element14 Community Launches Smart Vehicle Design Challenge

element14 Community, a technical community under the Avnet Group, has launched a new smart transport design challenge, inviting engineers, makers, and tech enthusiasts to design and build innovative prototypes focused on the future of electric and intelligent vehicles.

The challenge asks participants to tackle real-world problems such as obstacle avoidance, battery optimization, vehicle safety, and system efficiency to create a prototype smart electric vehicle or intelligent system designed for next-generation transportation.

Five selected challengers will receive a free kit of components to support the design and build of their prototype or test rig. Participants are required to showcase their building process through blog posts and share the final results. Submissions will be judged on originality, technical completion, and the innovative utilization of the provided components.

Andrea Theodorescu, Global Director of Product Marketing and element14 Community, stated: "Smart vehicles are evolving rapidly, and hands-on experimentation plays a key role in transforming ideas into practical solutions. This challenge gives community members the opportunity to explore new vehicle technologies while fostering innovation by sharing knowledge across the engineering community."

Examples of smart vehicle project concepts include:
- Electric vehicle prototypes
- Automatic or self-charging EV parking systems
- Battery management and diagnostic systems
- Speed monitoring solutions
- EV safety and redundancy systems
- Traffic management solutions
- Sensor and perception systems
- Navigation and obstacle avoidance systems

The 1st place winner will receive a smart electric scooter, a smart LED bike helmet, and a bionic robot dog. 2nd place will receive a bionic robot dog, and 3rd place will receive an off-road unmanned ground vehicle. In addition, all successful participants will receive a 400A AC/DC clamp meter.

Applications are currently being accepted, and the deadline is June 7th. Selected participants must complete and submit their projects by August 16th.