Innovative, social-networking community for engineers offering more than $100,000 in total prize values.

A yearlong contest and community sponsored by Digi-Key and Microchip, the objective of this four-phase Design Challenge is to foster a social community where designers can build, test and display their designs to their challenges using blogs, videos and forums. This interactive community is made up of Members and Contestants. Registered Members of the community have the ability to rate each Contestant’s design according to the design value criteria. Contestants of the Design Challenge will rely on Microchip’s PIC32 Starter Kit, an easy-to-use, all in one, PIC32-based module ($49 value). A set of three industry expert judges, as well as member peers, will vote each week to see who “survives” and wins prizes that help contestants continue their contest journey.

Each week, Members will be eligible for prizes based on their participation and activity with the community. The winning Contestant will receive a home theatre system that includes a 57” 1080p LCD TC and Bose® surround sound system valued at $8000!

Sign Up as a Community Member Now! Click here to see complete details for prizes and contest rules and regulations.

Challenge Overview
The Design Challenge is organized into four phases: Paper Design, Hardware Design, Software Design, and Final Prototype. Each phase had new requirements for contestants and the judges, and community members will determine the winners of each phase. Winners of each phase earn prizes that help them succeed in the next phase, like free tools and hardware!

The Paper Design: In Phase 1, contestants develop the concept of their design, including abstract, title, and block diagrams. There is no requirement to purchase any hardware or software to survive the Paper Design phase. Registered community members can become contestants by going to their personal myPIC32 page, completing all the required elements of the Paper Design phase, and surviving this first phase. Design elements can be made visible to the community throughout the design challenge, and the community can vote for and rate the designs.

At 8:00 am EST on July 15, 2008, all entries are frozen and our panel of judges will determine up to 128 top designs to make it to the next phase based on the rating criteria. After this date, no new contestants can enter the challenge. On July 25, 2008, these survivors will be notified and awarded a prize package valued at over $200 that includes a PIC3 Starter Kit (DM320001), PIC32 I/O Expansion Board, Prototyping Board (AV164126), webcam, and a collection of analog and other Microchip components.

The Hardware Design: Beginning on July 27, 2008, the 128 remaining contestants will implement their hardware based on the Starter Kit bundle. The goal of this phase is to get the hardware in prototype form with accompanying bill-of-materials and schematics as well as some rudimentary software that proves the design is “alive”. Contestants choose which elements of their designs are visible to the community. They can keep their design as private as they want, but they will not get a lot of community interest in the design if the community cannot see it until the last moment before judging. Contestants are encouraged to post as much design information as possible, including web video.

Community members will have far more influence as the competition moves forward. Beyond voting on and rating designs, in this phase community members can begin to offer suggestions and help with the contestants’ designs as well as post blog and forum entries.

At 8:00 am EST on October 13, 2008, all entries will be frozen and the panel of judges along wit the community vote will determine the top 32 designs to make it to the next phase. On October 29, 2008, the 32 survivors will be announced at the Embedded Systems Conference (Boston), and these survivors will be notified and awarded their next prize level: a full MPLAB® C32 C Compiler, MPLAB Real Ice, and MPLAB Real Ice Trace Kit valued at over $1,700.

The Final Prototype: The final phase begins on February 11, 2009, where the remaining 8 contestants will have an additional few months to polish their design and source code with on-going input/help from the community and suggestions from the three judges and other experts.

Starting March 16, 2009, community members will finalize their votes, and the top five designers will be flown to the Embedded Systems Conference 2009 in Silicon Valley where the judges will cast their votes live on April 1. The judges’ and community votes will be combined, the final winners will be announced live at that the event and the prizes will be awarded.

The 2008 PIC32 design Challenges’ Ultimate Embedded Designer will win a fantastic home theatre system, including a 57” LCD TV and Bose ® Lifestyle V20 System worth over $8000. Second and third prizewinners will also receive great prizes. See prize and contest rules and regulations for complete details!

Weekly Prizes
Members will qualify each week to win great prizes (average weekly value $200) based on their participation and activity within the community. All prizes are subject to availability, any prize may be replaced by an item of comparable quality and greater or equal value.