John Baichtal
Author of the Hackaday article summarizing the BSides Cape Town 2016 badge.
SourceBSides Cape Town 2016 · South Africa · 2016
BSides Cape Town 2016 Badge
ESP8266 IR faction-game badge
A BSides Cape Town 2016 badge built around ESP8266, 128x64 OLED display, eight UI buttons, rear reset and program buttons, IR transmit and receive, level LEDs, faction RGB LED, USB-charged 600 mAh LiPo, schedule UI, challenges, and an organic faction game.
SeriesBSides Cape Town
LocationCape Town
CountrySouth Africa
People
Authors & Credits
Mike Davis / ElasticNinja
Named in the primary 2016 writeup as a collaborator on the badge.
SourceAndrew MacPherson / AndrewNohawk
Primary author of the BSides Cape Town 2016 badge writeup and public repository owner.
SourceWhy It Mattered
It is one of the strongest African badgelife records in public sources: a full conference-game badge with hardware, firmware, server behavior, post-event unlocks, and a public repository.
Hardware
Andrew MacPherson's writeup and Hackaday coverage document the ESP8266, 128x64 OLED SPI display, buttons, IR receiver and transmitter, five level LEDs, faction RGB LED, 600 mAh LiPo, charging circuit, and badge-color roles for team, committee, speakers, and attendees.
Software & Apps
The badge used WiFi, HTTP requests, a server-side faction game, challenge unlocks, schedule display, badge alias and ID screens, Pong, Rock/Paper/Scissors/Lizard/Spock, Warbadging WiFi scan mode, animations, serial WiFi configuration, and post-event hash unlock tooling.
Lore
Badges were randomly assigned red, blue, or green factions and used IR proximity events to convert or level attendees through an intentionally social game visible to organizers in real time.
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
badge app
source-backed
Pong and RPSLS badge games
The badge exposed unlockable games including two-player Pong and Rock/Paper/Scissors/Lizard/Spock badge-to-badge interaction.
Source
badge app
source-backed
Warbadging WiFi scanner
A challenge-unlocked Warbadging mode scanned up to 30 nearby WiFi networks and displayed signal strength, ESSID, encryption type, and channel coverage.
Source
event game
source-backed
IR faction game
Badges were assigned red, blue, or green factions and used IR interactions plus server-side logic to convert or level nearby badges during the conference.
Source
post-event tooling
source-backed
Post-event challenge hash unlocks
After the conference, a badge-number form could output correct hashes to unlock all challenges and add-ons such as Pong, WiFi scanner, and animations.
SourceOperational history
Issues & Camp Impact
missing rights-cleared image
note
No local BSides Cape Town 2016 badge photo has been added because image reuse rights and attribution for the public article/writeup images have not been cleared.
The record remains text-and-source only until a licensed documentary photo can be added.
- Confidence
- local project policy
- Status
- needs licensed original replacement
- Timeframe
- current catalogue build
- Source note
- badge.gallery image policy, Hackaday article, and AndrewNohawk writeup.
post-event wifi dependency
note
The badges did not start normally after the event unless they could connect to the expected WiFi network or were configured over serial or reflashed.
The record documents the operational dependency that affects reuse of surviving badges.
- Confidence
- primary author source
- Status
- documented
- Timeframe
- after BSides Cape Town 2016
- Source note
- AndrewNohawk BSides Badge Config post.
Resources
BSides Badge Config
guide · Post-event configuration guide for WiFi setup, serial configuration, firmware modification, and challenge hash unlocks.
BSides CPT Badge 2016 writeup
project page · Andrew MacPherson writeup documenting hardware, game goals, screen/UI behavior, challenge unlocks, WiFi behavior, and team credits.
BSidesBadge2016 pinout
source · Raw pinout source for screen, IR, buttons, shift registers, reset, ADC, and IR LED wiring.
BSidesBadge2016 repository
source · Public repository containing badge code, server, Python client, interactive UI, pinout, 8bit assets, and game models.
Hackaday BSides Cape Town badge report
article · Hackaday report documenting the ESP8266, OLED, IR, LEDs, LiPo, faction game, schedule, challenges, and unlockable applications.
Sources
AndrewNohawk: BSides CPT Badge 2016
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary author writeup for hardware design, game mechanics, screens, challenge unlocks, WiFi scan mode, and roles.
AndrewNohawk: BSides Badge Config
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary post-event source for WiFi dependency, serial configuration, firmware modification, and challenge unlock behavior.
GitHub: AndrewMohawk/BSidesBadge2016
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Source repository for 2016 badge code, server, Python client, interactive UI, assets, pinout, and game models.
Hackaday: Zombie Badges Take Over Security Con
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Secondary article source for BSides Cape Town 2016 badge hardware and faction-game behavior.