This contest has ended and the winners have been announced! Thank you all for participating!

Category	Project	Name
World Changer	IoT Weather Station Predicts Rainfall Intensity	kutluhan_aktar
Creative Genius	Nespresso Shield	Steadman
Data Wizard	Soil moisture monitoring in a flower garden	Joseph Eoff

Be sure to check out all the other amazing Data Loggin' projects!

Data Loggin' Contest!

This contest runs from Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 09:00 am PST to Sunday, April 25, 2021 11:59 pm PDT, projects must be created or updated and submitted during this timeframe. Projects submitted before or after these dates will be disqualified.

Capture and log data on the world around us using your preferred sensors and hardware. Then plot and analyze the data to show unique insights. 

Bonus points: fork someone else's project here on Hackaday.io (make sure to credit the original designer), and MAKE IT BETTER! The new project must be different and credit the original designer to qualify. 

For example, check out this Bitcoin Tracker, or this easy to build Raspberry Pi recorder. Check out the accessible battery-powered data logger design used for the Cave Pearl Project. Need more examples? Check out the Data Logger project list.

Individuals and teams of all levels of experience are encouraged to enter. A simple microcontroller data logger can be constructed for under $20 and can be assembled and working in less than two hours.

Prizes

Three $100 Tindie gift certificates will be awarded; one in each of the following prize categories:

• World Changer. Incredible insights from the data set captured by this data logger can help make the world a better place.
• Creative Genius. The data set captured by this data logger was captured or analyzed in an amazingly creative way.
• Data Wizard. Impressive data analyses were performed on the data set captured by this data logger.

Inspiration

A couple of ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

• A data logger that logs the amount of time you spend in your car. Analyze daily, weekly, and monthly trends.
• A data logger that logs a timestamp every time a toilet gets flushed. Analyze how much water your toilet uses per week and what times of the day the toilet is most likely to be occupied.
• A data logger that logs how much trash is in your trash can once every hour. Analyze how much trash is generated each week and on what days the trash can fills up the fastest. 

There are several tutorials on how to build your own microcontroller-based data logger available online.

How to Enter

Start a new project on Hackaday.io. 

Share images of your project on the project page. Summarize the story of how you designed and built your project in the "Description" and "Details" sections. Include a summary of the data analysis in the "Details" section as well.

Once you have published your project, look in the left sidebar for the "Submit project to..." menu and choose " Data Loggin' ":

Judging Criteria

• Impact. Does the data set provide meaningful insights into the world around us?
• Creativity. Is the data set unique and/or was the data set captured or analyzed in a creative way?
• Analysis. Is a plot of the data set included and has an analysis been performed and explained well? 
• Documentation. Has the motivation behind the data set been explained? Have the design files been shared, such as the bill-of-materials, schematics, or source code?

Tips

• Keep it simple. Focus on only one or two key features that you want to develop. Then check out other data logger projects that are well documented online. Spend the rest of your time impressing the judges on the amount of documentation and insights you are able to include for your chosen key features.

Data Loggin' Contest Rules

• The contest runs Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 09:00 am PST to Sunday, April 25, 2021 11:59 pm PDT, projects must be created and/or updated during this timeframe to qualify.
• Existing projects or projects that were entered in previous Hackaday contests but did not win a prize are eligible for submission as entries in this challenge with the following restrictions:
  • A new project page must be created - judges will look at the date the project was created.
  • The project must be significantly different from when previously entered. Show what makes it unique for this contest.
• An individual or team can only win one prize category but can submit any number of entries.
• All entries will be judged by the contest creator, John Opsahl, and Hackaday staff.
• Hackaday Staff, Employees of Supplyframe, Judges, or the family of any of the preceding are not eligible to take part in this contest. Everyone is still encouraged to build awesome stuff and show it off.

To get started, start a project on hackaday.io and upload your project.