Hacker Con Badges

BSides Leeds 2026 · United Kingdom · 2026

BSides Leeds 2026 Artie the Owl Badge

UK ATtiny814 LED owl with EEPROM-gated game unlocks

An official UK BSides Leeds 2026 badge documented by the punk-security repository as an ATtiny814 Artie the Owl board with eighteen SK6812 addressable RGB side-emitting LEDs, six capacitive touch pads, two CR2032 coin cells, and three single-player games whose one-byte EEPROM unlock gates hidden bonus LED animations, for the June 13, 2026 seventh edition at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds.

BSides Leeds United Kingdom Leeds ATtiny814 SK6812 RGB LED Capacitive Touch EEPROM Games Artie the Owl Europe
EventBSides Leeds 2026
SeriesBSides Leeds
LocationCloth Hall Court, Quebec Street, Leeds
CountryUnited Kingdom

People

Authors & Credits

badge builder and repository publisher

punk-security

UK organization that built the Artie the Owl badge and published the firmware and BOM repository; known for a portfolio of BSides and Cyberfest conference badges. No individual designers are publicly listed.

Source

event publisher

BSides Leeds

Official publisher of the 2026 seventh BSides Leeds edition at Cloth Hall Court, Leeds.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds the Leeds Security BSides lineage to the United Kingdom badge map with a verified firmware-level challenge surface, while marking that the repository carries no license and no rights-cleared image, so the catalogue records the hardware and challenge without claiming redistribution rights or publishing an image.

Hardware

The badge uses an ATtiny814-SSF microcontroller, eighteen SK6812SIDE-A-S addressable RGB side-emitting LEDs arranged nine per eye, six capacitive touch pads, a tactile wake button, two MY-2032-05 CR2032 coin-cell holders, and a six-pin programming header, per the repository BOM. No SAO connector, wireless radio, or hardware design files are present in the repository.

Software & Apps

The firmware.ino source, built on SpenceKonde's MegaTinyCore, implements a one-byte EEPROM state byte at address 0 whose bits 0, 1, and 2 gate hidden bonus animations. Three single player games (Stop The Light, Follow The Sequence, Find The Sequence) each clear one bit to unlock Police, Nuclear York-Rose, and DevSecOps Infinity modes, with matching two-player variants, plus Knight Rider, breath, spin, looping-eye, and a nine-minute countdown timer mode. The repository carries no license file, so the firmware is treated as all-rights-reserved rather than redistributable.

Lore

BSides Leeds is the Leeds Security BSides chapter, and the 2026 seventh edition ran June 13 at Cloth Hall Court on Quebec Street in Leeds. The badge was built by punk-security, a UK team known for a portfolio of BSides and Cyberfest conference badges, and the owl mascot is named Artie. No individual badge designers are publicly listed in the organization or repository.

Source-backed hardware metadata

Technical Profile

Structured technical signals seeded from public badge documentation, repositories, schematics, firmware notes, or event evidence. These fields are designed for filtering, API use, repair planning, preservation, and future Companion Gear matching.

Artifact type

  • Electronic badge documented

    The punk-security repository documents an electronic Artie the Owl badge.

    Signal source

MCU / compute

  • ATtiny814 documented

    The repository BOM documents an ATtiny814-SSF microcontroller.

    Signal source

Display / visual output

  • SK6812 RGB LEDs documented

    The repository BOM documents eighteen SK6812 addressable RGB side-emitting LEDs.

    Signal source

Power

  • CR2032 documented

    The repository BOM documents two CR2032 coin-cell holders.

    Signal source

Firmware

  • Arduino documented

    The firmware.ino source is built on SpenceKonde's MegaTinyCore Arduino core.

    Signal source

Repair, preservation, and legal lab context

Companion Gear

Parts, tools, and supplies that match this badge's documented hardware, protocols, or preservation needs. These are category-level recommendations, not compatibility guarantees.

Seeed Studio likely

JTAG / SWD Debuggers

Debug probes for ARM/RISC-V badge development, recovery, and documentation.

Why this matches

Debug probes can support authorized recovery, firmware work, and documentation for microcontroller badges. Matched technical signals: ATtiny814.

Matched evidence

Use only with hardware you own or are authorized to debug, repair, or document.

Open vendor search

Vendor link · selected for technical relevance

Seeed Studio likely

Serial Debug Adapters

USB serial adapters for logs, recovery, and firmware documentation workflows.

Why this matches

This badge has a documented microcontroller platform where serial logs or flashing workflows may be relevant. Matched technical signals: ATtiny814.

Matched evidence

Useful for development, repair, recovery, and documentation of hardware you own or are authorized to work on.

Open vendor search

Vendor link · selected for technical relevance

Amazon likely

Battery and Power Supplies

Battery holders, connectors, and safe replacement supplies for preservation work.

Why this matches

This badge has documented battery or rechargeable power hardware. Matched technical signals: CR2032.

Matched evidence

Handle lithium cells and replacement batteries only with appropriate safety practices.

Open vendor search

Vendor link · selected for technical relevance

Amazon generic

ESD Storage

Anti-static bags and storage supplies for preserving loose badge PCBs and sensitive components.

Why this matches

This is documented as an electronic or hardware artifact where anti-static storage can support preservation. Matched technical signals: Electronic badge.

Matched evidence

Useful for preserving loose PCBs, add-ons, and sensitive electronic components.

Open vendor search

Vendor link · selected for technical relevance

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge challenge officially documented

EEPROM-gated game unlocks

A one-byte EEPROM state byte at address 0 gates three hidden bonus LED animations, each unlocked by winning one of three single-player games (Stop The Light, Follow The Sequence, Find The Sequence), with matching two-player variants.

Compatibility: BSides Leeds 2026 Artie the Owl Badge

Source
badge utility officially documented

Nine-minute countdown timer

The firmware includes a nine-minute countdown timer mode usable as a practical con timer, alongside Knight Rider, breath, spin, and looping-eye animation modes.

Compatibility: BSides Leeds 2026 Artie the Owl Badge

Source
display and input officially documented

Artie the Owl eighteen-LED matrix

The BOM documents eighteen SK6812 addressable RGB side-emitting LEDs arranged nine per eye and six capacitive touch pads on the ATtiny814 board.

Compatibility: BSides Leeds 2026 Artie the Owl Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

license gap note

The punk-security repository carries no LICENSE file, no license header in firmware.ino, and no license badge in the GitHub sidebar, so the firmware is treated as all-rights-reserved rather than redistributable.

The catalogue records the verified hardware and challenge surface without claiming redistribution rights over the firmware or any derivative.

Confidence
repository inspection
Status
no license file
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
punk-security/bsides-leeds-2026-badge repository file tree and firmware.ino.
missing rights-cleared image note

No BSides Leeds 2026 badge image is published because the repository contains no image assets and no reusable original badge photo or official upstream raster render with source URL, license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes has been recovered.

The United Kingdom record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying repository diagrams, blog images, social media, placeholders, or generated approximations.

Confidence
local project policy
Status
needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
badge.gallery image policy and punk-security/bsides-leeds-2026-badge repository.

Resources

BSides Leeds 2026 official site official event page · Official BSides Leeds source for the June 13, 2026 seventh edition at Cloth Hall Court, Quebec Street, Leeds, United Kingdom. bsides-leeds-2026-badge repository source repository · punk-security repository for the BSides Leeds 2026 Artie the Owl badge, with firmware.ino, BOM.csv, and prebuilt firmware images, but no LICENSE file and no hardware design files.

Sources

BSides Leeds: BSides Leeds 2026 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary official source for the June 13, 2026 seventh edition, Cloth Hall Court Leeds venue, and United Kingdom Security BSides context. GitHub / punk-security: bsides-leeds-2026-badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary repository source for the ATtiny814-SSF microcontroller, eighteen SK6812 RGB LEDs, six capacitive touch pads, two CR2032 holders, the EEPROM-gated game-unlock challenge, and the absence of a license file.