The challenge

IoT Without Limits

*We've extended the contest deadline to July 15th, 2018

Helium, SparkFun, and Google Cloud IoT are coming together to give away a suit case full of cold, hard cash in the name of IoT and distributed sensing applications. We're giving away over $16,000 and a free trip to San Francisco to IoT developers everywhere and we couldn't be more excited about it. Read on to see how you can be a part of the magic.

We've teamed up with our friends SparkFun and Google Cloud IoT to bring you the newest challenge: IoT Without Limits. How can you be a part of this? Easy. Take your IoT application ideas and build an end-to-end solution using the Helium Platform. That's all there is to it. Any wireless sensing application you build that uses Helium and Google Cloud IoT is in the running for a trip to San Francisco and $10,000 first prize.

Contest Timeline:

Launch: March 15th, 2018

Project Submission Deadline: July 15th, 2018

Submitting a qualified project on or before the deadline enters you into the running for one of three awesome grand prizes:

1st Place: $10,000 USD + Trip to SF!

2nd Place: $5,000 USD

3rd Place: $1,000 USD

The first 100 eligible submissions will also receive a Helium hoodie!

Refer a friend, and the hardware is on us

We know how costly and complex IoT projects can be, which is why we’re excited to lift some of the weight off your shoulders with the IoT Without Limits Referral Program. It’s simple. Refer a friend to the contest and Helium will pick up IoT Without Limits hardware bill for both you and your friend.

How does the IoT Without Limits Referral Program work?

Spread the word and share the contest with your friends!

Submit your project on Hackster by July 15, 2018.

If you were referred by a friend, include a link to the referrer’s IoT Without Limits submission in your project description.

You + your friend will receive a refund on project hardware costs of up to $250 USD each if BOTH participants submit eligible projects.

*Referral refunds are limited to the first 30 eligible submissions and will be provided after the contest closes. Proof of purchase must be provided to claim your refund.

Examples of IoT Applications and Use Case

What should you be building? The sky really is the limit but here are some suggestions to get you moving:

New to Helium? Here's a step-by-step Helium Tutorial (part of 12 part series) to get you started:

A screenshot of a stellar tutorial video all about helium.

We've brought together nearly all the pieces you'll need to build complete sensing applications.

The Helium Platform - Helium gives developers hardware, software, and cloud integrations that help them move fast when building IoT applications. You'll be using:

Helium Atom Modules, Adapters, and Element Gateways for your edge devices and wireless network;

Helium Dashboard to manage device deployments, cloud integrations, OTA capabilities, and more;

Helium Channels to send encrypted device data to and from clouds like Google Cloud IoT Core

Hardware via SparkFun and other Helium distribution partners - The team at SparkFun just added Helium to their catalog and for this competition they are offering developers 10% off their Helium hardware selection. Use the code 29105000AE3B at checkout to claim this discount. Don't see what you want from SparkFun? Mouser also stocks Helium and is a great partner of ours.

[NOTE: You're not required to purchase new hardware to participate. If you already have enough Helium hardware to build your application, you're good to go.]

Google Cloud IoT Core - Cloud IoT Core is a fully managed service that allows you to easily and securely connect, manage, and ingest data from millions of globally dispersed devices. Helium has a seamless integration with Google Cloud IoT Core via our Channels infrastructure. And the the GCP IoT team has generous free tiers available for new and existing users to take advantage of for this competition. Just sign up or log in and get working.

The Helium Element (Cellular) and Atom Prototyping Module

Technical Resources and Getting Started:

Helium

Google Cloud IoT

SparkFun and other Helium Hardware Distributors

Helium on SparkFun ( Use the code 29105000AE3B at checkout for a 10% discount on all Helium products.)

Sample Applications

Contest Community and Support

Join the Helium Slack Channel to get real-time answers and help from our Helium engineers and community.

Email robert@helium.com for all other questions and support.

We're excited to see what you develop! Good luck!