers can access these deals by visiting https://uk.farnell.com/buy-raspberry-pi#s3.

Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant pi and is observed on March 14^th since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of pi. This Pi Day, Farnell also celebrates its 10-year manufacturing and distribution partnership with Raspberry Pi Ltd and to mark this significant milestone, we are showcasing Top 10 Raspberry Pi videos, projects, and a round-up of ‘retro’ photos and events from the last ten years.

Additionally, Community members will have a chance to enter a giveaway by sharing their longest-serving Raspberry Pi application currently in use. Ten winners will each receive 10 Raspberry Pi Picos and a Raspberry Pi NOIR 8MP Camera.

Farnell has been the longest-serving strategic business partner to Raspberry Pi Ltd and has helped the Raspberry Pi become a global phenomenon, with tens of millions of units sold around the world.

element14, an Avnet Community, has launched a new hands-on competition with Maxim Integrated that challenges community members to experiment with MAX40080, a high-precision, fast-response, bi-directional digital current-sense amplifier.

The need for fast, accurate, current sensing and high-power converters is rapidly growing. Maxim Integrated’s current sense amplifiers (CSAs) are optimized for a wide range of applications, including overcurrent protection and optimization of power monitoring systems without compromising measurement accuracy.

"Current sensing is an essential function for products spanning industrial automation, telecom infrastructure equipment, portable appliances, and battery-operated devices,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. "With this design challenge, we’re looking forward to seeing how our community members test out the latest current sense amplifier ICs from Maxim Integrated and get creative with what they can use these devices to build."

Ten sponsored challengers will receive a kit consisting of the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, MikroElektronika’s Pi 3 Click board Shield and the MikroElektronika Current Click 6 board, based on the MAX40080 current sense amplifier. Participants have eight weeks to conduct their experiments and write a minimum of two blogs on the element14 website. The final blog will report the experiment results and participant learnings about current sense amplifiers.

Judges from element14’s Top Members will evaluate the submissions and the prizes include:

·       Grand Prize: iPad Pro 12.9 and Apple Smartwatch 7 
·       Runner Up: IDEAL-TEK LCR Meter SMD Component Testing Tweezer 
·       Finisher: Multicomp Pro Palm-size multimeter

element14 Community members can enroll now until March 20 by following this link. Sponsored challengers will be selected on March 25 and will have the chance to participate in the challenge between April 1 through June 1. Winners will be announced on June 7.

element14.com, an Avnet community, has announced the winners of its Experimenting with Magnetic Components Design Challenge. As one of the many Experimenting With Components challenges offered throughout the year, nine participants received free magnetic component kits provided by Bourns to use in their designs.

Those involved had eight weeks to complete their experiments, after which they were assessed by judges on the quality of their written blogs and by demonstrating what they had learned about magnetic components.

 “Magnetic components are as relevant today as when they were first engineered hundreds of years ago, but today’s generation of magnetics are finely engineered devices that are utilized in advanced applications, spanning from power conversion, filters, oscillators and circuit isolation to name just a few,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We’re proud to have partnered with Bourns to give our members the chance to investigate what magnetic components can do and share their insights with the broader community.”

From the nine contributors in the Experimenting with Magnetic Components Design Challenge, the element14 Community team of judges selected one Grand Prize winner and one Runner-Up:

·       Grand Prize – Jan Cumps, Belgium – Cumps used the components from the Bourns magnetic kit to conduct experiments with boost converters, LCR meter experiments, common mode choke experiments, converter efficiency, planar PCB transformers plus measuring an unknown inductor value with a function generator and oscilloscope. For his outstanding achievements, he received a Dell 15.6" Gaming Laptop Computer as his grand prize. 
·       Runner-Up – Enrique Albertos, Spain – Albertos conducted experiments for his smart coin sorter project using inductive sensing. Through a series of blog posts, he walked through everything from basic magnetics to how coins change coil impedance to experiments with oscillators and finally to inductive sensor devices. His blogs included spanned inductive sensing, how coins change coil impedance, experimenting with BJT C-B colpitts oscillators and experimenting with Op Amp colpitts oscillators. After being named as runner-up, Albertos received a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and a $100 shopping cart from Farnell as his prizes.

The remaining seven participants received a Handheld Digital Multimeter as a finisher prize.

Magnetics are an important component of most electronic circuits and are typically used for energy storage, filtering, step-up/step-down transformation and pulse transfer, among others.

The Experimenting with Magnetic Components Design Challenge is part of a series of design challenges from elemen14 that provide individual components to the challengers for testing and experimentation, generating compelling content about individual components that enhance product knowledge and offer a unique learning experience for the element14 Community.

To learn more about element14’s Experimenting With Magnetic Components Design Challenge and the community’s commitment to driving innovation and champion makers, visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-magnetic-components/w/documents/23177/experimenting-with-magnetic-components-about-the-competition?ICID=expMagneticComponents-DCH-topban 

element14.com, an Avnet community, has announced the winners of its annual Community Awards, where top innovators, designers and engineers are celebrated across multiple categories.

The awards highlight the incredible work being done on element14.com every day by the diverse group of community members from around the world. And in 2022, for the first time, there are 5 top members of the year, instead of just one, in addition to 10 rising contributors.

“We are so grateful for the contributions of each and every one of our over 800,000-strong global community,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “With so many incredible projects, designs, ideas, videos and reviews, we wanted to celebrate as many of our members as possible and have multiple winners for many of the categories this year.”

The winners of the element14 2021 Community Awards are:

·       Top 5 Members of the Year – Jan Cumps, Don Bertke, Doug Wong, Shabaz Yousef and Frank Milburn all greatly contributed to the element14 Community in 2021.

·       Rising Contributors of 2021 – Gary Yohe, Scott Stobbe, Andrew Johnson, Sean D. Conway, Michael Zurek, Enrique Albertos Ciervide, Steve K. Kruglewlcz, Navadeep Ganesh U, Rushiraj Jawale, and raspberrypitechguy all made significant contributions the community in 2021 and are makers to watch for the future.

·       Design Challenger of the Year – Enrique Albertos Ciervide – Enrique Albertos Ciervide  took a practical approach to fighting the spread of COVID-19 by designing VenTTracker, an IoT Device that monitors gas density and controls windows in a given area, which also made him the grand prize winner for the Design for a Cause design challenge.

·       Project14 Projects of the Year 2021 –Viewing Noise with a Measurement Amplifier and Instrument Control Board – Both Shabaz Yousef’s incredible work creating a measurement amplifier for noise and Andrew Johnson’s creation of an instrument control board stand out as the top Project14 designs for 2021.

·       The Best element14 presents Video Project of the Year – DIY Star Trek Tricorder – The element14 Community voted for the winner of this award and selected the DIY Star Trek Tricorder built by James Lewis. This fun, Star Trek themed video was a standout from the Build Inside the Box competition in 2021.

·       The Favorite RoadTested Products of 2021 – Rohde & Schwarz NGU401 Source Measure Unit, Digilent 1x1 USB Software-Defined Radio Platform, and Raspberry Pi Pico – elemenet14 polled the community for the best of the many products available for RoadTests in 2021. The above three products came in first, second and third place respectively.

·       The Best RoadTest Reviews of 2021 – Multiple Winners – With so many impressive RoadTest reviews this year, element14 did a roundup of all of the best ones, including the Best Student RoadTester of 2021, The Best “New” RoadTesters of 2021, The Best Emerging Technology Reviews of 2021, and the overall The Best RoadTest Reviews of 2021.

·       Project14 Decider, Founder, and Influencer of the Year 2021 – Frank Milburn, Jan Cumps, and Gary Yohe. Since members of the element14 community play such an integral role in the Project14 design challenges, including determining the themes for the for the monthly series, element14 is recognizing three members for their invaluable contributions in judging, sharing ideas for new themes and contributing to the projects.

·       Best Webinar of 2021 – Summer of FPGAs – element14 produces multiple webinars and other educational content each year. The Summer of FPGAs webinar around getting started with FPGAs stands out for the engagement it received from the webinar audience.

The annual Community Awards are one of the many ways that element14 celebrates the success of its community of engineers and makers as they harness the power of electronics design to make a positive impact on their communities and the world.

To learn more about the 2021 Community Awards, visit element14

element14, an Avnet Community, recently launched the N-gaged Remote Monitoring Design Challenge featuring Omega’s Wireless Layer N EcoSystem. 10 successful applicants who propose a project with the best use of Omega’s IoT system will get a Layer N Ecosystem free of charge to build and blog about their project. 

element14 Community members can use the Layer N EcoSystem to develop a wide range of IoT applications, including predictive maintenance, roadside pollution monitoring, remote monitoring, factory management, and production line management. Omega’s Layer N is an ecosystem of smart devices that gives users a simple, smart, and flexible way to monitor and control applications remotely. Temperature, humidity, light, and barometric pressure readings are captured, stored, processed and transported in real-time to the cloud via Layer N’s wireless smart sensors and gateways so reports can be accessed from anywhere at any time. 

“Omega’s Layer N EcoSystem has elevated the way designers and engineers can innovate within IoT,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We’re excited to offer the element14 Community the opportunity to explore and innovate with the Omega Layer N Gateway Bundle and can’t wait to see what designs are developed.” 

The sponsored challengers must use the Layer N Bundle within their project and will receive the following components in a kit free of charge to incorporate in their project: 
• A Wireless Gateway 
• Wireless Temp/Humidity Sensor 
• USB to Smart Probe Interface 
• Temperature Smart Probe 
• M12 4-pin Female Connector 

For the chance to win, community members must blog about their build process and the final outcome of their Layer N EcoSystem Bundle projects with the Layer N IoT Platform. The first-place winner will receive a Total Security Package valued at over $500 which includes a Nest Doorbell, Nest Camera and Nest Hub Max, along with multiple Nest smoke detectors. The runner up will receive two Google Home Minis and two Next Indoor Cameras. Anyone who completes five blogs posts and a project with the Layer N EcoSystem will receive a MultiComp Pro Multimeter Set. 

Applications for the N-gaged Remote Monitoring Design Challenge are open now through February 11. Challengers will be announced on February 18 and projects will be due in May 2022. Winners will be announced later that month. 

To enter the challenge, community members can visit: https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/n-gaged-design-challenge//w/documents/27423/ 

 

element14, an Avnet Community, is celebrating 16 years of the Arduino UNO by offering members the chance to win a limited edition Arduino Uno Gold Mini, one of the best and most robust boards to get started with electronics and coding.

It is a unique black and gold board with almost the same specifications as the iconic Arduino Uno, a board synonymous with the Arduino itself. It comes with same processor, pinouts and performance that made the UNO so popular but there are a couple of cool tweaks – the board is a quarter of the size of the original footprint, measuring 34.2mm x 26.7mm x 8mm, and USB port has been updated to USB-C allowing for a smaller form factor.

The Arduino UNO has and continues to give many members of the element14 Community the foundation they need to contribute to the electronics design world. In honor of this popular board’s anniversary, the five best completed projects using an Arduino board will win a limited edition Arduino Gold Mini. The members can also win a swag bag with an Arduino board by simply submitting their ‘Build a Present’ project proposals that uses an Arduino board. Other prizes for completed projects include shopping carts, tool kit bundles, and gifts to give to other members for their projects.

“The Arduino UNO has inspired some of the most fun and creative projects on the community,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer a limited-edition Arduino UNO Mini to members of our community to help further inspire imaginative and unexpected designs.”

The Arduino UNO anniversary competition is open now through January 14 2022. Participants can submit a “Build a Present” project proposal, sharing the electronics gift they could build using an Arduino UNO, for the chance to be one of five winners to win a limited-edition Arduino Mini Gold Uno. Winners will be announced on February 4, 2022.

Participants looking for inspiration for their Arduino UNO Anniversary design challenge submissions can review recent creative projects developed on the community featuring the Arduino UNO, including:

• A Music Box
• A Cardboard Drum Kit
• A Robot with Wheels
• A Marshmallow Roaster
• A Ham Radio Transceiver

The element14 Community is the first community specifically built for engineers and now has over 800,000 engineer, maker and designer members. To learn more about element14 and the Arduino Uno Anniversary design challenge, visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/buildapresent/b/blog/posts/build-a-present-for-the-arduino-uno-and-the-limited-edition-uno-gold-mini.

element14, an Avnet Community, is hosting a design challenge around thermal switches (also called thermal sensors) to celebrate the new generation of temperature sensors that deliver greater accuracy, faster response times, and better stability. Participants will be given a kit of thermal switches and encouraged to experiment with their uses, applications, responses, and more.

“Traditional, bimetallic thermal switches have been a mainstay for the design of thermostatic temperature controls and over-temperature protection for years,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “With this latest design challenge, we’re looking forward to seeing how our community members test out the latest thermal technology and get creative with what they can use these elements to build.”

Applications are now open to become one of the 10 sponsored challengers who will receive a free Thermorite® thermal switch kit, consisting of 15 different types of switches plus a Multicomp Pro IR thermometer. The sponsored challengers will be announced on January 7, 2022.

Participants will have just over 8 weeks to complete their tests and experiments and submit a minimum of 2 blog posts covering their development process. The first blog post should be an introductory post that explains what experiments are planned and is due by January 21, 2022. The second blog post should share the results of the experiments using images, screen captures, videos, tables, charts, and anything else to illustrate the results in a captivating way. This blog post should also share anything that was discovered about thermal switches as part of this process and is due by March 14, 2022.

Winners will be announced on March 21, 2022. The Grand prize winner will receive a Digital Oscilloscope, InfiniiVision 1000 X-Series or Legion 5 Gen 6 AMD (17") with RTX 3050 Laptop. The Runner Up will receive a SideTrak Axis Triple Portable Monitor for Laptop or Apple iPad Mini. All other finishers will receive a Multicomp Pro Pdf Data Logger as a finisher prize.

To learn more about element14 and the thermal switches themed design challenge, visit https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/design-challenges/experimenting-with-thermal-switches/w/documents/27364/about-the-competition?ICID=expThermalSwitches-DCH-topban

element14.com, an Avnet community, is recognizing its members who are using their skills to give back to their communities and support those in need. Through element14’s design challenges, many community members have created projects that fulfill a need and benefit others.

“We are blown away by the innovative solutions members of our community have come up with to help others, whether it’s to protect against Covid, provide accessibility, improve overall quality of life and even help with resource conservation”, ,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “We are proud to offer a platform for our members to showcase their own innovations which give back to their communities and allow other members to replicate their designs and further extend the positive impact.”

Some recent projects designed to help those in need include:

• The VenTTracker: Enrique Albertos from Fullcarga, Spain, created an IoT Device that monitors gas density and controls windows in a given area to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The practical engineering of this device demonstrated the expandability potential of this design and the benefit it could serve in health care settings to help end the pandemic. His project received the Grand Prize of the recent “Design for a Cause” challenge.

• Vital Care: Kamrul Hussain from Dhaka, Bangladesh, created a handheld device that allows for continuous vital monitoring for COVID-19 survivors, meant to ease the post-recovery process. The device includes breathing and temperature sensors which send health parameters to the Cloud for telemedicine monitoring, making care from home much more manageable.

• Finger Print Skeleton Key: Milos Rasic from Serbia created a scanner that reads RFID tags next to or on locks and then presents users with the correct key through fingerprint recognition technology. The device is meant to benefit and help those with low dexterity or sight issues to open locked doors and maintain their own security.

• DIY Arduino Mobility Bike: Father and son team Sean and Connor Miller, from Kentucky, US, created a smart bike with assistive technology to allow those with multiple sclerosis (MS) or other disabilities to have the same access to bike riding as able-bodied persons. The inspiration for their project was Sean’s wife, who was diagnosed with MS several years ago. Their design highlights how the Nano 33 IoT can be used to add a number of safety sensors and interlocks to motorized bikes, including an SD card output to study sensor data and calibrate for best ride quality and safety.

element14 is part of Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, which helps design engineers, maintenance and test engineers, makers, parents, and teachers develop the future generation of coders and products that apply technology to change our world for the better.

To learn more about element14 design challenges and see other projects that give back, visit here

element14, an Avnet community, is encouraging their community members to take their Halloween costumes to the next level by incorporating wearable electronics into the designs with ‘Nightmare on e14 Street’.

Community members can participate in this spooky competition by building a wearable Halloween costume featuring electronics and blogging about it on element14.com now through November 8. Everyone who enters the competition and blogs about their wearable electronics costume will receive a Nightmare on e14 Street horror movie-style poster.

“We have seen some amazing wearable costumes and cosplays over the years on the element14 Community,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media at element14. “We’re excited to see how community members will incorporate wearable technology in the design of their creative costumes this year.”

Community members are encouraged to think creatively, build something unique and share blog posts with high-quality videos and photos. The best wearable electronics costume will win an ultimate horror movie fright-night-in, including a home popcorn machine, a scratchable top 100 horror movies poster, and a collection of classic horror movie Blu-Rays. The winner will be announced on November 15.

Community members can submit their entries here: https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-96912/l/nightmare-on-e14-street-halloween-2021-wearable-project-competition?ICID=halloween-2021-topbanner

element14, an Avnet community, is harnessing the power of Hammond Enclosures to create projects designed to withstand even the harshest environments with the “Just Encase” design challenge. This challenge encourages the element14 Community to create a new design built to work reliably even in the face of extreme heat, cold, water or humidity.

Engineers have to take the environment into account when building their designs,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for the element14 Community. “This challenge is a great way for designers to test their skills and learn about the benefits of high-quality enclosures in protecting their projects from the elements.”

“Just Encase” design challenge is open to everyone. Members of the element14 Community will compete to design the most creative project built to withstand hazardous weather using a custom kit provided by Hammond, which includes Hammond cable glands, a water-tight ABS enclosure, a polycarbonate enclosure, a selection of thermocouples, environmental sensors, and load cells, plus an Arduino MKR WAN 1300.

Applications close on October 31 and the 20 best challengers will be announced on November 15. Then, these challengers will be invited to use the above mentioned kits from Hammond to create a project designed to withstand even the harshest environments. Participants will have until February 1 to blog about and build their projects. Winners will be announced in February 2022. Example applications could include:

• Snow level monitoring in a cold area
• Machine usage in food production areas
• Predictive maintenance in damp conditions
• Beachfront sun monitoring

The first-place challenger will win a PlayStation 5, a deluxe earthquake survival kit, a survival shelter as well as a vehicle fire extinguisher, all prizes worth $1,050. The runner up will receive a deluxe earthquake survival kit, a survival shelter and a vehicle fire extinguisher. All other participants who blog about the build process and outcome of the challenge will receive a vehicle first aid kit.

To learn more about element14 and the “Just Encase” challenge, please visit here.