The Op-Amp challenge winners have been announced. Congrats to all!

https://hackaday.com/2023/06/21/congratulations-to-our-op-amp-challenge-winners/

Hackaday Op Amp Challenge:

Op amps are everywhere. They’re the bread and butter of analog electronics, and your first port of call when anything needs amplifying, filtering, or buffering. If there’s one part in our analog toolbox that we’d nominate as the most versatile, we’d say it’s the op amp. Show us what you can do with the humble op amp and you’ll be in the running for one of three $150 DigiKey spending sprees.

You've got until June 6, to get your entry in, but these aren't necessarily simple builds, so get going now.

Awards

Thanks to our partner Digi-Key, three top projects will be awarded a $150 shopping spree to Digi-Key.

Special Categories:

• Hyper-Precise 
  • If your project calls for, and realizes, high analog precision, we’ll consider it here. Miniscule offset voltages? Ultra-low input current? Crazy slew rates? Show off your most demanding applications here.
• Oddballs
  • This is the category for those of you who want to stretch out and try to make op-amps do things that they’re not normally meant to do. We’ve seen them used as motor drivers, for instance. We’ve also seen our share of magic smoke. What’s the strangest op amp circuit? We want to see it.

• The Classics
  • This category is for the op-amp applications that are the opposite of the oddballs. Standard situations where an op amp fits like a glove. Part of the value here is in showing folks who are new to designing with op amps where their power lies. Of course we expect to see traditional op-amp circuits here, but surprise us!

Examples

Need some inspiration? Here are some projects to check out that should get your ideas flowing:

Precision

• Reverse-engineering precision op amps from a 1969 analog computer by Ken Shirriff
• Measuring microamps & milliamps at 3 MHz bandwidth by Paul

The Classics

• Chua's Circuit by Valentine
• High Quality Condenser Microphone by Spirit532

Oddballs

• Mini Op Amp Line Following Robot by Pinomelean
• Convert Temperatures the Analog Way by Kerry Wong

Need to brush up on your op-amp theory?  We've got you covered. 

• Understanding Op-Amps from Simple to Hard by Mike Szczys
• What's the Difference? Ask an Op-Amp by Al Williams
• Circuit VR: Some Op Amps by Al Williams
• Vintage Op-Amp and Semi-Conductor History by Jenny List
• Deconstructing a Simple Op-Amp by Jenny List

How to Enter

Document your project on Hackaday.io. Share images or videos of your project and tell the story of how you designed it and built it in the description of your project.

Once you have published your project, look in the left sidebar for the "Submit project to..." menu to enter it in the Op Amp Innovator Contest:

Judging Criteria 

Here are the criteria judges will have in mind while reviewing entries: 

• We're looking for the projects that do the most with the least power consumed. Wow us with efficiency.
• We’d like to know how it works, and maybe make one ourselves. In addition to the entry, we’ll be scoring on how well the project is documented.

Contest Rules

• All designs must do something with op amps.
• All entries must be documented with at least a schematic and a demo of the circuit working. Quality of documentation will be considered by the judges.
• All entrants must agree to have the design published on Hackaday.
• Employees and contractors of DigiKey, Supply Frame, Siemens and their immediate family members are ineligible to win, but are still encouraged to enter.
• Rules and categories subject to change. Judges' decisions are final, but we strive to be fair.

• Contest ends Tuesday, June 6, 2023 09:00 am PST