hackathon

Hackathon How-To

Hackathon How-To

College hacking marathons, or hackathons as they’re known to most college students, are something every college student should experience at least once. Hackathons are really awesome ways for you to just get into the zone and just “hack” for about two days straight, more or less. While it wasn’t immediately clear to me what it took to throw together a hackathon, an event and a summer of preparation later, I think I’m getting a better idea.

For those of you who are contemplating or in the process of hosting your own Hackathon at your campus, here are just a couple of concepts I think you should keep in mind.

Recap of #hackPHX: Arduino Hackathon @HeatSyncLabs

Recap of #hackPHX: Arduino Hackathon @HeatSyncLabs

Friday night kicked off the #hackPHX Arduino hackathon at HeatSync Labs, the Phoenix area hackerspace. Everyone gathered to form 10 teams that included one Arduino newbie, one veteran, and one entrant with “hackerspace” skills (3D printing lasering welding sewing, whatever). They would have use of the entire hackerspace, an on-site designer from sponsor Cynergy, and whatever they could find at local hardware stores. Oh, and one more thing, they had to use our secret ingredient: The Shieldbot from SeeedStudios, developed by Colin Ho is a shield robot for Arduino that has five reflectance sensors, two DC motors and a 3.7V lion battery.