From November 10 to 17, this year’s Hackfest took place, organized by MakerSpace together with partners from industry, the startup scene, and the public sector. The hackathon focused on ideas for the circular economy and automated and resource-oriented solutions. In total, 60 students tackled ten challenges that were set in advance by Hackfest partners. Partners this year included the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, BMW Group, Infineon, Koehler Group, Olive Robotics, Oriens Ease, Panasonic, Rewe Digital, Sick, Siemens, and TUM Venture Labs.
From kaiserschmarrn to electronic waste
Three teams were each recognized for their achievements in prototyping, as well as the predicted economic opportunity and circularity of the developed solution. These teams include:
Best Prototype: Robot Beer Garden developed a prototype with partner TUM Venture Labs Food / Agro / Biotech for the partial automation of food preparation in gastronomy. The idea: controlling a robotic arm using a new programming language. This prepares kaiserschmarrn and thus helps with the current labor shortage while simultaneously reducing food waste.
Best Business Opportunity: The Oriens Döner Grill team developed a closed grill for doner meat with partner Oriens Ease. The solution is automatable, helps reduce food waste, which accounts for up to 14 percent of a skewer daily, and protects employees from direct heat exposure.
Best Circular Impact: The CirculAR solution with partner Siemens is designed to assist in the repair of electronic devices such as laptops. Repair service providers automatically receive instructions using image recognition and generative artificial intelligence (AI). This could reduce electronic waste and extend device lifecycles.
The winning teams were announced as part of the four-day Circular Republic Festival, where experts exchange ideas on the circular economy and circular business models. The developed solutions and ideas are being further developed within partner companies – in some cases also jointly with the respective teams.
