June 20, 2016 Topcoder and Booz Allen Hamilton Crowdsourcing Designs for Innovative Drone Use
Drones. They are now being used in a huge variety of ways. There are drones to combat deforestation, drones to deliver packages right to your doorstep, and of course drones that make spectacularly awesome toys!
Then there are swarm drones. These drones are not toys. Swarm drones are semi-autonomous flyers programmed to soar in groups—or “swarms”—of up to fifty drones at a time. When equipped with high-def cameras, the Navy uses these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to protect maritime assets, deliver supplies to ships or overseas, and detect threats coming from all directions.
Watch the short video below and continue on to read about an incredible new Topcoder design challenge coming up June 22.
Register Now for Hack the Sky – Navy Hackathon
The Naval Postgraduate School broke the world record last year by controlling the largest swarm of drones with a single common source code. On June 24th, 2016, coders, developers, and programmers can join mentors from the U.S. Navy, Booz Allen Hamilton, University of California Berkeley, and more at Galvanize San Francisco to hack the record-breaking control system.
During this ‘Hack the Sky’ event, participants will get the chance to hack the control system and work on challenges focused on:
- Wireless Authentication
- Robot Operating System (ROS) Security
- Algorithms for Cooperative Search
Think you’ve got what it takes to set a new world record? We encourage Topcoder members in the San Francisco Bay Area to register now for the free #hackthesky hackathon.
Topcoder Challenge: RUX Drone Swarm Visualization Dashboard Design
Can’t make it to San Francisco? Topcoder will be pairing a virtual challenge with the #HacktheSky Hackathon to allow designers and developers in our global community to compete across the world. Details of the Topcoder virtual challenge will be announced soon! Keep an eye out for these keywords as the design challenge gets announced:
- RUX or Rapid User Experience
- Drones
- Swarm Visualization
RUX – Rapid User Experience: What is it?
You may be asking, “What is a RUX?”. RUX or Rapid User Experience is a newer type of design challenge you will see much more of on Topcoder. If you’ve been a member of our Topcoder design community for the last 2 years, you’ve seen many competitions called a LUX.
While LUX or Live User Experience is a 24-hour design competition tied to a physical event, RUX is a bit different. You can watch this short video here for more details on RUX competitions and below is the key information.
- RUX design competitions are fast, lasting only 72 hours (3 days)
- They feature a traditional ‘checkpoint’ which means the competition takes place in 2 fast rounds yet still provides you the design feedback that can guide you to better results
- RUX design competitions offer larger prize pools than 2-week long design competitions, which means you have the opportunity to earn more money
We think you’re going to love this drone-focused RUX design competition, so be on the lookout for those keywords above when checking out the current design competitions on Topcoder.
