The "Total Sky Imager Design Competition" is organized by Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), and Hong Kong Meteorological Society (HKMetSoc), and is supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund. It aims to enrich students' knowledge in both engineering and meteorology.
All primary and secondary school students of Hong Kong are welcome to take part in the competition. Teams fall into either of the two categories: Primary school and Secondary School. A team should comprise 1 or 2 teacher advisors and a maximum of 5 students. A student can participate in only one team, while a teacher is allowed to act as an advisor of more than one team. At most three teams can come from each school.
For primary school category, each team is required to submit one set of deliverables as follows:
For secondary school category, each team is required to submit one set of deliverables as follows:
| Reqt. | Description |
|---|---|
| A-01 | The total sky imager should be capable of capturing total sky images. |
| A-02 | There is no restriction on the choices of materials for the device. The cost for the design and fabrication of the device, excluding computers, tablets or mobile phone (for data archival and analysis, if applicable), should be less than HKD 2000. There is no subsidy from organizers for implementing the device. |
| A-03 | The report should be concise, with a length of no more than 10 A4 pages (cover page excluded, diagrams included), and in PDF format. |
| A-04 | Digital photos of the device should be delivered (in zip format) together with the report. |
| A-05 | Report and photos should be submitted through a specific submission website. Late submissions will not be entertained. |
| A-06 | Each group will be allocated 10 minutes for presentation, including the time for answering judges' questions. |
| Reqt. | Description |
|---|---|
| P-07 | The time-lapse video should be made from images taken by the designed total sky imager. |
| P-08 | The duration of the time-lapse video should be 30 seconds to 1 minute, including at least 3 different time periods. |
| P-09 | The report should include reflections on the topic "Cloud Appreciation" from each group member. |
| P-10 | The time-lapse video should be submitted together with the final report through the specific submission website. |
| Reqt. | Description |
|---|---|
| S-07 | The total sky imager should be capable of measuring the cloud cover and report the results in Okta. |
| S-08 | The system should be capable of storing the digital photos and readings onto digital storage media. |
| S-09 | At least three experimental results, taken under different weather conditions, should be presented in the report. |
Registered participants are eligible for attending workshops and visits organized by the HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory and Hong Kong Meteorological Society. A tentative schedule of the activities, with highlighted important dates, is tabled in the Schedule page. Attendance certificates will be issued to registered team members and teacher advisors participating in talks and attended the project presentation session with their devices.
Registration should be completed on or before 2020-12-16[Wed]. Participants can register online. Late registration will not be entertained.
The judging panel consists of professionals from HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory and Hong Kong Meteorological Society. The judging criteria are as follows:
| Criterion | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| J-01 | Research | Content of report, design, implementation and testing methodologies. |
| J-02 | Creativity | How creative ideas have been applied in the design and implementation of the total sky imager. |
| J-03 | Artistic | Artistic aspects of the total sky imager (both Primary and Secondary School category) and time-lapse video (Primary School Category only). |
| J-04 | Technical | Technical Aspects of the total sky imager design and implementation. |
| J-05 | Presentation | Performance in the Project Presentation Session. |
The prizes of each category are as follows:
| Prize | Award |
|---|---|
| Champion | A trophy, a book coupon and a HKO souvenir will be awarded to the team, and a certificate to each team member. |
| First runner-up | |
| Second runner-up | |
| The Most Creative Award | HKO souvenir will be awarded to the team, and a certificate to each team member. |
| Artistic Time-lapse Video Award (Primary School Category only) | |
| Technical Award (Secondary School Category only) | |
| The Best Presentation Award | |
| Certificate of Participation | A certificate will be awarded to each participant. |
| Certificate of Attendance | Certificate will be awarded to each event attendee. |
| My Favourite Total Sky Imager Award | A certificate will be awarded to each team member. |
| My Favourite Time-lapse Total Sky Video Award (Primary Category only) |
All participating teams are required to attend the Project Presentation Sessions, scheduled on 2021-05-22[Sat]. All the teams must attend the Event. Due to pandemic outbreak, the presentation session will be held via online video conference. The Award Presentation Ceremony will be held in 3 July, 2021.