Auburn RFID Lab Hackathon 2026
Bright Ideas Marathon
March 28–29, 2026 • Auburn University RFID Lab
What happens when you hand a group of driven innovators 24 hours, a lab stocked with cutting-edge RFID equipment, and one simple challenge: create something new? That was the premise behind the Auburn RFID Lab’s inaugural Hackathon, the “Bright Ideas Marathon,” held on March 28–29, 2026. Over the course of a single weekend, participants delivered a remarkable showcase of creativity, technical excellence, and genuine collaboration.
With cash prizes, meals, and a series of engaging mini-events designed to keep energy and morale high, the Hackathon demonstrated something the organizers likely already suspected: innovation flourishes when the right people are given the right environment.
A Weekend Built for Big Ideas
The event was built around an accessible but energizing format. Teams of up to four members were free to form without restrictions, and once assembled, they had full access to the lab’s suite of resources (RFID readers, 3D printers, and more) to design and build a project entirely from scratch.
Saturday, March 28
The Hackathon launched Saturday morning with an opening session and team formations. Once the clock started, participants were fully immersed: building, testing, and iterating in real time. Throughout the day, organizers facilitated mini-events that provided welcome breaks from the intensity and encouraged cross-team interaction. Meals and snacks were provided throughout, and teams had the option to stay overnight in the lab or return fresh on Sunday morning.
Sunday, March 29
Sunday marked the finish line. Submissions closed, teams prepared their presentations, and projects were evaluated by Justin Patton. The closing session culminated in the announcement of the winners. All submissions were thoroughly documented (including presentation slides, GitHub repositories, and video or screen recordings) ensuring that every idea built that weekend has a lasting record.
The Projects: Three Teams, Three Visions
Three teams rose to the challenge, each bringing a distinct perspective on what RFID technology is capable of.
🏆 "What Are We Even Doing Here?" — Hackathon Winners
Team “Try Lateration”: Caleb Brown, Chris Holsonback, Adrian Rushing
The Hackathon’s winning project was as clever in name as it was in execution. Team “Try Lateration” (a playful reference to RFID trilateration, the positioning technique at the heart of their work) built a comprehensive, multi-station RFID tour experience designed to make the lab more engaging and accessible to visitors and newcomers alike.
Their installation featured four distinct stations: a welcome station using a live database to organize and display tour groups by ambassador; a LiDAR station demonstrating sensor fusion with emerging technologies; an RFID point-of-sale proof-of-concept; and an RFID triangulation station that illustrated, in real time, just how challenging signal-based positioning truly is. That final station proved to be both their most difficult undertaking and their most compelling demonstration.
The team’s technology stack (Zebra Java SDK, React, TanStack Start, ExpressJS, PostgreSQL, and Kafka) was supported by substantial hardware: two FX7500 readers, one FX9600, and eight antennas distributed across stations. Their most candid piece of advice for future participants? “Don’t try to do RFID triangulation in 24 hours.” The evolution from a two-antenna prototype to a functional three-antenna system was a testament to their adaptability and technical resolve.
Sport Events Tracking Device
Jacob Volkers, Justin Hung, Enrique Nolasco Ortega
This team turned their attention to a meaningful real-world problem: runner safety at mass participation events. Building on the RFID timing infrastructure already present in marathon and racing environments, they developed a system designed to layer enhanced safety features on top of existing technology: giving event organizers and first responders faster, more reliable access to participant data.
Developed in Python and tkinter, the solution is designed with scalability in mind: as RFID tag costs continue to decline, the team envisions a future where comprehensive runner monitoring becomes both practical and affordable. The team was admirably candid in their reflection, noting that a narrower initial scope and deeper research into accessible technologies would strengthen future iterations: a level of self-awareness that speaks well of their development as engineers.
HackaTag
Dheeraj Bhaskaruni, Manas Kothamasu, Mokshit Paspulatei, Uday Kiran Kothapalli
HackaTag represented one of the most technically ambitious entries of the weekend. The team tackled two distinct challenges simultaneously: the ability to identify an RFID inlay from a photograph and return relevant information about it, and a locally-hosted RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) bot capable of running securely on an edge device; keeping sensitive data entirely on-premises.
Their technology stack (spanning Python, Swift, React, FastAPI, MobileResNet, CoreML, and OpenCV) was deployed across a Raspberry Pi, mobile devices, and laptops, and was fully live by the time of their presentation. The team identified edge deployment, data collection, and RAG-to-Excel integration as their primary technical hurdles, and they left with a clear roadmap for future improvements, including expanded model testing and cross-platform development with Flutter.
The Atmosphere: More Than a Competition
A recurring theme in participant feedback was just how much the environment contributed to the experience. The mini-events woven throughout the day were widely praised for lowering stress and creating natural opportunities for connection across teams.
Participants appreciated the collaborative spirit, the availability of guidance from full-time staff, and the overall organization of the event. One respondent specifically highlighted the moments when teams came together, over food, conversation, or simply a shared moment of levity, as among the most memorable parts of the weekend. Another noted the genuine excitement of having access to the lab’s full capabilities: “There was a lot of potential to make a very cool project.”
Key Takeaways
Every team walked away with more than a finished project. The sport-tracking team sharpened their approach to structured ideation. HackaTag stretched their expertise in machine learning and edge computing in meaningful ways. And Team Try Lateration gained hard-won insight into one of the enduring challenges in RFID research; the kind of understanding that only comes from attempting something difficult under real constraints.
Participant feedback was constructive and forward-looking, with recurring suggestions around providing more thematic focus to guide early brainstorming, enabling teams to connect and share skill sets before the event begins, and pursuing sponsor partnerships that could broaden access to hardware and interactive technology.
Looking Ahead
If the inaugural Hackathon is any measure, the Auburn RFID Lab has established something genuinely exciting. Participants were engaged, the feedback was thoughtful, and the projects, even those that didn’t reach a fully realized state, generated ideas and conversations that will continue well beyond the event itself.
Several teams have already expressed interest in continuing to develop their projects. HackaTag sees a clear path forward for their edge AI platform. The sport-tracking team envisions a near future where declining tag costs make their safety system a practical reality. And Team Try Lateration’s multi-station tour system has genuine potential to become a permanent and valuable resource for the lab.
Future editions of the Hackathon have a strong foundation to build from. With greater thematic focus, intentional team formation, and expanded equipment access through sponsorships, the event is well-positioned to grow into a signature tradition for the Auburn RFID Lab.
The Bright Ideas Marathon ran for 24 hours. The ideas it generated will last far longer.
