GET YOUR BOT ON! Robotics Hackathon, Toronto Canada

If you tinker in electronics, mechanics, microcontrollers or software, then we have an awesome weekend for you! Get Your Bot On! Robotics Hackathon is a chance for newbies, hobbyists and pros alike to come together, build a robot and have some fun.

The hackathon will be held Friday November 23 to Sunday November 25^th, 2012. On the Friday evening you’ll meet fellow robohackers, form teams, and come up with ideas for your robot. All day Saturday and on Sunday morning you’ll be building, testing and rethinking your ideas. By Sunday afternoon everyone will get to see your awesome creation, and prizes will be awarded based on design, innovation and technical wonder.

This is a BYOC event (bring your own computer). We will provide a basic kit of robot tech for each team, but you are welcome to bring your own parts.

In September and October we will share technical how-to's and design sessions produced by our partners that will help get you started. Sign up for our email list at www.getyourboton.com to be the first hear about these events. You can also contact us directly at: info at getyourboton.com

HACKATHON SCHEDULE

Friday 6pm - 9pm (NB: this event is held at the TinEye offices, 223 Queen St E)

• 6:00pm Doors open
• 6:30pm Introduction to the event, kit, mentors  and team
  
• 7:00 pm Introduction to Arduino
• 7:30 pm Introduction to Sensors and Circuits
• 8:00 pm Introduction to Motors and Mechanics
  
• meet your fellow hackers and find teammates
• check out the kit (you can bring your own stuff too!)
• come up with a cool idea or share one you have
• hear about what other people want to build
• have a beer on us, a grilled cheese sandwich, and some ice cream

Saturday 10am - 10pm (NB: this will be at the Mozilla offices, 366 Adelaide St W)

• get organized and start building (we have kits for teams of two or more, if you want to work alone email us and we'll tell you what to bring)
• find out about cool tools and techniques from our experts and mentors
• Build! Build! Build!

Sunday 10am - 4pm (NB: this will be at the Mozilla offices, 366 Adelaide St W)

• finish your robot
• show it off at 1pm to our select judges
• win a prize
• join us for a post robo drink

KITS, TOOLS, AND EQUIPMENT

Our kit and the tools we create for the hackathon will be released open source. Anything created at the hackathon will also be shared with the community as open source.

Here's what we will have waiting for you:

• a kit with an arduino, motors, sensors, lights, and some cardboard robot parts (one for every group of two, you can work alone but it won't be as much fun and you'll have to bring your own parts, we'll tell you what's in our kit just before)
• cutting and glueing tools, soldering tools, fastening tools 
• a great hacking environment with mentors and experts 
• breakfast, lunch, snacks, great coffee,   drinks and beer
• great prizes 
• access to experts 
• wifi 
• smiles from your organizing team and lots of friendly volunteers! 
• an awesome hacker and builder community!

Here's what you should bring:

• your computer and power cable
• any robot, sensor or microcontroller parts that aren't in the kit that you will need (don't worry - you don't need to think ahead if you want to be creative with our kit)
• your favourite tools if you have them and think you need them for your project 
• cables, chargers and connectors for your hardware 
• your data stick if you have one - could come in handy when our networks get choked up 
• your maker spirit and enthusiasm 
• your portable coffee mug: we try to keep our hackathons as environmental as possible and would love to reduce waste as much as possible

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Community Sponsor, $250: If you think hackathons are an important opportunity for people to explore new ideas and be inspired then Get Your Bot On!

As a community sponsors you are invited to join us any time during the hackathon, meet the hackers, take a look at projects and get inspired . You will have front row seats at the final presentations on Sunday and will be recognized during the hackathon. It goes without saying that you will be included in the hackathon website.

Corporate Sponsor, $500: If the robotics hackers in Toronto are your people then Get Your Bot On!

We will work with our corporate sponsors to make sure that your support for this hackathon does not go unnoticed. Of course you will be invited to attend the hackathon, distribute your swag,  join us at snack or mealtimes to share your company's products and services or meet the hackers,  find collaborators, employees, or partners. It goes without saying that you will be included in the hackathon website.

Event Sponsor, $1000: If you think robot and hardware hacking is the future of our Toronto's tech and hacker community then Get Your Bot On!

We could not do this without you and we will make sure your participation will not go unnoticed. Of course you will be invited to the entire event, be included in our newsletter and all our press communications prior and during the event. You will be able to join us during our meals and snacks to meet the participants. Share swag, trial accounts or product information to be distributed at the event.

Get Your Bot On! is the ideal opportunity to connect with makers in Toronto. If you would like to be a sponsor please go ahead and purchase a ticket. If you have any questions about sponsorship or would like to explore other opportunities to supportthis event please email Leila Boujnane at leila at getyourboton.com.

Hardware Sponsors. You can also help us acquire the needed hackathon hardware by simply sponsoring hardware. We would be forever grateful for your support to build a maker and robotics community in Toronto. We will include you in our sponsor list and you will have an opportunity to meet the makers and robot hackers throughout the weekend.

THE RULES

1. Your robot must move
2. Your robot must employ a microcontroller (each kit has an Arduino)
3. You must demo something on Sunday that you built at the hackathon

Our judges will award prizes at their discretion for the following:

• Design - This is the "You look fabulous baby!" and " What a sexy robot!" prize
• Innovation - This is the "What Genius!" and "How come I didn't think of that!" prize
• Technical Achievement - This is the "How did you do that?!" and " Robots will bow down to you." prize

SPONSORS THAT MAKE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE

PARTNERS WORKING WITH US

CONTACT

We would love to hear from you. We are looking for hackers to join us, sponsors to make this hackathon the best it can be, experts, mentors and supporters. Feel free to reach out to us with your questions, suggestions and ideas.

Hackathon questions: info at getyourboton.com

Sponsorships and partnerships: Leila Boujnane, leila at getyourboton.com

The cute robot's name is Mimbo (c) 2011, langfordw