Frederick, from Belgium won the grand prize for his “IoT Pet Care System“, while a safety monitoring device was voted Community Choice Winner.

The main prize for the Element 14 Design Challenge competition was an all-expenses-paid trip to Electronica 2014 in Munich and a product bundle bringing the total value of the prize to around $20,000 (£12,500).

Vandenbosch’s pet care system uses the Raspberry Pi and openHAB/Eclipse SmartHome technology to collect data on the feeding habits of pets. Specifically, pressure sensors are used to dispense food and water rations according to those patterns, which can all be tracked via mobile device.

EnOcean was sponsoring the competition and supplying kit, so an EnOcean wireless sensor was used to monitor the temperature of a room and open or close windows if a pet is left home alone.

Mark Beckett of New Zealand was the Community Choice winner for his “eLDERmon” project. This uses EnOcean wireless sensors and the Raspberry Pi to track movement, temperature, humidity and light levels to better and more safely monitor individuals who may require special care.

All of the finalists received a core kit to aid in the development of their designs, with products such as the EnOcean Pi, EnOcean Sensor Kit and WiPi, a Tektronix MD03104 oscilloscope and the new Raspberry Pi B+ board. The competitors also received a $500 budget for additional materials via the Farnell element14 website.