Qualcomm Technologies, Arduino and Edge Impulse are holding a global developer competition jointly with the developer community Hackster, the organisers said on Sunday.

The contest is open to engineers and makers worldwide, including in South Korea, and will provide 300 Arduino UNO Q boards to participants free of charge. The Arduino UNO Q used in the contest is a hybrid board that combines the Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 MPU with an STM32 microcontroller for real-time control. Qualcomm acquired Arduino, a maker of circuit boards and PCs for prototype production by research institutions, in 2025.

Participants will develop in the Arduino App Lab environment. App Lab provides integrated support for Arduino sketches, Python applications and AI models in a single workflow. It also supports edge-based machine learning, including computer vision and audio AI, by default. Using Edge Impulse linked with App Lab makes it possible to handle data training and AI model implementation without additional configuration, the organisers said.

The contest opened on March 3, based on U.S. time, and hardware applications are open until April 5. Recipients of the 300 free boards will be announced on May 1. The deadline for project submissions is Aug. 30, and winners are to be announced by Sept. 25.

Fabio Violante (파비오 비올란테), vice president and head of Arduino and Qualcomm Technologies, said, "Arduino UNO Q and App Lab are lowering the barriers to building powerful AI-based systems." He said, "This competition aims to empower developers worldwide to experiment boldly and develop solutions that can make a meaningful real-world impact."

Eligible categories include projects that solve real-life problems across industrial IoT, home automation, robotics, gaming and social impact. Judging criteria are innovation, technical implementation, user experience, sustainability and scalability. Eligibility is open to all levels, from students and hobby developers to professional engineers.

Winners will receive prize money and promotional opportunities on Hackster. For the 'Best in Show' winner, the organisers will cover the full participation fee for Maker Faire Rome 2026, offering an opportunity to present the project on a global stage.