Hacker Con Badges

Hackaday Supercon 2017 · United States · 2017

Hackaday Supercon 2017 Camera Badge

PIC32 camera badge with OLED and MicroSD

The 2017 Hackaday Superconference badge was an official Mike Harrison camera badge with a PIC32MX170F256D, OV9650 camera module, 128x128 color OLED, MicroSD storage, accelerometer, buttons, bootloader, white LED illuminator, prototyping area, and expansion header.

Hackaday Supercon United States PIC32 Camera OV9650 OLED MicroSD Accelerometer Badge Hacking North America
EventHackaday Supercon 2017
SeriesHackaday Superconference
LocationSupplyframe DesignLab and Los Angeles College of Music, Pasadena, California
CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

PIC32 and SRAM donor

Microchip

The official project notes that Microchip donated the PIC32MX170F256D and SRAM used by the badge.

Source

assembly supporter

MacroFab

The Hackaday.io project says the badge was assembled by MacroFab with generous support.

Source

badge designer and project author

Mike Harrison / mikeselectricstuff

The Hackaday.io project states that the badge was conceived of and designed by Mike Harrison, also identified as mikeselectricstuff.

Source

event and badge publisher

Hackaday

Hackaday published the event archive, official badge project, build notes, quick-start guide, production story, and post-event results.

Source

film, hardware, and software hack contributors

Hackaday Superconference badge-hacking entrants

Hackaday's post-event results document attendee projects that extended the camera badge into printers, VR, charging, thermal, time-lapse, and fabrication experiments.

Source

official project archive

Hackaday.io

The badge project describes itself as official documentation for the 2017 Hackaday Superconference hardware badge.

Source

Why It Mattered

It made the badge an active media tool and hardware-hacking platform: attendees could shoot stills and video, build shields, flash new applications from MicroSD, wire into I2C/UART/GPIO pins, and compete in film, software, and hardware hack categories.

Hardware

Hackaday and the official Hackaday.io project document the PIC32MX170F256D, SRAM, OV9650 camera, 128x128 OLED, MicroSD card socket, accelerometer, six-button input, camera flash LED, two-AA-cell power, MCP1640B boost regulation, ISP and TTL232 headers, 2x6 expansion header, and prototyping area.

Software & Apps

The Hackaday.io files include MPLAB X firmware projects with and without puzzle sources, a badge bootloader project, SD-card splash media, and sample files. The quick-start article documents MPLAB X/XC32 workflows, copying compiled HEX files to MicroSD for bootloader flashing, PICkit fallback, app-template state machines, 20 ms tick timing, and camera/accelerometer/button/OLED APIs.

Lore

The production run arrived from MacroFab days before the event, firmware fixes continued until kitting, and the badge-hacking results included a stereoscopic VR maze across two badges, panning time-lapse, Game Boy printer output, a Polaroid-style receipt-printer camera, inductive charging, thermal camera experiments, and a badge-driven SLA 3D printer.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge app/event challenge historical

Camera capture and film festival

The badge's camera was not decorative: Supercon included a film-festival category for movies and media produced with the badge camera.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2017 Camera Badge

Source
event challenge historical

Badge-hacking contest projects

Post-event coverage documented camera, printer, charging, VR, thermal, time-lapse, and 3D-printer projects built around the official badge.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2017 Camera Badge

Source
firmware workflow archived

MPLAB app-template API

The firmware template exposed camera, accelerometer, button, OLED, timing, and filesystem helpers so attendee applications could reuse the stock badge services.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2017 Camera Badge

Source
firmware workflow archived

MicroSD bootloader workflow

The quick-start workflow let attendees copy compiled HEX files to MicroSD and use the onboard bootloader, with PICkit programming as a fallback path.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2017 Camera Badge

Source
hardware expansion source-backed

Expansion header and prototyping area

The badge exposed I2C, UART, GPIO, ISP, TTL232, and prototyping surfaces for shields, sensors, and direct hardware experiments.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2017 Camera Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No local Supercon 2017 badge photo has been added because Hackaday article images, Hackaday.io prototype images, and project media have not been paired with complete reuse rights, attribution, original-source URL, and processing notes.

The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying public photos or using generated placeholder imagery.

Confidence
local project policy
Status
needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
badge.gallery image policy, Hackaday article images, Hackaday.io project images, and source-page prototype caveat.

Resources

2017 Supercon badge hacks list community archive · Hackaday.io list preserving attendee hardware, software, camera, printer, time-lapse, and challenge projects around the 2017 camera badge. 2017 Superconference badge film festival project event project · Hackaday.io project source documenting a badge-shot Supercon 2017 film-festival submission and files. Building the Hackaday Superconference badge article · Hackaday design article for PIC32, camera, OLED, MicroSD, accelerometer, power, expansion, firmware, and hardware tradeoffs. Camera badge for Supercon 2017 project page · Official Hackaday.io documentation for the Mike Harrison camera badge, hardware list, prototype caveat, MacroFab assembly support, Microchip parts donation, files, and hack categories. Get your hands on a 2017 Superconference badge preview article · Pre-event Hackaday source for camera-badge framing, badge availability, design by Mike Harrison, and attendee hacking expectations. Hackaday Superconference 2017 event page event page · Hackaday.io event source for the 2017 Pasadena Superconference context and schedule archive. Supercon badge hacking quick-start guide · Hackaday firmware guide for MPLAB X, XC32, MicroSD bootloader flashing, app templates, timed state-machine structure, and badge APIs. The perils of developing the Superconference badge production article · Production-context article documenting late assembly, firmware fixes, power and flash-write caveats, kitting, and handoff pressure before Supercon. What actually happens at a hardware hacking con event results · Post-event Hackaday source for badge-hacking winners and projects including film, VR, time-lapse, printer, camera, charging, thermal, and SLA-printer experiments.

Sources

Hackaday: Building The Hackaday Superconference Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary design article for the badge hardware, camera/OLED/MicroSD/power architecture, expansion connectors, programming path, and design tradeoffs. Hackaday: Supercon Badge Hacking Quick-Start Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Firmware workflow source for MPLAB X, XC32, MicroSD bootloader use, PICkit fallback, app templates, timed execution model, and hardware API surfaces. Hackaday: Get Your Hands On A 2017 Hackaday Superconference Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Pre-event source for early badge access, camera-badge framing, production-badge context, and attendee hacking expectations. Hackaday: The Perils Of Developing The Hackaday Superconference Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Production source for late board arrival, firmware fixes, power caveat, flash-write behavior, and kitting schedule. Hackaday: What Actually Happens At A Hardware Hacking Con Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Post-event source for badge-hacking winners, film festival, hardware/software experiments, and the scope of attendee projects. Hackaday.io: Camera badge for Supercon 2017 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary project source for Mike Harrison authorship, official documentation status, camera-badge framing, PIC32/SRAM/Microchip and MacroFab context, hack categories, and prototype-image caveat. Hackaday.io: 2017 Hackaday Superconference Badge Film Festival Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Post-event project source for a badge-shot film-festival submission and media files.