Open Source Buildathon: IoT, Hardware & XR/AR/VR
Open Source Buildathon: IoT, Hardware & XR/AR/VR
Saturday, July 18
Hosted by PDX Hacks in collaboration with Buildly.io.
Join us for a hands-on Open Source Buildathon designed for builders, beginners, hackers, hardware tinkerers, and creative technologists who want to turn an idea into a working project.
This buildathon is focused on IoT, hardware, robotics, XR, AR, and VR projects. Whether you are building a connected device, a sensor-powered prototype, an immersive experience, a robotics tool, or an AI-powered hardware demo, this is a space to learn, build, and collaborate.
Mentors will be available throughout the event to help teams with project direction, technical questions, architecture, debugging, and open source best practices. You do not need to be an expert to participate.
To help teams move quickly, we recommend a beginner-friendly starter stack:
GitHub for repos, issues, README files, and project tracking
React + Vite for frontend apps
Tailwind CSS for fast styling
FastAPI for backend and AI APIs
SQLite or Postgres for databases
Docker for consistent local setup and demos
GitHub Actions for basic testing or deployment
Ollama or LiteLLM for AI integrations
OpenAPI / Swagger for automatic API documentation
README + Mermaid for setup instructions and simple architecture diagrams
By the end of the buildathon, each team should aim to have a working prototype, a clean GitHub repo, a simple README, and a demo they can share with the community.
Who should attend?
Builders working on IoT, hardware, robotics, XR, AR, or VR ideas
Beginners who want a structured way to start building
Developers interested in open source projects
Designers and product thinkers who want to collaborate with technical teams
Founders exploring technical prototypes
Students, hobbyists, and community builders
Bring your laptop, your project idea, your curiosity, and anything specific you need for your build. Hardware kits, devices, sensors, headsets, or components are welcome, but not required.
Come build something open, useful, and demo-worthy with the PDX Hacks and Buildly.io community.