About the challenge

Arbiter Hacks V1 runs two parallel tracks. Pick one when you register, or switch before the submission deadline. You may only submit to one track.

General Track: Build anything. Any language, any stack, any idea. This track rewards technical ambition and execution, regardless of subject.

Theme Track, Rethinking Waste: Build something that helps people or systems reduce, sort, or recycle waste more effectively. Examples include a tool that identifies whether an item is recyclable, an app that routes food waste to donation, a hardware or vision system that sorts materials, or a dataset or model that improves recycling accuracy. If it moves the needle on waste, it fits.

The tracks are judged separately, against separate rubrics, for separate prizes. A polished General submission and a high-impact Theme submission compete only within their own track.

Get started

Register and pick a track.
Form a team of [1 to 4] or go solo.
Late submissions are not judged.

Requirements

What to Build

General Track: Any working software or hardware project. No topic restriction.

Theme Track: A project whose primary purpose addresses waste reduction, sorting, or recycling. Judges will check that the theme is central to the project, not bolted on. A to-do app with a "recycling" label is a General project, not a Theme one.

What to Submit

Every submission must include:

A public code repository (GitHub, GitLab, or equivalent).
A demo video, [2 to 3] minutes max, showing the project working. Upload to YouTube or Vimeo and link it.
A written description: what it does, how you built it, and what you'd do next.
Theme Track only: one paragraph stating the specific waste problem you targeted and how you'd measure whether it worked.

Missing the repo or the video makes a submission ineligible.

Arbiter Hacks V1

Prize breakdown

Timeline

About

Requirements