We were thrilled to be joined by some very cool judges for this year’s Coolest Projects online showcase. James Whelton, Fig O’Reilly, Melissa Pickering, and Colin Furze all chose their favourites from over 1000 projects!
Coolest Projects is an amazing opportunity for young people to take part in the world’s leading technology showcase. This year, participants were able to celebrate the hard work and creativity of their peers from 47 different countries around the world!
Which projects did James Whelton pick as his favourites?
James Whelton is a coder and entrepreneur. In 2011, in response to the lack of opportunities to learn computing at school, he co-founded CoderDojo, a global community of coding clubs for young people where they learn and create using technology.
FUN FACT: James attended the first EVER Coolest Projects in 2012!
“I think the biggest bit of advice I could give to young makers is not to get bogged down… even if you’re not sure of an idea, just start it and see where it goes. You might not make something cool on the first try, the tenth try, the hundredth try, but through experimentation, feedback, and learning, you’ll always make something that you’re proud of eventually.”
These are the projects that James chose as his favourites from this year’s online showcase!
MediBuddy by Jayanth
“MediBuddy is a remotely operated medicine dispenser, which I have designed using a Raspberry Pi 4.”
Think Twice by Agustín, Joaquín, Lucero, Lucía, Luis Salvador Heysen
“A program to learn about different topics. You can learn by answering questions, and the program will tell you if your answer is correct. One of the features we added was speech recognition and the option to listen to the question aloud. This makes Think Twice a perfect program for kids who have visual impairments and want to learn.”
VideoLife by Xiomara Monserrat
“The project’s function is to be a web page that pretends to be a video game store where products can be purchased.”
Earth OS by Bhavishyaa
“My theme for the project is to ‘Save the Planet’ — this operating system lets kids know more about some of the United Nations’ goals (including, plastic pollution, global warming, gender equality, and education).”
Friction Experiments Made Easy by Artur
“The purpose of the device I built is to conduct experiments to determine the coefficient of kinetic friction (COF) with an accuracy far exceeding the methods described in school textbooks. The COF is calculated based on multiple acceleration measurements. The calculations are handled by a Raspberry Pi 3B+, and data collection by a wirelessly connected Arduino Nano.”
Birds AI Peep-chan by Shunsuke
“Based on the experience of a bicycle accident, this system detects dangers for cyclists and warns them with sound. The name of this project is from my own bird because it can look around very widely.”
You can explore all of this year’s projects in our showcase gallery.
Where else can I find James?
James will be celebrating a decade since the first-ever CoderDojo event, by sharing his experiences on our live stream launching 10 years of CoderDojo on 23 July.
This year’s Coolest Projects online showcase wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors — thank you!
