The Ohio State University’s annual makeathon.

In-person at Fontana Labs and online

March 28 – 30th, 2025

WELCOME TO MAKEOHI/O

In March, join us at MakeOHI/O—Ohio State University’s largest makeathon—for a weekend of hacking hardware and creating real projects with awesome people. Over 250 undergraduate and graduate students will design, build, and demonstrate projects to a live audience of students, faculty, and representatives from tech companies.

At MakeOHI/O, we bring the Entrepreneurial Mindset to life with the KEEN framework. By focusing on Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value, this makeathon is all about exploring innovative ideas, combining different concepts, and creating projects that really make an impact. It’s not just about the hands-on building—it’s about tackling challenges in creative ways, teaming up with others, and building something amazing!

MakeOHI/O is put on by OHI/O, a student-led organization that aims to build and foster the tech community at Ohio State University.

Makeathon Participants: How to Submit Files and Request Services from Digital Union

Service Hours: 10am-3pm, March 29

Last Call for Files: 2:00pm

Services Offered by Digital Union:

3D Printing: Submit your 3D print requests using this form: 3D Printing Request Form

Laser Cutting/Engraving: Submit your laser cutting and engraving requests using this form: Laser Cutting/Engraving Request Form

Prototyping Assistance: Get help with prototyping and troubleshooting in the Digital Union channel on Discord.

**Make sure you indicate on the submission form that your print or laser project is for MAKEOHI/O, so that it is prioritized appropriately**

For more information about Digital Union, visit: https://learningspaces.osu.edu/digital-union-prototyping-studio-enarson-classroom-building-room-012

 

Hardware & Resources

  • Arduino Nano
  • I2C LCD 1602
  • Breadboard
  • Breadboard Power Module
  • Ultrasonic Range Sensor
  • 9G Servo
  • Joystick
  • Humiture Sensor
  • 5V Relay
  • Button
  • Photoresistor
  • RGB LED
  • Jumper Wire Kits

* Passive components like resistors/capacitors will be available during the event. *

Host a Maker Location

Hosting a satellite location for the MakeOHI/O hackathon is an incredible opportunity to showcase a commitment to innovation, collaboration, and technology education. By participating in this prestigious event, schools can empower students to engage with peers from across the region, solve real-world problems, and build invaluable skills in programming, design, and teamwork. Experiential learning like hackathons and makeathons foster a vibrant tech culture and creates networking opportunities with industry professionals, all while spotlighting the school as a hub for creative problem-solving.

What you’ll need

Dedicated Space: Access to a room or hall with Wi-Fi and seating for participants.

Local Support Team: At least 1-2 staff or volunteers to assist with event facilitation.

Technical Equipment: Access to AV, some tools and power outlets for participants’ devices.

Support Provided by MakeOHI/O

Hackathon Infrastructure: OHI/O offers an online platform for participant registration, project submission, mentorship, team formation and judging.

Virtual Participation: All satellite locations connect seamlessly with the main event via online streams and collaboration tools.

Mentor & Sponsor Access: Schools gain access to a network of mentors, sponsors, and workshops to enhance the participant experience.

Event Materials: Templates for promotional materials, schedules, and logistical planning guides are provided.

Hosting MakeOHI/O is not only a way to elevate your school’s experiential learning but also an exciting chance to ignite innovation and creativity in your community.

Contact Cal King at King.3028@osu.edu to get involved or learn more.

Mentors and Judges

MakeOHI/O 2025 is on March 28-30. Join us for our makeathon as we give students the unique opportunity to receive hardware and develop projects from the safety of their homes.

Mentorship

Our mentors, available both online and in-person, offer their expertise to participants throughout the event. They will be on hand in scheduled shifts to answer questions and provide direction, ensuring projects are on the path to success.

Judging

Judging will take place virtually on the final day, from 11:00 AM via Zoom. Participants will present their projects to our panel, engaging in feedback and discussion. Access details and presentation guidelines will be provided in advance.

Get Involved

Your expertise can significantly impact our participants’ experience. Sign up as a mentor or judge to help shape the future of innovation at MakeOHI/O 2025. More information, including how to join our event space, will be available to those who register.

Schedule

Friday, March 28th

Event Time
Check-in 6:30 PM
Opening Keynote 7:00 PM
Hardware Kit Distribution Opens 7:30 PM
Making Starts 7:30 PM
Team Formation Event 7:30 – 8:00 PM
Challenge Kick Starter Workshops

HAMMER, PRHI

 8:00 – 9:00 PM
Movie / Snacks 10:00 PM

Saturday, March 29th

Event Time
Midnight Snacks 12:00 AM
Breakfast Served 8:00 AM
AI Robotics Club Workshop 12:00 PM
Lunch Served 1:00 PM
OHI/O Organizer Panel 2:00 PM
Dinner Served 6:00 PM
Making Ends 8:00 PM

Sunday, March 30th

Event Time
Judging Begins 11:00 AM
Showcase 4:00 PM
Closing Ceremony 5:00 PM

Sponsors

intel
Honda
American Electric Power Foundation

Frequently Asked Questions

A makeathon is similar to a hackathon. Both are events where participants build awesome projects from scratch in just a few short hours. The difference between a MAKEathon and a HACKathon is that we are encouraging projects to be maker-oriented, and therefore physically making something!

Anyone who is a student at a university! We encourage all levels of expertise to join. Whether this is your first makeathon, or you’ve been to other make/hackathons across the nation, MakeOHI/O provides an opportunity to collaborate and create something amazing. All participants are expected to follow our Code of Conduct.

MakeOHI/O is free to participate in! We want all students to have an opportunity to work on projects with hardware, which is why we’re also providing free hardware kits for MakeOHI/O.

Registration is open now! If you want to be eligible to receive a hardware kit, you must register and have a team before the event. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to hackathon@osu.edu.

All participants must be in teams of 2 to 4 to submit a project, but don’t worry if you’re coming in without a team. OHI/O provides opportunities before and during the makeathon to find a team. Team formation will be ongoing in the Discord server up to the event. We will post more information on team formation on our event website and in Discord but step one is to register for participation.

Nope! Many students come up with an idea while at the makeathon or by addressing one of our proposed challenges. By talking to fellow students you’ll find opportunities to brainstorm ideas that pique your interest. you get stuck, we’ll have a nice list of ideas to help you out. This year, we recommend discussing possible ideas with your team before kit pickup opens so that you have a better idea of what hardware to choose for your kit.

Teams make all sorts of things! Previous projects have included mobile apps, websites, smart mirrors, light-up glasses, pancake printers…the possibilities are endless. Hardware will be provided. Please see the hardware page for details on what hardware will be available at the event. Hardware will be available at the event venue during the event.

MakeOHI/O 11 is transforming its project submission and judging process to provide a dynamic and interactive experience for participants and judges alike. This year, teams will present their projects in virtual Zoom breakout rooms, each hosting up to 12 teams for a 4-minute presentation followed by a Q&A session. Whether choosing a live demo or a video demonstration incorporated into presentation slides, each team will have the opportunity to showcase their project’s innovation and impact. On presentation day, Zoom links will be distributed, and teams are required to join their designated breakout room promptly. For more detailed information on the submission process, presentation preparation, and judging criteria, please visit this link. Remember – the competition is only a small part of the event! The most important part is to have fun and build something amazing.

Even something as small as a relay controlling a lamp being on could be hazardous with exposed wires. For safety reasons, projects involving high voltage such as Tesla coils, jacob’s ladders, or plasma speakers are discouraged. If you are unsure if your project will be allowed, please ask! We reserve the right to shut down any projects that we deem as unsafe. We want the event to be awesome and electrocution or other physical injury is not so great. Please bring your own fuses if you intend on working with the mains or otherwise high voltage project. Railguns, coil guns or any other projects with weapons are prohibited. Projects such as an induction furnace are similarly prohibited for an obvious fire hazard. For more information regarding what technical resources are allowed, click here!

Yes! We welcome individuals with knowledge and expertise in various topic areas to help mentor students at MakeOHI/O. If you’re interested, please contact us to find out more information or sign up here!

MakeOHI/O is hosted by OHI/O and the Electronics Club here at OSU. You can find more information about OHI/O and our other events at https://hack.osu.edu.

Prizes

Official prizes for MakeOHI/O 11

Placement Prize
1st Place Ray Ban VR Glasses
2nd Place Flipper Zero  
3rd Place Gaming Chair  

 
Most Original Lululemon Backpack
Most Technical Raspberry Pi
Societal Impact 1 Year of Spotify

Winners

Official winners for MakeOHI/O 11

1st Place: Team 4 – ECE2360
Allen Thomas, Eashan Vytla, Amogh Kuppa, Athin Shetty

EchoVision:
EchoVision is an agentic system and real time assistant for the visually impaired, designed to enhance environmental awareness and mobility for users through intelligent, AI-driven technology. EchoVision is built on top of wearable sunglasses and captures real-time imagery, which is then analyzed by an advanced AI agent capable of identifying and contextually interpreting objects, hazards, text, and people. We designed and 3d printed a custom mount for the electronic onto the sunglasses. The system provides immediate, intuitive voice feedback, offering real time navigation assistance through google maps integration and contextual information about the user’s surroundings through seamless voice interaction.

2nd Place: Team 54 – Norton Antivirus
Rishabh Bhargava, Arjun Anand, Caden Conde, John Jones

Universal Translator:
A physical device you can bring anywhere which can do live translations of ASL and audio, overcoming nearly any language barrier.

3rd Place: Team 85 – Infinity Bit
Nikhita Srikanth, Sakshi Shashiraj, Divyaa Natarajan, Manasa Subramanian

AI Fire Detection & Evacuation Alert System for Wildlife:
Wildfires spread fast, but animals don’t get early warnings. Wildlife plays a vital role to the ecosystem present in forests, and the destruction of their habitats have resulted in numbers such as 17 million animals dying in fires in Brazil. Our project builds a smart, affordable, animal-centric alert system
Transcript

Intel Winner: Team 72 – GabaGhoul
Ryan Yovichin, Jacob Dill, Quill van Roodselaar

Sippin semiconductor: Intel project

Honda Winner: Team 83 – Bloopers
Aryahi Nittur, Yasashwini Napa, Sariah Echols, Avani Jagdale

EchoRoute:
EchoRoute is a device that tracks where the user is using Open Street Maps API and provides signals on their wrist of where they should be walking from turn to turn. Here is our video, the downloaded video doesn’t have audio and slides synced:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAGjJrEN9xY/0Pwz9apdp0u2Qio3wR8Zww/view

AEP Winner: Team 29 – Academic Avengers
Divjot Saini, Luke Houston, Rivtik Rao, Max Reidelbach

SHIELDSENSE SMART HARDHAT​:
Our Smart Hard Hat is designed to reduce injuries, provide real-time alerts, and increase worker safety by integrating sensors to monitor key hazards such as heat/hydration, noise, impact, and more… all at a cost-effective price when compared to other smart hard hat alternatives​

Hammer Winner: Team 92 – Hacktivists
Kunsh Arora, Kuldeep Debnath, Ahmed Alasheen

3D Mapper:
This project focuses on analyzing material deformation by tracking strain during a forming process. Using an Arducam Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera, we capture depth maps before and after deformation, providing a precise 3D representation of strain. Additionally, an iPhone 13’s LiDAR sensor is used for high-resolution 3D modeling, allowing a comparison with ToF data for enhanced accuracy. The test material, plasticine, is chosen for its malleability, enabling controlled deformation under stress. Fiducial markers (dots) are placed on the surface, and images are captured pre- and post-deformation. OpenCV-based image processing detects positional changes in fiducial points, calculating strain as their relative displacement. To improve visualization, only the changes due to deformation are highlighted, removing unchanged fiducial points. This method ensures a clear representation of stress distribution across the material. Challenges like measurement accuracy, noise reduction, and visualization clarity are addressed through the combination of ToF depth sensing and LiDAR-based 3D modeling. The result is an automated, highly visual, and precise strain analysis technique beneficial for industries such as manufacturing, material science, and structural engineering.

Capstone Winner: Team 90 – THE Caniacs
Andrew Yates, Jacob Class, Katie Titmas, Reagan Black, Hiromu Yamamoto

Customizable Ride Vehicle for Variable Guest Experience:
The goal of this project is to create a ride system with customizable parameters to allow for many programmable experiences with one attraction capital investment. This comes in the form of a ride vehicle with controlled rotation in the yaw and roll planes as well as controlled propulsion forward/backward along the track.

For MakeOHI/O, the goal was to create the initial prototype to test the configurations and power drive methods.

PRHI Winner: Team 28 – Team Orange
Nikhil Bhimireddy, Srikar Maduposu

Timely Tablet:
EchoNyx is a revolutionary wearable audio system designed to harmonize personal listening with environmental awareness. EchoNyx addresses the inherent safety issues and social isolation associated with standard headphones by delivering crystal-clear audio while maintaining the user’s connection to their environment through the use of bone conduction technology. Integrated with a local, intuitive voice assistant and seamless Bluetooth 5.x connectivity, EchoNyx empowers users with hands-free control and effortless access to their digital world. Our dedication goes beyond simple audio transmission; EchoNyx is designed to improve everyone’s hearing, including the 1.02 billion people who could profit from bone conduction technology worldwide. By prioritizing accessibility and affordability, EchoNyx aims to redefine the landscape of assistive audio, creating a safer, more connected, and inclusive sonic experience. We are not just creating sound; we are creating a lifeline to the world around us.

Most Original: Team 49 – Janardhan
Farhan Sadeek, Jalen Francis, Eli Johnson, Jayson Clark

PillifyAI:
Smart pill dispenser with doctor integration

Most Technical: Team 66 – Drobotics
Dhruv Bhilare, Aryan Metkar, Sourabh Kharche, Ayan Pisal

EchoNyx:
EchoNyx is a revolutionary wearable audio system designed to harmonize personal listening with environmental awareness. EchoNyx addresses the inherent safety issues and social isolation associated with standard headphones by delivering crystal-clear audio while maintaining the user’s connection to their environment through the use of bone conduction technology. Integrated with a local, intuitive voice assistant and seamless Bluetooth 5.x connectivity, EchoNyx empowers users with hands-free control and effortless access to their digital world. Our dedication goes beyond simple audio transmission; EchoNyx is designed to improve everyone’s hearing, including the 1.02 billion people who could profit from bone conduction technology worldwide. By prioritizing accessibility and affordability, EchoNyx aims to redefine the landscape of assistive audio, creating a safer, more connected, and inclusive sonic experience. We are not just creating sound; we are creating a lifeline to the world around us.

Social Impact: Team 11 – CSS
Nathan Greenberg, Chanuth Ranathunga, Jacob Suter, Lindsey Allen

KAM:
An AI-enabled tool to help people with developmental disabilities to work more effectively without supervision. In this instance we are helping the user to return cataloged library books, scanning the book code and using AI and our back-end software to guide the user to the correct floor, area, and aisle. This tool will allow people to be paid more for their work, and help them develop their skills across a variety of tasks.