The deadline to apply is the 7th of February (that is so we can get back to everyone on the 8th). Although I always liked the YC let people apply late model, We Expect it to be a full house so I do not know if we can be able to except late submissions.
It would be great if you submitted it earlier so that We can get some sleep the night of the 7th ;)
The expected output is CAD files (Schematic, PCB, mechanical) and maybe software (not all of them, just what applies to your project. There will be some people that bring hardware to prototype and show it off at the end of the event. But this not required.
You are allowed to build and prepare before hand. The Idea is to get a bunch of smart interesting people together in a room, make cool thing and have fun. I would guess by looking at some of the ideas so far that the hackathon will be just a part of some designs that could becomes companies. Others will be really great projects that will be done almost entirely in the event. Do you have an idea of what you want to work on?
Yes you can participate on your own. We have found that most of the time groups do better, but there are one person armies also work sometimes!
We will not out you either, we are going to be talking with all the teams and make sure that we can talk about what you are working on in any of the press that we do, we know that sometimes you have to keep quiet for a little bit.
Also, what is the expected output during the hackathon? Simulation result?