Lifecycle
Badge ecosystems keep moving after handout: apps, hexpansions, SAOs, antennas, cases, repair parts, firmware updates, and post-event hardware experiments.
The badge exposed I2C, UART, GPIO, ISP, TTL232, and prototyping surfaces for shields, sensors, and direct hardware experiments.
SourceGrand Idea Studio published shield and breakout documentation, Gerbers, OSH Park links, and Arduino Uno source so attendees could isolate and hack the flexible badge hardware.
SourceThe README and writeup document Adafruit Feather mounting on the back with pins broken out to test points for user-added electronics.
SourceThe 40-pin cartridge slot and prototype cartridges with onboard flash let attendees build removable hardware and software modules for the badge.
SourceJ1/J2 exposed GPIO and analog pins, while J3 provided an ESP8266 ESP-01 serial/Wi-Fi header with a documented mirroring caveat and wiring workaround.
SourceRemaining GPIO pins were broken out, and a separate development board was available at the Hardware Hacking Village for extra components or functions.
SourceThe hands-on article documents 11 GPIO pins plus RX/TX, DIO, RST, power, and ground breakouts as hardware-hacking surfaces.
SourceThe badge exposed a GoodFET-compatible programming connector for installing or replacing the bootloader, plus test points for spring-pin access.
SourceThe badge was based on the experimental gflpc1343 GreatFET design and exposed a TARGET header intended for future GoodFET-compatible use.
SourceHackerHotel 2019 added Grove I2C and SAO connectors on top of the SHA2017-derived base hardware.
SourceTiLDA MK4 exposed Grove headers, conductive thread points, and a SAO connector for sensors, add-ons, and badge-to-badge hardware experiments.
SourceThe MK4 wiki records Grove UART/I2C connectors, a Shitty Add-Ons connector, conductive-thread points, Neopixel header use, and UART numbering gotchas for hardware hacking.
SourceThe official badge site documents labeled voltage, ground, audio, headphone, and jumper pads plus unlabeled prototyping pins.
SourceThe public design archive preserves MicroSD, buzzer, and Badgelife SAO v1.69 expansion evidence for badge hacking and add-on use.
SourceThe README documents an optional Vishay TFBS4711 IR transceiver path, debug LEDs, UART/test points, expansion pins, and WS2812 data access for further hardware experimentation.
SourceThrough-hole and SMD prototyping areas invited campers to add LEDs, sensors, radios, or other circuits to the simple Joule Thief badge.
SourceThe badge exposes two JST-SH 4-pin footprints following the I2C Qwiic / STEMMA QT pinout, giving app authors a documented path to breakout-board hardware.
SourceQwiic gave badge hackers a documented I2C expansion path for sensor and breakout-board experiments.
SourceThe hardware docs record a 6-pin SAO connector and IR receive/transmit hardware, giving SHA2017 both badge-add-on and badge-to-badge interaction surfaces.
SourceThe badge was prepared for SAO and Qwiic/STEMMA QT expansion, shifting the focus toward external modules and simple electronics.
SourceThe BornHack 2022 badge exposed accessory connectors and a prototyping area for hardware add-ons.
SourceThe unpopulated SAO v1.69bis header and rear IO pads made the LED-matrix badge useful for soldered extensions.
SourceThe architecture notes list four output bits, four input bits, an external connector, serial mention, and an SAO port as the public expansion surface.
SourceThe extension-header docs preserve the badge's SAO surface, tying MCH2022 into the wider badgelife add-on ecosystem.
SourceThe CrikeyCon 8 badge could be built with coin-cell power, 2x3 SAO-header power, three LEDs, resistors, and optional normal or reverse LED mounting.
SourceThe CactusCon 12 board file includes a Badgelife SAO v1.69 footprint for add-on expansion.
SourceThe BOM and board pinout document an SAO v2 connector plus SAO I2C and GPIO assignments available to firmware and badge hardware experiments.
SourceBCD-0o27 documents an I2C add-on connector, case files, assembly instructions, and firmware hooks for continued hacking.
SourceThe badge itself is a protoboard, so attendee-added circuitry is the primary expansion model.
SourceThe main badge exposed six SAO connectors with individually accessible GPIO and split left/right I2C buses for experimenting with add-on peripherals.
SourceThe front and back of the badge left space intended for a Teensy expansion.
SourceThe large badge-hacking kit supplied the components needed to turn the ToorCon 13 badge into an Ubertooth-capable passive Bluetooth monitoring device.
SourceAttendees received PS/2 adapters and a VGA connector and could add them in the Hardware Hacking Village to turn the Propeller badge into a small computer system.
SourceThe badge exposes two Shitty Add-On V1.69bis connectors and an IR pairing connector, giving attendees both add-on and badge-to-badge interaction surfaces.
SourceThe kit advertised a prototyping area and explicitly invited attendees to hack the hardware in wearable and other forms.
SourceThe guide documents slow RF signal processing on GPIO19 and a faster-data wiring path from RF module DATA OUT to RX1.
SourceThe repository hardware directory exposes Eagle schematic and board files plus exported PDFs for the badge design.
SourceThe winning contest entry connected badge LED behavior through a stereo plug into an analog synthesizer as event generators and added piezo debug output.
SourceThe official page explicitly notes that hacking the hardware to turn all LEDs on would probably also deserve the cool swag.
SourceThe Compass wrap-up says it was possible to play sound from the badge by soldering headphones to the RX pin.
Source28C3 included USB missile launchers for a competition to combine launcher hardware with r0ket; the first 100 published hacks could keep the launcher.
SourceThe FTDI log documents the badge's FT2232H channel split, with one channel for UART/JTAG/SPI/I2C/bit-banging hardware work and the other for the badge SoC serial terminal.
SourceThe badge wiki documents avrdude/ISP flashing for ATTiny44A with t44 part flag and low/high/extended fuse values, pointing deeper work to the firmware Makefile.
SourceThe official HHV page required attendees to bring a 3.3V USB-UART adapter, and the EasyFlag writeup shows UART boot output used to interact with the badge challenge.
SourceA Veritas attendee report describes the 2024 HCV badge as an integrated-circuit electronic badge with a four-line LED screen and joystick, powered by battery or USB-C.
SourceThe badge exposed infrared transmit/receive hardware, touch-pad buttons, LEDs, USB programming, and accessible I/O so attendees could interact during the event and keep hacking afterward.
SourceThe Hack the Badge page lists LEDs around the circumference, star, and SecOps logo plus buttons for LED control, programming mode, binary 0, and binary 1.
SourceDEF CON 18 coverage documented USB connectivity as part of the badge's intended hackable interface.
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