Lantronix has announced the 3rd edition of its popular Wireless Design Contest. This year's contest challenges engineers, students and hobbyists to develop a creative and practical wireless product using Lantronix new MatchPort b/g, an 802.11 b/g embedded wireless device server module. With MatchPort b/g, contestants can add WiFi to virtually any electronic device with a serial interface so it can be accessed, monitored and controlled wirelessly over the Internet.
To enter, contestants simply submit their application concept through the Lantronix Web site and later submit a working prototype design. All design entries must be received on or before March 3, 2008. Winners will be announced at the Embedded Systems Conference (April 14-18, 2008) in San Jose, California.
Entries will be judged on technical merit, originality, business value, cost-effectiveness and design optimisation. In addition to travel compensation to the awards ceremony at ESC, Lantronix will award cash prizes for the following categories: First Place - $6,000; Second Place - $4,000; Third Place - $2,000; Best Entry from a Student/Educational Facility - $3,000; Most Likely to Succeed - $2,000... a new category this year for the most commercially-viable design.
The 2007 WDC winners included: First Place ($6,000): Damien Hubaux and his engineering team from CETIC in Belgium for their SAND (Smart Adaptable Network Device) System, a small, autonomous and flexible embedded system based on a soft processor. The SAND System can be used by transportation companies looking to acquire objective data about its driver's behaviour in order to better train workers and decrease fuel consumption.
Second Place ($4,000): Kevin Hubbard, from Washington, for his WiFi Clock, a fully functional alarm clock with Internet access. With its unique features, the WiFi Clock provides end users an innovative design to retrieve customised, real-time information such as weather, news or email.
Third Place ( $2,000) : Mohamad Abou El-Nasr, assistant professor at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Egypt. His Wi-Aquarium allows users to remotely control and monitor an aquarium anytime from anywhere in the world, and ensures an optimum aquarium environment and healthy fish.
Part of the MatchPort family of form-factor and pin-compatible wired/wireless device networking modules, MatchPort b/g allows designers to quickly and easily build 802.11 connectivity and web services into any product allowing the ability for remote device configuration and monitoring. It includes an embedded operating system, full-featured network protocol stack, a radio system driver, a built-in web server and Windows deployment software all in a compact 45mm x 45mm with 40-pin 2mm header. MatchPort b/g also includes 2MB of Flash memory for web page storage and firmware and supports 802.11i/PSK, WPA-PSK and AES encryption to ensure data security and integrity.
