DRAFT PAGE FOR UPCOMING SPECTRAL CHALLENGE 2013: this page is under heavy development

Spectral Challenge 2013 is a call to makers worldwide to tackle real-world environmental problems with low-cost, open source spectrometry. We're talking about the dream of taking a device you've made into your backyard and testing for heavy metals, or oil contamination, or other toxins, without needing to have a PhD or knowing how to program.

What's the prize?

Spectral Challenge 2013 is like an X-Prize for DIY science, but it's CROWDFUNDED -- this means that if you really believe that these challenges would benefit our society, you should back them by donating to the prize pool! Also, get the word out to find pool contributions!

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How's it work?

There are two challenges: Stage 1 and 2.

Stage 1: Process

Stage 1 is about PROCESS: in order to solve problems like cheap toxin identification, we're going to need to get better at all sorts of things, like experimental design, peer collaboration, open source documentation, user interface...

Stage 1 will be awarded on June 1, 2013 by an open voting process to the team which contributes the greatest to open source spectrometric PROCESSES, with the following emphases:

• simple, legible, open source documentation on PublicLaboratory.org: photos, videos, non-technical language
• improving the process around open source, DIY science for spectrometry
• using affordable and easily obtainable materials
• refining research questions and framing tests we'll need to do to produce credible data - including identifying problems, but especially suggesting solutions!
• collaborating with others
• crediting your sources and respecting open source licensing

Goal: Support and encourage the hundreds of people getting spectrometers who want to figure out how to use them for something interesting

• motivate, cultivate collabs, lend focus to the more DIY crowd who may be unfamiliar/daunted
• builds community, improves learning/peer exchange
• process-oriented, documentation/collab
• safe handling of samples!! - (blind olive oil identification)
• +1 for educational/classroom use
• open ended? anything that contributes? Or goal-oriented?
  • not tied to our device, but must be open source
  • biggest impact: how is impact measured?
    • dramatic improvement to device design, process, or results
    • simplification, reliability, accessibility, low-cost, open source, DIY
    • working together, forming teams
    • peer review, #/quality of comments?
  • How to enter? Tag Research Note with “spectralchallenge” or “spectralchallengeentry”
• closed timeline: 3 months? Mar-May, Apr-Jun
• open suggestions for what Stage 2 will be
• can already donate to pools for Stage 1 or 2?

Stage 2: Contamination

Stage 2 is still being refined, but it will focus on the identification of a specific contaminant. Unlike Stage 1, Stage 2 will remain open until it is claimed by a winning team. It may take months or years, but the pool will continue growing until it is claimed.

An open brainstorm will help us decide exactly what that contaminant will be, and how entries will be judged.

Encourage those with some knowledge of spectroscopy, chemistry, or environmental contamination to establish protocols for using the PLOTS spectrometer to identify environmental contaminants.

• emphasis on accomplishing usable tests, recruiting experts
• ends-oriented, specific goal “such as heavy metal or oil contamination” but specific challenge will be announced later based on input from Stage 1

Entering

• you may form teams (collaboration is a +1 for your entry)
• enter by publishing a research note tagged "spectralchallenge-entry" announcing/describing your entry
• you are encouraged to post progress updates with the "spectralchallenge" tag

Join Public Lab and reach out over the mailing lists to find collaborators, help and advice. Organize an event in your area to find collaborators and compare notes!

(add link here to Organize an Event)

Timeline

Stage 1: End of February 2013, when final Kickstarter spectrometers ship. Ends in 3 months (end of May)

Stage 2: End of May, when Stage 1 ends. Ongoing -- open until somebody wins it

Funding

This is a crowdfunded prize -- anyone may contribute to the Stage 1: Process pool or the Stage 2: Contamination pool. (or all funds are split between?)

80% of the pool goes to the winning team

20% of the pool goes to support the Public Lab nonprofit to:

• operate, support, maintain, & improve SpectralWorkbench.org
• organize events, run the Challenge, and facilitate collaborations
• refine, improve and continue to manufacture and distribute spectrometry and other open source environmental science kits

Judging

TBA

Questions to answer before we launch (chris)

Stage I

How to enter: Is it necessary to have a team formally enter? Will this intimidate some teams? When you enter, do your earlier research notes count? Is it better to encourage posting of early results without committing to play the game? Do I have a problem with commitment?

Stage II

Implications of making it open ended (prize awarded whenever someone deserves it):

1) It’s like the XPrize. 2) Hard to know when someone has won. 3) You can make the challenge last as long as you want. 4) Could get exciting if the prize pool grows. 5) Does not encourage continuous posting of results. - how to structure incentives to post regularly 6) Can maybe be won immediately by one of many graduate students. - not if the challenge specifies “legible” “accessible” “minimal expert language” “doable by non-experts” and “affordable” etc etc - but if they document their process, that’s not a bad thing!