What is Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026?

Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is the world’s biggest open innovation hackathon organized by the Ministry of Education, AICTE, and MIC, where student teams build hardware and software solutions for problem statements submitted by Government Ministries, Departments, and State Agencies.

How many problem statements are released in SIH 2026?

SIH 2026 features 226 official problem statements, comprising 172 Software category statements and 54 Hardware category statements across themes like Smart Automation, Agriculture, Disaster Management, MedTech, Clean Water, and Cybersecurity.

How does the SIH ONE AI Team Matchmaker work?

The SIH ONE Matchmaker takes your 6-member team’s frontend/backend/AI skills, hardware experience, domain preferences, and exclusions, then runs a multi-factor weighted scoring algorithm to rank the top 25 highest-fit problem statements.

How does the physical wooden board know where the pawns are located without cameras?

Each wooden pawn has a small neodymium magnet embedded in its base; beneath the 3mm wooden surface lies a matrix of Hall-effect magnetic sensors multiplexed at 200 Hz, detecting piece placement and movement across the board with 100% reliability.

How does a solo player play against the computer on a physical board?

The player moves their physical piece; the onboard Minimax AI calculates its counter-move in 100ms, and the board illuminates the destination square with a pulsing gold LED; the human player simply picks up the computer's pawn and places it on the lit square.

How does the toy balance modern technology with traditional Indian artistic heritage?

The outer body is handcrafted by traditional Indian wood artisans (Channapatna / Saharanpur woodcraft) using natural non-toxic lacquer dyes; the modern electronic sensors and LEDs are completely invisible beneath the natural wood grain until powered on.

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PS 26225HARDWAREHeritage & CultureFast Prototype (36h)

Student Innovation

AICTE• AICTE, MIC-Student Innovation

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30-Second Plain English Summary

AICTE Open Innovation: Indigenous Toys & Games (Hardware) — Traditional Indian heritage board games (Chaupar, Pachisi, Aadu Puli Aattam, Pallanguzhi, Ganjifa) are fading from modern youth culture because children are captivated by interactive electronic video games with automated rules and sound effects. Build an Interactive Electronic Smart Heritage Wooden Board Game Console featuring embedded magnetic Hall-effect sensor grids, multi-color addressable RGB LED path lighting, dynamic LCD dice displays, interactive voice referees, and an onboard game AI.

5-Dimension Strategic ScorecardOverall Score: 3.5 / 5.0

Innovation

3.5 / 5

36h Feasibility

4 / 5

Uniqueness

3.4 / 5

Jury Appeal

3.5 / 5

Tech Depth

3.2 / 5

Recommended System Architecture Pipeline

Magnetic Wooden Pawns -> Hall-Effect Sensor Matrix PCB -> STM32 Game Rules & Minimax AI MCU -> WS2812B Under-Board LED Grid -> Indic Voice Speaker

Hardware Bill of Materials (BOM) & Cost BreakdownEstimated component unit economics in Indian Rupee (INR)

Prototype Unit Cost:₹3,130

Component	Specification	Qty	Est. Cost
Arduino Nano Microcontroller Board	Controls interactive multi-player game logic, scoring, and smart sensory board events	1	₹320
Magnetic Hall-Effect Sensor Grid Array (16 Nodes)	Detects real-time physical placement and movement of ancient historical character figurines	1	₹780
WS2812B Individually Addressable RGB LED Illumination Ring	Dynamic animated game lighting indicating civilizational eras, battles, and conquests	1	₹450
DFPlayer Mini MP3 Audio Module with 3W High-Fidelity Speaker	Plays immersive historical voice narrations, battle sounds, and cultural music	1	₹380
Handcrafted Heritage Wooden Board Enclosure with Laser Engravings	Authentic Indian civilizational aesthetic board housing electronics invisibly underneath	1	₹1,200

Power Input: 5V DC via USB / Standard Power Bank

Form Factor: Interactive Laser-Engraved Heritage Board Game Enclosure

Architecture & Prototyping Strategy: Two-tier presentation strategy: (1) Hackathon MVP (~₹1k–₹1.5k) with cardboard grid + reed switches + single RGB LED strip + buzzer; (2) Civilizational Interactive Heritage Game (~₹3.13k) with 16-node magnetic Hall sensor grid, addressable WS2812B lighting, DFPlayer audio speaker, and laser-carved teak board.

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Official Government Problem Description

Challenge your creative mind to conceptualize and develop unique toys and games based on our civilization, history, and culture etc.

AI & PPT Citation Format

Smart India Hackathon 2026 Problem Statement PS-26225: "Student Innovation", Ministry: AICTE. Strategy & Architecture via SIH ONE (https://sihone.pages.dev/ps/26225)

Student Innovation

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