Eric Schleicher, Founder and CEO of Constructive Realities Announced as Winner of OKdo's Global ROCK Engineering Challenge

OKdo, RS, DesignSpark, and global partners, together with Wevolver, give a big thank you to all those who submitted innovative ideas and to the community for their participation

LONDON, May 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The ROCK Engineering Challenge invited engineers, developers, educators, inventors and entrepreneurs, to submit an idea based on the OKdo® ROCK single board computers (SBC) and compute modules. The contest attracted 160 high-quality entries from around the world, with applications and ideas spanning various verticals such as IoT, Healthcare, Smart Homes, AI, Robotics, EdTech, Renewable Energy, and Smart City initiatives.

Grand Prize Winner: Eric Schleicher, Mike Macdonald, Justin Berger of Constructive Realities

The grand prize winner of the ROCK Engineering challenge is Eric Schleicher and his core team at Constructive Realities. Eric is developing Time of Flight (ToF) 3D cameras, capable of on-device depth data processing using the GPUs and NPUs. These compact cameras have many exciting applications in AR/VR, IoT, robotics, and industrial products. An API allows users to process depth data and enables IoT functionality, while Linux-based SoM/SBCs provide extensibility and community support at an affordable price point.

As the winning team of the OKdo ROCK Engineering Challenge, they will enter into a partnership worth $50,000 with OKdo to further scale and develop their idea: receive support in product design, prototyping, business and marketing consultancy, and manufacturing/distribution expertise.

"We're incredibly excited to win the ROCK Engineering Challenge. Looking at the quality of the other teams' submissions, we're even more inspired to make our 3D camera systems available to the communities that are driving innovation. Establishing our new partnership with OKdo, Radxa and the RS Group is going to significantly accelerate our product development program and is allowing us to expand the scope and capabilities of our next product release," said Eric Schleicher, Founder and CEO of Constructive Realities.

Wevolver Community Vote Winner: Marcel Ochsendorf

In addition to the grand prize, the Wevolver Community Winner was chosen through a public poll of the finalists. The winner will be given the opportunity to pitch his project to the senior management of OKdo and its partners.

The community vote, featuring over 300 votes, has determined the winner to be Marcel Ochsendorf with his project submission focusing on supporting medical facilities. Marcel's project aims to record patients' status using a thermal imaging camera, tracking breathing status, frequency, body temperature, and movements (fall) without contact. The system will notify medical staff if necessary, while ensuring complete anonymization of patients' data, as no sensitive data will leave the room. Marcel's project leverages the Rock SBC's dedicated GPU for local data processing, ensuring data protection and sufficient resources for later upgrades.

The ROCK SBC and CM series

Developed in collaboration between OKdo and Radxa, the ROCK platforms offer leading capabilities, hardware, and performance in a similar form factor as other popular SBC boards. ROCK offers professionals, industrial OEMs, IoT enthusiasts, hobbyists, PC DIY enthusiasts, and makers a reliable and capable platform for building extraordinary next-generation technology applications.

The ROCK boards are particularly suited for commercial applications that need a powerful and customizable board, including but not limited to robotics, smart home devices, medical devices, automation, IoT, and environmental monitoring.

View the full product family here.

"The ROCK Engineering Challenge has truly demonstrated the immense potential of engineers worldwide in pushing the boundaries of SBC applications. We are thrilled to see the diverse and innovative ideas submitted, showcasing the power of collaboration and creativity within the global engineering community," said Sander Arts, CMO at OKdo.

"It's truly inspiring to see the incredible potential and innovative ideas emerging from the engineering community," said Bram Geenen, Co-Founder and CEO of Wevolver. "The ROCK Engineering Challenge has brought together some of the best minds to drive innovation and push the boundaries of what's possible with single board computers. We are excited to support these pioneers as they continue to create ground-breaking solutions for the future."

About OKdo:
OKdo is a global technology company from RS Group plc which is disrupting single board computer (SBC) and IoT segments. Offering a unique combination of hardware, software, development support, and manufacturing services to inspire and enable customers to generate new ideas and turn them into commercial reality. They are on a global mission to deliver the imagination, creativity, and technical expertise our customers desire.

About DesignSpark:
DesignSpark is a free platform that provides design solutions and engineer support to accelerate design cycle time, rapid prototyping and quick-to-market solutions. Over 1.2m members have access to a suite of design and programming software, comprehensive CAD neutral libraries, technology news and community support to aid and empower design to manufacturing.

About RS Group:
RS Group plc provides product and service solutions that help our customers design, build, maintain, repair and operate industrial equipment and operations, safely and sustainably. We stock more than 750,000 industrial and electronic products, sourced from over 2,500 leading suppliers, and provide a wide range of product and service solutions to 1.1 million customers. RS Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1 and in the year ended 31 March 2023 reported revenue of £2,982 million.

For more information, please visit https://www.rsgroup.com/.

About Wevolver:
Wevolver is a platform where the engineering community & industry connect around informative content about cutting edge technologies. On the platform, companies, universities, and individual engineers publish blog articles, videos, reports, and podcasts. Topics include semiconductors, 3D printing, AI, robotics, IoT, and more.

About Constructive Realities:
Constructive Realities design and manufacture smart 3D camera systems into end-use applications and create workflows and data management software that turn 3D vision streams into structured information called spatial context graphs. To learn more, please visit: https://constructiverealities.io/.

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SOURCE OKdo