Hackfest 2017 announced the winners of its annual innovation challenge at the Sunshine Coast, and presented two category awards to teams using the Thinxtra Xkit.
• The HealthiUp solution won the new ‘Hardware Hack’ category which was introduced this year to provide hands-on experience and learning with a range of hardware devices. Using the Xkit, the team also won overall third place for connecting public space gyms.
The Xkit allowed the HealthiUp team to connect gyms and pull metrics on the use of equipment by individuals. The team showed that critical health information can be gathered and analysed by attaching the Xkit to individual pieces of gym equipment.
Watch the video
• At just 12 years of age, Jack Ryan won an award in the Student category for his connected skateboard. Jack attached the Xkit accelerometer to a skateboard to determine speed and identify tricks. The winning solution allows multiple connected skateboards to compete virtually, and can be deployed anywhere in the world using the Sigfox network.
The Hackfest Student category win demonstrates the importance of STEM initiatives such as Thinxtra’s AU $1 million commitment to a 5-year smart schools program that gives students from 100 schools the hands-on opportunity to build their own IoT solutions.
Watch the video
Both teams demonstrated the capacity to attain valuable information using the Xkit, the first complete Sigfox ready development kit for start-ups, design houses, universities and schools.
Thinxtra Pre-sales Manager & Hackathons’ supporter, Guy Langlois said: “Hackfest is all about innovating real solutions for a better world and we congratulate the winners. It’s fantastic to see how the Thinxtra Xkit allowed Jack and the HealthiUp team to bring their ideas to life. The Xkit gives anyone the chance to build their own solutions, even if they have very limited hardware experience – and their ideas can go global using Sigfox connectivity.”
The Thinxtra Xkit for developers boasts a full suite of features and accessories to empower anyone to set up an IoT solution using the globally available Sigfox network. The Xkit integrates an: Accelerometer 3-axis, digital temperature and pressure sensor, reed switch, light sensor, LEDs red & blue and a push button.
For more information visit: library.web.thinxtra.com/xkit.
About Hackfest
Now in its third year, Hackfest 2017 included over $45,000 in prizes across 11 categories. Participants have access to open data information from council as well as State and Federal governments to create a solution for an identified issue or problem on the Sunshine Coast – either now or into the future.
More infos on Hackfest
About Thinxtra
Thinxtra is empowering the Internet of Things in Asia Pacific by deploying the world-leading Sigfox LPWA network as well as building a full eco-system of IoT solutions and services to enable the non-connected to connect, to increase productivity, accelerate decision making, improve quality of service and quality of life, and find more economical solutions to common problems.
Sigfox is the world’s leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has built a global network to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible. Sigfox’s unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability.
Thinxtra is backed by NZX-listed high-tech company Rakon Ltd, which has a history of innovation in communications technology going back some 50 years as well as the CEFC (Clean Energy Finance Corporation), an Australian Government fund with a mission to accelerate local transformation towards a more competitive economy.
Contact: Renald Gallis – VP Marketing +61 404 894 960 [email protected]
