Raspberry Pi Polytechnics Case Competition
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on this information.
The Raspberry Pi is a $35 computer designed to provoke and enable experimentation in programming and computer technology. It can be used as a simple desktop computer, but it also makes an excellent controller for embedded and robotics projects.
Polytechnics Canada is the voice of leading research-intensive, publicly funded colleges and institutes of technology.
The Challenge
Design a case for the Raspberry Pi computer with these qualities:
- Waterproof to 3 metres.
- Maintains the system-on-a-chip at temperatures not exceeding 50C when operating at 100% CPU utilization in 30C water for 1 hour.
- Able to protect the Raspberry Pi through a drop of 2m to a concrete floor while powered-on and operating.
- Provides waterproof connections for power, USB, ethernet, and GPIO header cables.
- Permits viewing of the Raspberry Pi LED POWER and OK indicators.
- May be mounted to a flat surface such as a plywood board.
- Either uses no energy, or uses 5 VDC at up to 500 mA for active systems (e.g., cooling, indicators).
- Can be opened to provide access to the SD card slot and SOC in less than 3 minutes, while the unit remains in operation and attached to a mounting surface.
- Can be built for less than $40 per unit in a 50-unit production run.
Notes:
- Entries will be judged according to the requirements listed above, the quality of the case design and construction, and additional innovative features of the case.
- The Raspberry Pi board does not have mounting holes.
- The Raspberry Pi will be operated at the normal (default) voltage levels and clock rate (700 MHz) during tests.
- Teams may elect to use a standard-sized SD card, an SD card socket-and-plug assembly (extension), or a micro-SD adapter.
- The software image used during testing will be provided by the testers. No special software must be required for use with the case.
- SOC temperature will be measured at the top of the DRAM package using a thermocouple or IR thermometer.
Participants
- The contest is open to students who are enrolled full-time at any Polytechnics Canada institution during the 2012-2013 school year.
- Teams may consist of one to five student members.
- There is no limit to the number of teams that may enter from each institution.
Entry Procedure
Team entries must be received by October 19, 2012.
Suggest applications be made through the research centre of the institution.
Submission Deadline
Submissions must be received by March 29, 2013, by providing:
- a sample of the case design for testing.
- case design plans
- a report on tests performed on the case.
Submission procedures will be provided to all entrants.
Judging
Entries will be pre-qualified by testing for:
- Waterproof qualities
- Thermal qualities
- Ability to withstand shock
All entries which have passed the pre-qualification will be judged by a panel at the Polytechnics Canada Annual Conference in May 2013.
Prize
Mike McNamara will be sourcing an awesome prize :-)
