This is the second year that the competition has run.
The competition challenged schools and universities to use the Raspberry Pi, a credit-card-size computer, to ‘help the environment’. The innovative line-up of over 50 entries has been whittled down to the 12 best ideas that demonstrated key programming skills with a twist of imagination and creativity.
Here is a flavour of some of the ideas that have made it through to the final round:
- a device to help with recycling. The creation combines a barcode reader that identifies the waste and software which chooses the right bin to automatically open and close
- a system that allows drivers to locate empty car parking spaces in cities and towns to reduce damaging emissions caused by cars idling or travelling through town centres looking for a parking space
- a product that aims to determine whether individual homeowners can make energy savings from installing solar panels on their roof.
Anita Chandraker, head of IT delivery at PA Consulting Group and one of the judges of the competition said: “We’ve certainly set ourselves a hard task of picking winners from the selected shortlist. The skills and imagination of the students, some as young as eight have been phenomenal again this year. It is really encouraging to see them getting to grips with programming skills. We’re delighted to be running this competition for the second time and looking forward to the judging day and awards presentation to see which teams will take the top spots and be crowned as Raspberry Pi programming champions.”
The panel of judges includes: Andy Hopper, Professor of computer technology at Cambridge University; Clare Sutcliffe, Founder of Code Club; Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC Technology correspondent; Clive Beale, Director of educational development at Raspberry Pi Foundation; Joan Lasenby, Senior lecturer in the department of engineering at Cambridge University; Andy Smith, Chief Information Officer at ARM; Anita Chandraker, head of IT delivery at PA Consulting Group.
For more information about the event, please visit: http://www.paconsulting.com/events/invitation-pas-raspberry-pi-competition-awards-reception/