Waldkirch, October 18, 2024. How do you turn science fiction into science facts, in groundbreaking inventions and real technological solutions? The SICK Solution Hackathon makes it possible. From October 15 to 17, 2024, 103 students and professionals from around the globe, in 23 “Hack Teams”, had 48 hours to tackle one of five preselected focus areas. These young talents developed digitalization and automation solutions with the potential to make the industry more mobile, simpler, more visible, more ecologically sustainable, and safer. This year’s Hackathon, the fourth installment, was supported by prominent industry partners including ABB, Bosch, Bosch rexroth, ISG and NTT DATA.
From October 15 to 17, 2024, 103 students and young professionals with a passion for digitalization and technology and hailing from 22 countries including Germany, the US, Italy, South Africa and Singapore, put their developer skills to the test. In just 48 hours and in keeping with the event motto “Make it Digital,” they developed new digital solutions in the following five areas: mobile applications and robotics (“Make it Move”), simplifying and automating everyday tasks (“Make it Easy”), visualizing data (“Make it Visible”), solutions for more sustainability and conservation of resources (“Make it Green”), and safety-related applications for humans and machines (“Make it Safe”). To help them do so, they were given access to cutting-edge hardware and software provided by SICK and seven partner firms. At the end of the 48 hours, the Hack Teams presented their results to a jury of experts, and to the audience, in person and via livestream.
Throughout the three-day event, the 23 teams were supported by experts, the “Hack Coaches”, from SICK and its industry partners. The audience, both onsite and participating via global livestream, voted for their favorites, while the jury assessed each idea in terms of its applicability, core business idea, and technical implementation. The three winning teams at the SICK Solution Hackathon 2024 managed to impress the jury and the audience alike:
1st winning team: Felix Farm
The Felix Farm team focused on the efficient use of water in agriculture. The technology solution they developed is designed to help farmers use the ideal amount of water and thus make the best possible use of this precious resource. A traffic light system in a dedicated app shows farmers exactly how much water they need to give their plants and when. The data for this comes from various sources and sensors, e.g. from moisture in the soil or weather data - all supported by software intelligence and machine learning. Team Felix Farm took first place. Three of the four participants come from Israel and one from Germany.
2nd winning team: JG
Team JG developed an interactive app that allows users to find and book free parking spaces to make their everyday lives easier. With the help of an industrial camera, the smart parking system recognizes free parking spaces or assigns the right parking space to previously registered users. The three participants from Japan and the two participants from Georgia thus took second place.
3rd winning team: Team Party
The innovative solution from Team Party improves safety in industrial workplaces through multidimensional monitoring and tracking in real time. The SICK Visionary 3D camera is used to detect whether workers are always wearing their PPE helmets and are therefore moving safely throughout the production hall. The three participants traveled from Great Britain.
Dr. Mats Gökstorp, Chairman of the Executive Board at SICK AG, commented on the event: “We don’t just want to promote innovation; we want to proactively shape it. Our Hackathon brings together creative minds with a diverse range of backgrounds. Together with our industry partners, we create a unique environment in which new technological possibilities can be explored. The Hack Teams broke out of the daily grind and took a look beyond their own ‘backyard’ – and once again, the result was extraordinary solutions that will shape the future of our sector.”
Creative breaks to promote ingenuity
If you’re going to be doing a lot of thinking and working, you’re going to need some breaks – ideally, creative ones. In the course of the three-day event there were plenty of ways for participants to clear their buzzing heads: table football and a giant-sized Jenga tower; a ball pit with a personalized ball for every participant hidden somewhere inside; and a selfie camera for making souvenir photos with cool catchphrases on them. Tours of SICK’s production and logistics facilities were also a nice change of pace. And last but not least, the SICK Solution Hackathon logo, which the coffee machines decorated the coffee’s foam with, literally made the breaks a bit sweeter.
About the SICK Solution Hackathon 2024:
This year, sensor provider SICK hosted the fourth annual SICK Solution Hackathon. During the three-day event (October 15 – 17, 2024), held at the SICK Sensor Intelligence Academy near Freiburg, young talents from around the globe had the chance to tackle the challenges the sector currently faces, creatively and with the aid of cutting-edge technologies. The goal of the SICK Solution Hackathon is to strengthen the community of developers, firms and innovators, to expand networking between all parties, and to promote a passion for technology. In 2024, SICK hosted the event together with its partners ABB, Bosch, Bosch rexroth, ISG, NTT DATA, elastic und ISG. You can find further information and videos of all Hack Teams at https://hackathon.sick.com/ or using the hashtag #SICKSolutionHackathon.
About SICK:
SICK is one of the world’s leading solutions providers for sensor-based applications in the industrial sector. Founded in 1946 by Dr.-Ing. e. h. Erwin Sick, the company with headquarters in Waldkirch im Breisgau near Freiburg ranks among the technological market leaders. With 60 subsidiaries and equity investments as well as numerous agencies, SICK maintains a presence around the globe. SICK has more than 12,000 employees worldwide and generated a group revenue of EUR 2.3 billion in the 2023 fiscal year. Additional information about SICK is available at www.sick.com.