The Electronics Industry's EE Times Group and NXP Announce the Winners of the LPC1100 Cortex-M0 Design Challenge

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- EE Times Group, a UBM company and the daily source of essential business and technical information for the electronics industry's decision makers, today announced the winning design of the NXP LPC1100 Cortex-M0 Design Challenge (www.LPC1100challenge.com), a six month contest and community, sponsored by NXP Semiconductors and Digi-Key Corporation. Community members rated and voted from an original pool of more than 450 designs, submitted in this international competition. The objective of the three-phase Design Challenge was to foster a social community where electronics engineering contestants build, test, and display their designs, based on the NXP's LPC1100 and the LPCXpresso development tool platform. The challenge is organized in three phases - Conceptual Design, Hardware Design and Final Prototype.  To review all the designs, visit www.LPC1100challenge.com.

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The Grand Prize Winner, Low-Weight Low-Power Variometer (Thermal Indicator) and Flight Logger (For RC Gliders) Using Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Walkie-Talkie by (termohlen), used the LPCXpresso to poll variometers for altitude, altitude change (indicating thermal), and temperature. In addition, it polls battery voltage; generates speech (from .wav data in micro-SD) and controls mic-key of (Cobra Micro Talk) walkie-talkie (removed from case); and stores all flight data on micro-SD card. The included application also allows plotting of all flight data (in MS Excel). This system could be used in Thermal Duration (TD), F3B, F3J, cross country, or any powered aircraft. Termohlen was awarded $3,000 in Apple® Gift Cards; in addition NXP offered an all expenses paid invitation to attend ESC Boston, September 20-23, 2010.  

Second Prize goes to Wikipedia Cortex by (rossum), an expert with 23 years writing software for consumer media. The Wikipedia player offers smooth scrolling, clear text and all of human knowledge in the palm of your hand. This device can also play photos, music and games as well as other applications with alternate firmware. Rossum was awarded $1,500 in Apple® Gift Cards.

Honorable Mention goes to Energy Friendly Socket by (mary), a student of Wuhan University of Technology in China. Her project developed an Energy Friendly Socket (EFS) using the LPC1100 microcontroller. Its function was to calculate the power consumption of the electrical appliances which are plugged in it and send out the calculated value via ZIGBEE module. After downloading, different types of bar charts can be drawn to present the data graphically.  Users can also set strategy for electricity usage to take advantage of off-peak rates. The goal of the socket is not only to help reduce electricity bills, but also to reduce the release of carbon dioxide and toxic gases which are emitted by the electrical appliances and to promote energy-saving in the electric power system. The socket will eventually establish a scientific pattern of electricity consumption.

The other Honorable Mention went to Noisy Display by Jeroen Hilgers, who used The LPC1114 to control a row of RGB LEDs fixed to the end of a rattle. The LEDs blink in patterns while the rattle is rotated and are drawn in the air. Four user images are stored in the flash of the LPC1114 and Images can be edited on the LPC1114 using the built-in editor. The built-in editor uses a PS/2 mouse as input device and a television set as display device. (Due to the noise, the device is suitable for use during the world cup soccer.)  Both Mary and Jeroen were awarded $1,000 Apple® Gift Cards.

"We are very pleased with the many creative designs that we've seen in this competition," said Geoff Lees, VP & GM NXP Semiconductors. "The participants proved that with prices starting at just 65 cents, our Cortex-M0 family delivers true 32-bit performance, at power levels and prices usually attributed to much lower-performance devices."

A set of expert judges as well Community Member peers rated and voted for one overall winner for each Phase. In addition, during each phase, Community Members were selected for prizes based on their community participation and user feedback on the best LPCXpresso enhancement suggestions.

More than 450 contestants submitted a valid title, abstract, and block diagram, received a free LPCXpresso development tool.

"The NXP LPC1100 design contestants show us that there really are no barriers to creativity," said Brian Fuller, EE Times Products Strategist. "Engineers from across the world created designs that are clever, cool, and promising—all using a device that costs less than a cup of coffee."

To view all the entries, including the winning designs, visit www.LPC1100challenge.com.

About EE Times Group (http://www.eetimesgroup.com/)

EE Times Group is the global leader in media and marketing solutions for the electronics industry.   EE Times Group delivers results for the key influencers and decision makers involved in the design, development and commercialization of technology through its market leading brands, peer communities and professional education services.  More than 1.1 million engineering professionals engage with EE Times Group brands which include EE Times, TechOnline, DesignLines and Embedded.com across the globe to accelerate technology sales. The international electronics community gathers at EE Times Group's market leading events such as the Embedded Systems Conferences, DesignCon and ARM Technology Conference to share, learn, discuss, and advance the critical issues and challenges facing the electronics industry. Additionally, EE Times Group provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation marketing, integrated media, custom solutions and research.  EE Times Group is part of UBM (UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

About NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions that leverage its leading RF, Analog, Power, Digital Processing and manufacturing expertise. These innovations are used in a wide range of automotive, industrial, consumer, lighting, medical, computing and identification applications. Headquartered in Europe, the company has about 29,000 employees working in more than 30 countries and posted sales of USD 5.4 billion in 2008. News from NXP is located at www.nxp.com.

About Digi-Key Corporation

One of the world's fastest growing distributors of electronic components, Digi-Key has earned its reputation as an industry leader through its total commitment to service and performance. As a full-service provider of both prototype/design and production quantities of electronic components, Digi-Key has been ranked #1 for Overall Performance for 16 consecutive years from among the nation's more than 200 distributors (EE Times Distribution Study/ May 2007). Offering more than a million products from over 400 quality name-brand manufacturers Digi-Key's commitment to inventory is unparalleled. Access to the company's broad product offering is available 24/7 at Digi-Key's top-rated website, www.digikey.com.

SOURCE EE Times Group