FAR AWAY
規 · Guidelines

Round 1 Rules &
Submission Guidelines

Read carefully before submitting your project. Quality, originality, and real-world execution are what we look for.

1Team Eligibility

  • Teams may consist of 1–5 members.
  • Cross-school, cross-college, and international teams are permitted.
  • Participants may belong to different institutions and countries.

2Building Philosophy

FAR AWAY is a builder-first hackathon.

We encourage:

  • Vibe coding
  • AI-assisted development
  • Open-source usage
  • Rapid prototyping
  • Creative engineering
  • Shipping real products
"The goal is not to write every line of code yourself. The goal is to build something meaningful."

3AI & Existing Projects

Allowed

  • AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor, Copilot, etc.)
  • Open-source libraries and frameworks
  • Existing codebases
  • Previous projects that are significantly improved, redesigned, or extended

Not Allowed

  • Submitting an old project without meaningful improvements
  • Rebranding an existing project and presenting it as new work
  • Copying another team's project
  • Plagiarism

* Judges will evaluate the amount of new work, innovation, and execution demonstrated.

4Submission Requirements

Mandatory

  • GitHub Repository Link
  • Project Submission (Presentation OR Video)

Option 1 — Presentation

  • Maximum 15 slides
  • Demo must be included within the presentation
  • Keep slides concise and visual
  • Avoid excessive text

Suggested Structure:

Problem Statement, Solution, Key Features, Tech Stack, Architecture, Demo, Future Scope.

Option 2 — Video

  • Recommended length: 2–5 minutes
  • Explain the problem, solution, features, and demonstrate the project
  • Judges should be able to understand the project entirely from the video
Exceptions: If a project is exceptionally complex, longer presentations or videos may be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Quality and clarity remain more important than length.

5Hardware Rules

FAR AWAY strongly encourages real hardware engineering. Physical prototypes are encouraged but not mandatory for Round 1.

Mandatory for Hardware

  • PCB Design Files
  • Schematics
  • CAD Designs (where applicable)

Accepted Tools

KiCad, EasyEDA, Altium, Fusion 360, SolidWorks, or other industry-standard tools.

Note: PCB and CAD work must be clearly shown in the submission. Projects consisting solely of Arduino boards and jumper-wire connections without meaningful PCB design or engineering work may be penalized.

6GitHub Requirements

Every team must submit a GitHub repository containing:

  • Source code
  • Documentation
  • Setup instructions
  • Relevant project files

* Judges may review commit history where necessary.

7. Judging Criteria

  • Innovation & Technical Depth
  • Engineering Quality
  • Real-World Impact
  • Scalability
  • Design & User Experience
  • Execution Quality & Completeness

8. Verification

Judges reserve the right to request:

Source files, GitHub access, PCB/CAD files, additional demonstrations, screenshots, or development proof. Failure to provide requested materials may result in disqualification.

9. Disqualification

Teams may be disqualified for:

  • Plagiarism or Copyright violations
  • Fake demonstrations
  • Misrepresentation of work
  • Submitting projects with no meaningful implementation

10. Advancement to Round 2

  • Top 100 teams will qualify for the Delhi Offline Round.
  • An additional 50 teams will be waitlisted.
  • If a qualified team declines, waitlisted teams will be invited based on merit and rankings.

What FAR AWAY Rewards

We Reward ✅

  • Real products
  • Strong engineering
  • Working prototypes
  • Hardware with proper PCB design
  • Creative use of AI
  • Technical depth & real-world impact
  • Builders who ship

We Do Not Reward ❌

  • Idea-only submissions
  • PowerPoint-only startups
  • Copy-paste projects
  • Fake demos
  • Minimal-effort AI wrappers
  • Projects lacking originality or execution

Build boldly. Ship something real.

See you in Delhi 🚀