This challenge will make use of the Particle Boron BRN404X.  We will provide one Boron for each team to use during the competition.  We encourage you to purchase your own Boron in advance.  Even if you do not purchase your own Boron, you should become familiar with its operation in advance of the event, and create an account with Particle.  The module’s datasheet is here:

https://docs.particle.io/reference/datasheets/b-series/brn404x-datasheet/

The module has square pins soldered into the pads, and can be inserted into a solderless breadboard (that we will provide), like so:

The Boron includes a Microcontroller Unit (MCU), which can be programmed using an Arduino-like environment.  It also includes a cellular MODEM, which allows it to send data to the cloud via LTE.  Given the low data rates involved in this project, there is no charge for the wireless data transfer.  The Particle company provides both a cloud (website) based Integrated Development Environment (IDE), and an IDE that can be hosted under Microsoft VS Code, under Windows.  The cloud IDE programs the MCU flash memory via the cloud (over LTE), and the local IDE programs the flash via USB.

Here’s a link to help on getting started:

https://docs.particle.io/getting-started/getting-started/

As of March 8 there is a new, easier, setup process (click here)

Troubleshooting help is here:

https://docs.particle.io/troubleshooting/led/boron/

The challenge will involve interfacing devices to the Boron, and creating a web dashboard for visualizing data.  The challenge details and scoring rubric will be announced at the start of the event.

You will probably want to learn about Webhooks, which are described here:

https://docs.particle.io/getting-started/integrations/webhooks/

A step-by-step intro is here.