OKdo Announces $50,000 Partnership Prize for Innovation with ROCK Single Board Computers in Global Engineering Challenge
OKdo, RS, DesignSpark, and global partners, in collaboration with the largest independent engineering community, Wevolver, announce The ROCK Engineering Challenge
London, UK, 12 January 2023 The ROCK™ Engineering Challenge invites engineers, developers, educators, inventors and entrepreneurs, to submit an idea based on the OKdo® ROCK single board computers (SBC) and compute modules, including the recently released ROCK 5B platform (RRP $159). Powered by the high-performing Rockchip RK3588 SoC, the next generation board is a superior SBC opening up a wealth of new innovative application potential. The challenge is free to enter and open to everyone until April 12, 2023.
- The first 500 qualifying entries to the challenge will be sent a ROCK board of their choice
- The most innovative entry will be rewarded with a grand prize consisting of a partnership with OKdo to scale up the project, valued at $50,000
“We want to enable builders, engineers, entrepreneurs, makers, hackers, educators, and businesses to create awesome projects that are sustainable, responsible, and profitable. The community is at the heart of OKdo and DesignSpark,” said Sander Arts, Chief Marketing Officer at OKdo. In partnership with Wevolver, we will reach a diverse audience and I am certain of the great project ideas that will be submitted making a positive impact in new markets. The time of inflexible, low-performance platforms is long gone; the Rock board is widely available and can power industry-grade, robust projects.”
“This challenge is a unique opportunity for innovative companies and individuals to gain access to Okdo’s slate of technology as well as their technology expertise and customer centricity. With Okdo, partners get a faster way to market with higher chances of success,” said Bram Geenen, Co-Founder and CEO at Wevolver.
The challenge is open to teams across the world eager to create the products and systems of tomorrow. To enter, submit a written idea for a part, product, or system that incorporates a ROCK SBC or compute module. The best entries should clearly demonstrate how their plans leverage the advanced features of the ROCK platform such as 8K video handling and Arm® DynamIQ™ Quad Cortex® A76 driven AI capability.
The challenge’s jury panel includes the following thought leaders and influencers:
- Rachel Gordon, Community Manager at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
- Matt Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO of LAIIER
- Majenta Strongheart, Director, DesignLab at Supplyframe
- Bram Geenen, Co-Founder and CEO of Wevolver
- Richard Curtain, SVP of RS Group and CTO at OKdo
The jury will reward projects that push the boundaries of SBC applications. The entries will be judged based on the following criteria not exclusive to: industrial design, solutions oriented, impact on the industry, sustainability, scalability, creativity, commercial feasibility.
The grand prize winner of the OKdo Single Board Computer Challenge will enter into a partnership valued at $50,000 with OKdo to bring their idea to market. The partnership will include a combination of product design, prototyping, business and marketing consultancy, and manufacturing/distribution expertise. The prize will be designed in collaboration with the winner to assure a customized, successful growth trajectory.
The Wevolver Community Winner is decided through a public poll of the finalists and will be given the opportunity to pitch to the senior management of OKdo and its partners.
To learn more about the design contest and to submit your entry, please click here.
About 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.
Key ROCK capabilities
ROCK 5B:
- Based on the powerful Rockchip RK3588 SoC
- Arm® DynamIQ™ Quad Cortex® A76, Quad Cortex® A55 CPU, and Arm Mali™ G610MC4 GPU
- 8GB 64-bit RAM and eMMC socket
- The first SBC supporting up to 8Kp60 resolution tailor-made for advance multimedia applications
- Learn more about the ROCK 5B board here.
ROCK 4C+:
- Based on the powerful Rockchip RK3399-7 SoC
- Arm® big.LITTLE™ dual Arm Cortex® A72, quad Cortex-A53 CPU and Arm Mali™ T860MP4 GPU
- Power on/off button, integrated fan control, external antenna & audio jack
- Bluetooth 5.0 with BLE, Gigabit Ethernet and Wireless LAN
- Learn more about the ROCK 4C+ here
ROCK 4SE:
- Based on the powerful Rockchip RK3399-7 SoC
- Arm® big.LITTLE™ dual Arm Cortex® A72, quad Cortex-A53 CPU and Arm Mali™ T860MP4 GPU
- Expandable with eMMC module or SSD through m.2 connector
- Onboard RTC, WiFi, Bluetooth, Antenna, Audio jack (headphone and headset), 4K HDMI port
- Learn more about the ROCK 4SE here
View the full product family here
Challenge key dates
Challenge Launch: January 12th, 3:00 p.m. GMT
Challenge Close: April 12th, 10:00 p.m. GMT
Finalist Announcement: May 2, 2023
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 Design Spark:
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:
RS Group plc is a leading global omni-channel industrial product and service solutions provider to customers who are involved in designing, building and maintaining industrial equipment and operations, safely and sustainably. We stock more than 700,000 industrial and electronic products, sourced from over 2,500 leading suppliers, with operations in 32 countries, shipping over 60,000 parcels a day.
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.
Wevolver reaches millions of engineers every month who use the platform to stay up to date and connect with peers and innovative companies.
Key links:
For engineering challenge inquiries, contact:
challenges@wevolver.com
For press and interview inquiries, contact:
Sander Arts, OKdo CMO
sander.arts@okdo.com