The Design Logic 2001 may have been the first time Atmel sponsored a design contest with Circuit Cellar, but judging by the interest the contest generated and the number of projects that were submitted, it certainly won’t be the last time! Besides generating more entries than any other Circuit Cellar design contest, there were more international entries to the Design Logic 2001contest than we’ve ever had before. Fifty percent of the projects were submitted from outside the United States! We had winning projects from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, India, Romania, South Africa, and the USA, proving once again that Circuit Cellar design contests are a global gathering of designers and engineers with real-world design logic

While some people were up to the challenge of using the FPSLIC and FPGA parts to present some intriguing designs, the ever-popular AVR series of components stole the show. Dozens of projects were submitted in the AVR category including an AVR-controlled weaving loom, several weather-monitoring devices, and even a tracking system that was designed to aid in the study of leopard sharks.

Not only was the quantity of AVR projects great, but the quality of the entries was so evenly matched that the top 30 projects were only separated by a 40-point spread (out of 150 total possible points) after the judges results were tabulated. Unfortunately, even with a few additional runners-up prizes added to the AVR category, there still wasn’t a way to award prizes to all of the great projects that came in. However, even though not all of the projects are displayed in this section, all of the entrants are invited to submit articles about their projects. Stay tuned to Circuit Cellar in the months to come and you’ll find out more about the top projects as well as a number of other great projects that were submitted.

So, in wrapping up the Design Logic 2001 contest I’d like to say thank you to everyone who submitted a project. Your involvement helped make this design contest a success and ensures the future of design contests here at Circuit Cellar.

Contest Administrator

Rob Walker