Blueprint

Format

The event has been designed to identify people with a balance of technical ability and great presentation skills. The event would be held in 2 phases: A preliminary round and a final round.

Preliminary Round: Write up
Each of the registered team is supposed to submit a Project report detailing the project.

Final Round:
Based on the write up and the evaluation, a select number of teams would be invited to make a presentation of their hardware and/or software in front of the judges at Shaastra. If your team is among the chosen finalists, you will need to prepare a 20 minute presentation explaining the idea behind the hardware or the rationale behind the development of the particular software. The 20 minutes shall consist of a 12 minute presentation of your ideas and 8 minutes of questions from the audience and other participants. The coordinators and judges have the right to allow for longer discussions if found necessary.

You should be ready to answer questions like, 'Why is it better than the existing solutions?' There are no strict requirements EXCEPT for a working prototype of the hardware and/or software. Any teams without a working prototype will be automatically disqualified from the contest.

Writeup

1. The motivation behind the project, and what it does.
2. An abstract Design of your Project, preferably with the help of flowcharts/diagrams.
3. The algorithms and methods that might be used in each part.
4. Your original contribution towards the solution.
5. The commercial value, utility and expected market Size of the software and its implications.
6. The details of the hardware and software required by you for the presentation of your software, if chosen for the final round.
7. Full details of any proprietary or open source tool employed.
8. A list of software and hardware requirements
9. A snapshot of the Graphical User Interface if any.
10. How is the hardware/software better than the preexisting hardware/software for the application – cost effectiveness, ergonomics, user-friendly etc.
11. Whether an actual prototype of the hardware has been made? Use as many pictures and diagrams to make your ideas clear.
12. A market research on the preexisting products and marketability of your design will also help your cause.
13. Remember to KISS!

Evaluation Criteria

1. Problem Definition :How clearly does the entry define and meet its intended purpose?
2. Design :Equal consideration will be given to
   • Originality of the design
   • Usefulness of the product/application
   • Ergonomics and User Friendly design.
   • Cost-effectiveness and Production considerations.(for hardware)
3. Development: Is the system architecture implemented elegantly, breaking the problem down into logical chunks and modules.
4. Presentation: Does the presentation provide adequate background and context to the project; explaining why the problem is interesting, highlighting how the system works including an insightful demonstration. Teams will also be evaluated on their ability to take questions from the judging panel.
   Problems faced during designing. Manufacturing considerations made for the prototype. Marketability of the product, and how the hardware/software helps to overcome the problems posed by the preexisting design.

Submission

• August 20, 2008 : Submission period opens. You need to be ready to submit your project report when you register.
• September 8, 2008 : Registration and First Round Submissions Closes.
• September 10, 2008 : Round 1 winners will be announced.
• During Shaastra : Final presentation

You can register and submit your report through the Userportal.

For any queries contact blueprint@shaastra.org

Rules

1. Only Teams of three or less are allowed.
2. Under no circumstances shall late entries will be entertained.
3. Do not make any assumptions about pre-installed libraries/ software/ compilers/ hardware.
4. We strongly recommend that the writeup should be structured according to the format explained earlier.
5. Participants are advised to inform us before hand the requirement of external software.
6. All the teams must bring a printed copy of their project reports as well as a very brief abstract (not more than one page long).
7. Teams should bring pre-compiled binary as well as source code of their softwares.
8. Participants are required to bring their software in a CD. Keep substantial backup.
9. All entries should be original works of the authors. Any software currently in commercial use is not acceptable as an entry for the contest. Projects which use codes released under GNU GPL will be accepted if substantial amount of original work is present.
10. Participants without a working prototype will be automatically disqualified from the final round.
11. The judges decision will be the final and binding.
12. Further directions will be e-mailed to the selected teams.
13. All the winners will be awarded certificates of participation, in addition to the cash prizes on the basis of the judges’ final decisions.

General rules

1. The team may contact the coordinators for request of any software etc. Best efforts would be put to make it available. In case it is not possible to do so, the team would be notified well in advance.
2. It is mandatory to bring your Identity Card along.
3. Developers would have the sole right to their code and Software. Display of code is mandatory. The source code will not be revealed to any third party.
4. Visit the site for latest updates.

FAQ

• Can I submit an entry which is solely a hardware design project?
  Yes! Please note that Blueprint is an Open Software and Hardware contest. But this does not restrict anyone from submitting only software and only hardware based entries.
• Can I use commercial softwares like Matlab or ProEngineer for my project?
  Yes! You can use them. You can use them for designing your product. You can go ahead and do it as long as you don’t submit a Matlab m code as your software design project. However, we strongly recommend that you consult the coordinators at blueprint@shaastra.org before finalizing the project.
• Can I submit multiple entries?
  By all means, yes! You can submit as many as you wish! Just make sure that you don’t submit the same thing twice!
• What topics can I work on?
  This is an Open design contest! You can work on anything that you wish to. Anything from a circularly actuated kinematic mechanism to a heart beat counter to automobile theft prevention device. Let your imagination run wild!
• My hardware prototype is too big to bring to Shaastra. What should I do?
  We strongly recommend that you build a prototype that can be brought to Shaastra. If however, under circumstances where you just cannot build a prototype that is small enough to bring to Shaastra, please contact the coordinators at blueprint@shaastra.org. We will most likely suggest that you bring along a video with all of you in the video along with your prototype. The video must also demonstrate how exactly the prototype is going to work for different scenarios. You should also bring along those functional modules of the prototype that can be brought to Shaastra.
• How long should the write up be?
• Length does not really matter, as long as you address the points mentioned in the Writeup tab. If you really want a number - 8-10 pages ought to do for a generic draft.

In case of queries visit the Shaastra Helpdesk. Please register on the Userportal.