The Badge Talk!

The Badge Pirates, a group that has built conference badges since 2016, explain how the CactusCon badge grew from a simple PCB carrying a development board into the CC14 ESP32-S3 design. The first part covers how to start small: begin with a single LED, expect failed board revisions, and use inexpensive tools before buying better equipment. They describe the design workflow in KiCad and Inkscape, and compare board manufacturers and parts sources, including why some components must be bought elsewhere and assembled overseas.

The middle of the talk walks through this year's board: the ESP32-S3 module with extra PSRAM, the touchscreen, the battery arrangement and why cells are oriented to avoid shorts, and the USB-C connector that is hard to hand-solder. A second speaker covers surface-mount challenges in the hardware village, the value of checking component footprints before ordering, and how a mismatch can force a costly respin. Earlier badges that depended on conference Wi-Fi and a central server are discussed, along with why this year's game leans on badge-to-badge communication instead.

The closing demo shows attendees how to connect to a badge with Thonny, inspect its MicroPython files, and change code to control the NeoPixel LEDs. The speakers close with plans to open-source the code and a contest for hacks that could earn a special badge next year.