The PC/104 Consortium has announced its Fourth Annual Embedded Design Contest seeking to “recognize and honor the innovative work” of embedded developers using various PC/104 technologies. Eligible entries include projects and products based on the group's PC/104, PC/104-Plus, PCI-104, EPIC, or EBX single-board computer standards.

The Consortium has solicited entries in three categories:

• Commercial for Industrial, Medical, Transportation, or Other applications
• Commercial for Military/Aerospace
• Research Project

Entries will be reviewed and judged by “industry leaders,” according to the Consortium. The winners of each category will be flown to San Jose, Calif. for the awards ceremony at the 2006 Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) next April, and their designs showcased and presented to the press at the ESC.

Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2006. Full contest rules and a downloadable entry form are available here.

What is PC/104?

PC/104 defines a 3.6 x 3.8 inch form-factor and associated bus connectors for self-stacking modules intended for use in embedded systems. Subsequent to publication of the original PC/104 standard in 1991, the PC/104 Consortium released specifications for PC/104-Plus, EBX, PCI-104, and EPIC.

In March of this year, Venture Development Corp. (VDC) forecast 45 percent growth of the PC/104 market over the next four years. According to VDC, the original ISA-bus version of PC/104 represented an $87.5 million market in 2004, and will grow to $106.2 million in 2008, an increase of 21 percent in dollar volume. The form-factor will continue to see use primarily in industrial automation applications that do not require high-speed response. PCI-104 will represent the fastest growth segment between now and 2008, the analyst firm said.

 
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