Required
Use-case and system brief
The user, environment, intended function, failure consequence, block diagram, and system boundary.
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HAACC WORKSHOP CONTRACT / Low-risk hardware
Hardware Foundry 001
Turn a low-risk hardware idea into an inspectable feasibility, cost, safety, and manufacturing-readiness case before anyone is asked to scale it.
- Status
- Preflight
- Track
- Low-risk hardware
- Timing
- Dates TBD / UTC
- Participation
- Interest only; registration is not open
- Sponsor
- None announced
Dates are not set. This pilot will not open until a named engineering reviewer, test boundary, and manufacturing-readiness path are confirmed.
Email an expression of interest This email does not register you, reserve a seat, create an account, or imply selection.
01 / FIT
Who this is for
- An idea that can be explored with low-voltage, certified off-the-shelf modules and a controlled bench test.
- A participant willing to maintain a BOM, unknown-cost list, hazard screen, and versioned test record.
- A project that benefits from early feasibility, NRE, DFM, certification, and manufacturing questions.
Who this is not for
- A project involving mains electricity, custom battery packs, pressure, combustion, high heat, or lasers.
- Medical, human-rated, life-safety, autonomous weapon, or uncontrolled vehicle applications.
- Uncontrolled flight or high-speed motion outside a professionally managed test area.
Eligibility before opening
- Participants must be at least 18 and accept that a concept may be stopped at the hazard screen without a prototype build.
- A named technical reviewer must approve the test boundary before any physical build evidence is accepted.
- All components, source designs, licenses, supplier claims, and unknowns must be traceable in the submitted record.
02 / PREPARE
Preparation checklist
- 01
Define one use case
Name the user, environment, intended action, and the consequence if the device fails.
- 02
Draw the system boundary
Show power, sensing, compute, actuation, enclosure, data, and every external connection without providing build instructions.
- 03
Create a BOM hypothesis
List candidate parts, suppliers, unit cost, lead time, certification claims, substitutions, and unknown values.
- 04
Complete the hazard screen
Identify energy sources, moving parts, heat, sharp edges, environmental exposure, misuse, and emergency stop needs.
03 / PROCESS
How the Workshop will run
- 01
Concept and risk screen
HAACC first checks scope, rights, obvious hazards, and whether the idea belongs in this low-risk pilot.
- 02
Bounded feasibility proof
Only approved low-voltage functions are tested with mature modules, certified power, a named reviewer, and a stop condition.
- 03
Manufacturing-readiness review
Qualified projects organize feasibility, BOM, NRE, DFM, test, certification, supplier, and unit-economics questions for a specialist review.
- 04
Prototype gate
A prototype plan proceeds only after the reviewer records the allowed configuration, test area, supervision, protective measures, and stop criteria.
- 05
Evidence-based scale decision
Prototype evidence, remaining hazards, DFM findings, certification path, NRE, and demand assumptions determine whether the project stops, iterates, or advances.
04 / OUTPUT
What must be delivered
Required
BOM and NRE worksheet
Versioned parts, suppliers, quantities, cost ranges, lead times, tooling, engineering cost, substitutions, and unknowns.
Required
Initial safety case
Hazards, mitigations, test boundary, supervision, protective equipment, emergency stop, exclusions, and unresolved risks.
Required
Approved test evidence
A version-bound result and failure log. If the safety gate stops a build, the stop decision is the valid evidence.
Required
Manufacturing-readiness questions
DFM, certification, EVT/DVT/PVT, supplier qualification, quality control, packaging, logistics, service, and end-of-life questions.
05 / REVIEW
Judging criteria
Weights total 100. Popularity and sponsor interest are excluded.
User value
Is the use case specific, consequential, and better served by hardware than by a simpler non-hardware approach?
Feasibility evidence
Do the architecture, BOM, bounded tests, cost assumptions, and failure records support the concept?
Safety boundary
Are hazards, exclusions, supervision, mitigations, stop conditions, and unresolved risks specific and credible?
Manufacturing learning
Does the project expose the real NRE, DFM, certification, supplier, testing, and scale questions instead of promising instant mass production?
Integrity rules
- A safety stop is a valid outcome and cannot be penalized for lacking a physical prototype.
- No project may publish ordinary-person replication steps for excluded high-risk systems.
- Supplier claims, certification marks, and component specifications remain source claims until independently checked.
- Stars, likes, reposts, preorders, and sponsor interest do not affect judging.
06 / AI + RIGHTS
AI use
AllowedDisclosure required
- AI may help organize concepts, compare public components, draft code, and surface questions; it cannot approve a hazard, certification claim, or build configuration.
- AI-generated dimensions, electrical values, component substitutions, and compliance claims require a named human check against primary sources.
- The final safety boundary, eligibility, rights decision, and score remain human decisions.
IP, consent, and appeal
- Creators retain their project IP. Participation does not transfer ownership to HAACC, a reviewer, or a future sponsor.
- Public display, commercial licensing, and sponsor contact are three separate decisions. Declining one does not invalidate the submission.
- A submission may only include material the participant owns or is allowed to use, with required attribution and notices preserved.
Appeal path
Before results are finalized, a participant may request a written review of eligibility, conflict, rights, or scoring through the HAACC contact address.
07 / GOVERNANCE
Sponsor firewall
- Contribution
- No sponsor, prize, or funded service has been announced.
- Challenge control
- No outside organization currently controls the challenge statement.
- Judging
- No sponsor judge has been appointed. Any future relationship and conflict will be disclosed before rules are frozen.
- Participant data
- No participant data is shared with a sponsor. A future sponsor cannot receive identifiable data without itemized consent.
- Direct contact
- Sponsor contact, if introduced later, requires a separate participant opt-in.
08 / SAFETY
Safety boundary
Classification
Low-risk hardware only
- The pilot is limited to low-voltage prototypes using certified power supplies, mature modules, non-safety-critical uses, and controlled bench tests.
- A named engineering reviewer must approve the configuration, test area, supervision, protective measures, and stop conditions before a physical test.
- HAACC review is not a product certification, regulatory approval, or guarantee of safety, manufacturability, or commercial readiness.
Excluded from ordinary-person replication
- Mains electricity and non-certified high-energy power systems.
- Custom battery packs or battery-cell assembly.
- Pressure, combustion, explosive material, or high-temperature systems.
- Lasers and unsafe optical radiation.
- Medical, human-rated, or life-safety applications.
- Weapons, uncontrolled vehicles, or high-speed machinery.
- Flight outside a professionally managed and legally compliant test area.
09 / BREEZE
Manufacturing-readiness path
Public service reference / not a confirmed partnership
Breeze is referenced for its publicly described hardware-development services; no formal partnership, acceptance, price, or production commitment is announced. HAACC remains the idea and community entry point, while a qualified specialist handles manufacturing readiness.
- 01
Feasibility
Challenge architecture, critical components, technical unknowns, target cost, and whether hardware is necessary.
- 02
BOM and NRE
Estimate unit parts, sourcing risk, engineering effort, tooling, fixtures, certification, testing, and other non-recurring cost.
- 03
DFM and certification path
Review design-for-manufacture constraints, target-market requirements, tests, documentation, and responsible manufacturer obligations.
- 04
EVT / DVT / PVT
Move through engineering, design-validation, and production-validation evidence instead of jumping from one prototype to mass production.
- 05
Manufacturing handoff
Supplier qualification, quality plan, test fixtures, packaging, logistics, service, and commercial terms are decided outside the HAACC competition score.
NEXT STEP
Interest is not registration
HAACC will publish dates, named operating roles, final rules, capacity, and any sponsor relationship before registration can open.
Email an expression of interest This email does not register you, reserve a seat, create an account, or imply selection.