RealVNC Raspberry Pi Prize competition winners revealed

We reported back in July that RealVNC – the remote access software specialist – was looking worldwide for “original innovation” – and use of remote access – for the popular UK single-board computer. Well, the winners have just been announced.

Note that the overall winner will be receiving a prize of $1,000 and the next two runners up will receive $500 and $250, respectively.

Winner

The winner was Shohreh Kia, right, from Germany, who was working with Professors Benjamin Leiding and Daniel Goldmann (of Clausthal University) and also Alexander Gaun. Her winning entry was dubbed “Conveyor Belt Monitoring”.

The system, pictured top, uses a Raspberry Pi connected to a camera to process real-time visual data from conveyor belts in recycling centers.

Material types on the belts are then identified using customised algorithms. The use of RealVNC Connect withi the project was to allow operators to operate the machines remotely, from a much safer and healthier environment.

You can read more on the project here.

Runners-up

The first runner up was a team from Japan comprising Kunikatsu Takase (a retired robotics professor), Hironobu Takahashi and Takashi Yoshimi. Their entry was dubbed “Teleoperation of a Robotic Grabber for Personal Use via Internet”.

It was designed to be used in hospitals or to provide patients with care at home, with a robotic grabber being able to pick up objects, carry them to a patient’s bedside and release them.

Basically, a Raspberry Pi controls the grabber, which has three articulation points, two grabbing fingers, as well as a monitoring camera. You can read more here.

And the second runner up was Mikhail Grushinskiy from the U.S.A., with “Bareboat Necessities Marine OS for Raspberry Pi”.

This was described as a free and open-source Debian-based system for Raspberry Pi computers which is integrated with software for boat operation and navigation. The remote access software allows boat operators access to the system via a tablet or monitor. More about the project can be found here.

“Bareboat Necessities provides sailors with access to everything from navigation charts to weather reports to Facebook. By operating on a Raspberry Pi, the system has very low power consumption – ideal for small boats with limited battery supplies. Since its launch a few years ago, Mikhail’s OS has been enthusiastically adopted by sailors on all types of crafts, all over the world.”

You can read more about the competition on its website.

“On behalf of the other judges and everyone at RealVNC, I’d like to congratulate Shohreh, the other runners up, and all of the finalists for their excellent work,” said Tristan Richardson, who was lead judge, and who is also RealVNC co-founder, and inventor of VNC.

“I’d also like to thank the many people from around the world who took the time to enter the 2023 RealVNC Raspberry Pi Prize. We were humbled to receive so many impressive entries and wish everyone who took part great success in the future!”

See also: Hands on with a Raspberry Pi 5