TAMUhack is the largest hackathon in College Station, Texas, and this year it attracted over 1,700 applications, from which 800 participants were selected. These participants hailed from various parts of the country, one even traveled from Ohio State.
The exciting event gives participants just 24 hours to develop innovative solutions, which they then present for a chance to win incredible prizes.
This year, the hackathon uniquely combined both hardware and software challenges, with various companies sponsoring their own preferred tracks. I had the privilege of representing the Arm Developer Program alongside Zach Lasiuk, Staff Solutions Designer and Arm Expert. Arm's involvement took three distinct forms:
Arm’s involvement in TAMUhack began with our role as a sponsor of the event. As part of our sponsorship, we had a dedicated Arm table set up inside the conference room. Throughout the event, participants visited our table to ask questions related to Arm, the developer program, and potential job or internship opportunities at Arm. The table was constantly bustling with activity, as many participants were eager to learn more about our technology and how they could get involved.
We received a wide range of questions—everything from general inquiries about Arm’s offerings to specific career-related queries. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to engage directly with the participants, providing support and helping them troubleshoot or refine their solutions during the hackathon.
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Zach hosted an insightful workshop during the hackathon, where he introduced participants to the powerful capabilities of the Arm GitHub Copilot extension. The session focused on how developers can leverage this tool to significantly fast-track their Arm development, particularly when working with Arm servers. However, the concepts discussed were applicable across various platforms, making the session relevant to a wide range of developers.
Zach went beyond just the technical “how-to” and delved into the fascinating journey of creating the GitHub Copilot extension. He shared valuable insights into the development process, including the challenges faced and the innovations behind its creation. One of the key takeaways from the workshop was learning how to evaluate the accuracy of the tool when using it with Large Language Models (LLMs). This gave attendees a rare "behind-the-scenes" look into how the Copilot extension functions and how developers can best utilize it for their projects.
The session was not only informative but also practical. Some attendees later applied the knowledge gained during the workshop to enhance their solutions for the Arm-specific challenge. It was inspiring to see how the workshop empowered participants to use advanced tools like GitHub Copilot to streamline their development processes and create even more innovative solutions.
Participants had the exciting opportunity to take part in an Arm-sponsored challenge during the hackathon. The challenge was centered around creating solutions that would enhance disaster response and resilience, with a particular focus on real-world scenarios like the California Wildfires. The goal was to build innovative systems that could help mitigate the impact of such disasters, improve recovery times, and better equip communities to handle future crises.
To make the challenge even more engaging, bonus points were awarded to teams who utilized the Arm GitHub Copilot extension in their development process, as well as those who integrated Arm technologies into their solutions. This encouraged participants to explore new tools and technologies while working on their projects, allowing them to showcase the power and versatility of Arm’s ecosystem.
The range of solutions submitted was incredibly diverse. Teams developed everything from purely software-based solutions to hardware projects, and even a blend of both. This diversity not only highlighted the creativity and technical prowess of the participants but also demonstrated the flexibility of Arm’s technologies in addressing various aspects of disaster response.
The top three solutions from the challenge were particularly impressive. Each project stood out for its innovative approach, technical execution, and potential real-world impact. These solutions showed the true potential of combining Arm's cutting-edge technology with the participants’ ingenuity to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
This team's project focused on preventing and managing wildfires in California by creating an affordable, easy-to-use system to monitor environmental conditions. The system tracks temperature, soil moisture, and humidity to identify trends and potentially predict wildfire risks.
It features two key components: hardware consisting of an Arduino board, multiple sensors, and a Raspberry Pi, as well as a web application that displays real-time data and leverages a ChatGPT-powered LLM for insights.
The system collects environmental data and sends it to the Raspberry Pi, which then uploads it to a MongoDB database. A full-stack web app, built with Next.js, updates graphs and LLM responses in real-time. If the temperature exceeds a set threshold, push notifications are sent to fire department personnel and nearby residents, facilitating faster evacuations and more efficient decision-making for wildfire management.
The team also utilized the Arm GitHub Copilot extension to deploy their solution on both the Raspberry Pi and an Arm server, streamlining their development process.
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This project was inspired by the devastating California wildfires and aims to provide a powerful tool for both emergency responders and the general public. It is a web application built using React for the frontend and Flask for the backend, designed to educate users about natural disasters while offering valuable insights into the impact of such events on specific regions.
Through the app, users can access real-time information about natural disasters, for example the extent of damage and property loss in affected areas. This data helps both responders and residents better understand the scale of the crisis and make informed decisions during emergencies.
For emergency responders, the app is particularly valuable as it allows them to quickly assess which areas are most affected and prioritize their response efforts. By having an overview of the damage and property loss in real-time, responders can allocate resources more efficiently, ensuring that the areas in most need of assistance receive attention first. The app also serves as an educational resource for the general public. Users can access vital information on how to react during a disaster, for example evacuation procedures, safety measures, and emergency contacts.
The web application was hosted on an Arm server, ensuring optimal performance and scalability. The development team made use of the GitHub Copilot extension to assist with the hosting process, guiding them through the technicalities of deployment and helping them ensure that the app ran smoothly on the Arm architecture.
This team developed a web application designed to reroute individuals in the event of a fire, using the California wildfires as a case study. The primary objective of the app is to ensure that people can avoid danger zones and find safer routes during emergency situations.
The app leverages machine learning to analyze satellite images, identifying the areas most affected by the fire and offering real-time alternative routes to users. This ensures that individuals can make informed decisions on their path to safety, avoiding regions that are at high risk of being impacted by the fire.
In addition to serving the general public, the app is also a valuable tool for emergency responders. It enables them to pinpoint areas that need urgent attention, helping to streamline the coordination of rescue operations and resources. The machine learning capabilities of the app allow responders to gain critical insights into the fire's spread and identify regions that may require immediate intervention.
To build the web application, the team chose to deploy it on an Arm server in AWS.
This event was truly incredible! It was amazing to see the innovative projects that participants were able to create in such a short amount of time using Arm technology.
Even though many of the hardware projects were not part of the Arm track, it was exciting to see that a lot of them still incorporated Arm-based technology. The creativity and resourcefulness displayed by everyone were truly inspiring!
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