Arbiter Hacks V1

Remember: Join the
Discord
for announcments!
About the challenge
Arbiter Hacks V1 runs two parallel
tracks. Pick one when you
register, or switch before the
submission deadline. You may
only submit to one
track.
General Track:
Build anything. Any
language, any stack, any idea. This
track rewards technical ambition and
execution, regardless of subject.
Theme Track, Rethinking Waste:
Build something that helps people or
systems reduce, sort, or recycle waste
more effectively. Examples include a
tool that identifies whether an item is
recyclable, an app that routes food
waste to donation, a hardware or vision
system that sorts materials, or a
dataset or model that improves
recycling accuracy. If it moves the
needle on waste, it fits.
The tracks
are judged separately, against separate
rubrics, for separate prizes. A
polished General submission and a
high-impact Theme submission compete
only within their own track.
Get started
Register and pick a
track.
Form a team of [1 to 4] or go
solo.
Late submissions are
not judged.

Requirements
What to Build
General Track:
Any working software or hardware project. No topic restriction.
Theme Track:
A project whose primary purpose addresses waste reduction, sorting, or recycling. Judges will check that the theme is central to the project, not bolted on. A to-do app with a "recycling" label is a General project, not a Theme one.
What to Submit
Every submission must include:
A public code repository (GitHub, GitLab, or equivalent).
A demo video, [2 to 3] minutes max, showing the project working. Upload to YouTube or Vimeo and link it.
A written description: what it does, how you built it, and what you'd do next.
Theme Track only: one paragraph stating the specific waste problem you targeted and how you'd measure whether it worked.
Missing the repo or the video makes a submission ineligible.

Judging Criteria
Technical Execution (General)
Code quality, working functionality, and the difficulty of what was built. Weighted 35%.
Innovation & Originality
How novel the idea or approach is. Weighted 25%.
Completeness & Polish (General)
How finished the project is. Rough edges, broken features, and unfinished flows lose points. Weighted 25%.
Presentation & Demo Clarity (General)
How clearly the demo video and writeup explain what was built. Weighted 15%.
Impact on Waste Problem (Theme)
How meaningfully the project reduces, sorts, or improves recycling of waste. The theme must be central, not bolted on. Weighted 35%.
Technical Execution (Theme)
Code quality, working functionality, and the difficulty of what was built. Weighted 25%.
Feasibility (Theme)
Could this actually be deployed in the real world? A working solution beats a clever one that can't ship. Weighted 20%.
Presentation & Demo Clarity (Theme)
How clearly the demo video and writeup explain what was built. Weighted 20%.