How will products and goods be transported in the future? How can we produce in a more resource-efficient way? How can we better visualize data to simplify our daily lives and work? Twenty-four teams asked themselves these questions at the SICK Solution Hackathon, probing existing boundaries and turning science fiction into science fact. These young developers are supported by hacking coaches – that is, experienced developers from participating companies such as SICK, SAP, Bosch Rexroth, Trumpf, NTT Data, etc. Let’s take a look at their ideas and solutions.

Where Science Fiction becomes Science Fact – SICK Solution Hackathon

The winer: Stop food waste and control a mobile robot by voice and gesture

Of the 24 teams, two impressed the audience jury: Varun Burde, Marina Ionova, Serhii Voronov, Elizaveta Isaianova (all from the Czech Republic) and D. William Campman (USA) – “Prague Industry 4.1. The “Testbed” team – won in the “Technological Excellence” category for their idea of controlling a mobile robot through voice and gestures. The idea behind it: Mobile robots will be equipped with voice control systems and cameras, and communicate via 5G networks in the cloud. In this way, the robot can be guided in a certain direction or stopped by simple gestures or voice commands.

8100183

Ever-evolving robots! The Industry 4.1 Testbed team won in the “Technological Excellence” category.

In the “Best Business Idea” category, The audience voted for the team of Marton Juhasy, Christian Mety, Helena Hauter, Bence Bejcyz and Emil Gregersen (” Copenhagen “Collective” team) as the winner. With their solution, the five students hope to avoid organic waste in commercial kitchens and ensure that more food ends up on plates instead of in the trash. The team used cameras and sensors that can digitally display factors such as smell to visualize data related to the state of food in the refrigerator. Once the defined limit is reached, the sensor triggers a signal on the smartphone, prompting the kitchen staff to take appropriate action.

Job winner. The Copenhagen Collective team was voted the winner in the “Best Business Idea” category by the audience.

More Hackathon ideas: Tackling industry challenges

How did the other teams respond to the challenge during the three-day competition? The Swedish team at the University of Malardalen started the first day by focusing on Brainstorming, which idea was the most appropriate for everyone. The next day, they created a prototype. Their topic is compressed air leakage, which is a well-known problem in production and industry. Team representative Hanna Brouillette explains how they work together: “You have to be open and brainstorm, especially at the beginning of a project, otherwise you get stuck very quickly.”

Localizating air leakage – SICK Solution Hackathon 2022

A Swedish team, MDA, has developed a solution for locating industrial gas leaks.

“Compressed air is used in many industrial sectors – air leakage is a big problem,” Hanna explained while testing their prototype in a pilot run. Their solution includes sensors and a microphone that measures vibration and noise, and from there identifies two common signs of an air leak. “Connectivity is a way to create a better solution by aggregating all the important data. “If everything works as it does in our prototype, then this idea could really solve a typical problem in industry.”

Either find a way or create a way

Alina Gottig came to the Hackathon alone and found her team! When she first arrived, she first talked to hacker coaches and looked for new ideas. By chance, she met Toni Veikko and Josia Joakim from Finland and has since formed a team with them. The idea is to provide shopping malls with a virtual AI shopping assistant (called SAM) in the form of AR glasses that can offer purchase suggestions and guide customers around the mall. Since there is no shopping mall in the area, they shot a video inside the SIA Campus where the Hackathon was held. Snack bars act as a stand-in for shopping malls. The video was planned as part of their publicity to show what was possible with SAM. Their motto is: “Find a way or create a way.” They finally found a way