PA’s new Raspberry Pi Competition – innovate to help the environment!

Last year, the Raspberry Pi Competition challenged schoolchildren and university students from across the UK to put their technology skills, ingenuity and creativity to the test. Their mission? To use the Raspberry Pi – a low-cost, credit-card-size computer – to make the world a better place.

This year’s competition challenges entrants to use the Raspberry Pi to help the environment. To create your project, you can use a Raspberry Pi as well as additional hardware up to the value of £100. For inspiration, you may wish to consider some of the winning entries from the last competition:

• An air quality and weather surveillance station made with a Raspberry Pi that takes in information about air quality through attached sensors and uploads it directly to the internet, where it can then be viewed and analysed on a smartphone or tablet.
• A system that enables home owners to monitor the electricity consumption of their home. The electricity-consumption logging system was based on the communication protocol of an off-the-shelf wireless electricity monitor.

The competition is open to four categories from primary school upwards, with a £1,000 prize for the winner of each group. The Higher Education category is open to undergraduates, working as individuals or teams of up to two entrants. Entrants must be based in the UK for the duration of the competition.

Register your interest in this year’s competition on the Raspberry Pi competition page. The closing date to submit your project is 31 January 2014.