Judges will be looking for designs that demonstrate the advantages wireless charging systems offer, such as convenience, the ability to develop a waterproof charging system, or the elimination of failure-prone charging contacts. The winner of the global competition will receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Galaxy S6 edge+, plus a Gear S2 Smart Watch; second and third place winners also will receive Samsung products featuring wireless charging enabled by IDT chips.
David Sandys, Digi-Key director of Technical and Strategic Marketing, said: “IDT’s wireless power kits dramatically simplify integrating wireless charging capabilities into an existing design—so much so that even engineers without specific power design expertise can create a functioning prototype within hours. We look forward to watching the creativity unfold as we get these kits into the hands of innovators from around the world.”
With plug-and-play integration, IDT’s Qi-compliant transmitter and receiver reference kits are built around proven IDT wireless power semiconductors, and include reference boards and design support collateral. Support materials include instructional videos, user manuals, foreign object detection (FOD) tuning guides, layout guides, layout instantiation modules, schematics, bill-of-materials (BOM), Gerber files, and more.
Mario Montana, IDT vice president and chief sales officer , said: “With this contest, we’re turning directly to the masses, asking today’s innovators from around the world to unleash their creativity and develop entirely new sets of applications that can be wirelessly powered, whether it’s an electric shaver, one of your kid’s toys, or even a battery-operated back scratcher. Your imagination is the limit.”
The contest will be hosted by hackster.io. The deadline for submitting designs is 31 December, and the winners will be announced 15 February, 2016.
