Students from FER won first place in the Smart Home category at the international hardware hackathon StarkHacks, the largest student hardware hackathon in the world, held at Purdue University in the USA.

The FER team consisted of Lovro Šantek, Petar Jakuš, Neven Lukić, and Luka Bradarić Lisić, who developed a smart in-home dog monitoring system in just 36 hours. The solution allows owners to track their pet’s location and behavior in real time, analyze long-term activity and feeding patterns, and control connected smart devices via a mobile application.

The project’s particular value lies in its technical complexity. The system includes an Edge AI model for motion classification, Bluetooth-based localization, custom-developed electronics and CAD models, and full integration of hardware and software into a functional prototype.

Can we win an award?

"This was the first time any of us participated in such a large hackathon and competed with students from the USA and other leading universities worldwide. A special part of the experience was that some of the world’s biggest tech companies were among the sponsors, so even just having the opportunity to talk with engineers from those companies was something you don’t experience every day.

When we saw how strong the competition was, at first we didn’t think it was realistic that we could win an award. However, as the hours went by, we became increasingly aware of how technically solid and complete a solution we had managed to develop in just 36 hours, which the judges ultimately recognized.

Throughout the competition, we had a Croatian flag on our table and wore FER T-shirts, which made us stand out among the teams. We’re especially proud that we were able to represent both our faculty and Croatia in the best possible light", the team said.

In real-world applications, such a system can help owners detect changes in their pet’s behavior earlier, better monitor their health, and provide simpler and more informed day-to-day care. This result confirms that FER students, with their knowledge and practical engineering skills, can compete on equal footing with leading student teams worldwide in the most demanding international competitions.

Guinness record and strong international competition

The competition brought together more than 750 participants, i.e., over 150 teams, and was supported by some of the world’s largest technology companies, such as AMD, Ford, Espressif, Tesla, Analog Devices, Qualcomm, and many others. In this strong international field, participants included students from Purdue University and other American universities, as well as from renowned European institutions such as EPFL, King’s College London, and Politecnico di Milano, adding further weight to this achievement.

An additional highlight of the event was the organizers’ goal to break the Guinness World Record for the largest hardware hackathon in the world, which required more than 500 in-person participants—a target that was ultimately successfully exceeded.