Hackaday Supercon 2018 · United States · 2018

Hackaday Supercon 2018 Retrocomputer Badge

BASIC and CP/M handheld computer badge

The 2018 Hackaday Superconference badge was a battery-powered handheld retrocomputer with a 320x240 color display, mini QWERTY keyboard, speaker, flash storage, expansion header, BASIC interpreter, and Z80 CP/M emulator.

Hackaday Supercon United States Retrocomputer BASIC CP/M Z80 Emulator PIC32 QWERTY SAO North America

EventHackaday Supercon 2018

SeriesHackaday Superconference

LocationPasadena, California

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

BASIC tokenizer optimization contributor

Ziggurat29

Hackaday credits Ziggurat29 with tokenizer speed-up work rolled into the badge firmware.

Source

Hackaday project team and article author

Mike Szczys

Named on the Hackaday.io project team and author of the Hackaday reveal article.

Source

badge-hacking field reporter

Roger Cheng

Author of the Hackaday field report documenting badge-hacking projects during Supercon 2018.

Source

firmware article author

Elliot Williams

Author of the Hackaday article documenting the Supercon 2018 firmware story.

Source

hardware designer and project author

Voja Antonic

The Hackaday.io project lists Voja Antonic as project owner, and Hackaday coverage identifies him as the hardware designer.

Source

software lead and firmware author

Jaromir Sukuba

The GitHub README names Jaromir Sukuba as software lead, and Hackaday's firmware article documents his BASIC and CP/M firmware work.

Source

Why It Mattered

It turned the official conference badge into a self-contained programming environment: attendees could write BASIC, run CP/M software, drive GPIO, attach expansion hardware, build SAOs, and present software or hardware hacks without treating the badge as a closed souvenir.

Hardware

Hackaday.io describes a palm-sized badge with mechanical keyboard buttons, TFT LCD color display, small speaker, flash memory, two AA batteries, and a proto-board/expansion-header path for peripherals and SAOs. Hackaday coverage records a 320x240 color display and badge hacking around GPIO, I2C, serial, audio, and external hardware.

Software & Apps

The public Hack-a-Day repository identifies the firmware as the Retrocomputing BASIC Badge, with BASIC programming, 3-voice audio, serial communications, Z80 CP/M with classic programs such as Zork and Sargon, firmware source, and MIT licensing. Hackaday's firmware article credits Jaromir Sukuba with expanding the BASIC stack after Voja Antonic's hardware design.

Lore

The design premiered at Hackaday Belgrade 2018 and returned for Supercon with firmware improvements, a curated hack list, and a badge-hacking area where attendees built LED sculptures, wireless experiments, enclosures, games, music, emulators, QR generators, and serial/Bluetooth chat projects.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge app archived

BASIC programming environment

The badge exposed an onboard BASIC interpreter with badge-specific commands for display, LED, audio, GPIO, serial, and program storage experiments.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2018 Retrocomputer Badge

Source

community archive historical

Badge-hacking project gallery

The curated Hackaday.io list preserved attendee-built cases, Atari and Apple-like emulators, games, music, QR generation, Morse code, Bluetooth chat, and plotter firmware hacks.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2018 Retrocomputer Badge

Source

hardware expansion source-backed

Expansion header and proto-board

The Supercon version added proto-board support and documented GPIO, I2C, serial, and SAO-style expansion paths for attendee-built peripherals.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2018 Retrocomputer Badge

Source

retrocomputing environment archived

Z80 CP/M emulator

The stock firmware included a Z80 emulator running CP/M with classic software hooks such as Zork and Sargon, turning the badge into a tiny retrocomputer.

Compatibility: Hackaday Supercon 2018 Retrocomputer Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

lineage reuse note

The Supercon 2018 badge was based on the Hackaday Belgrade 2018 badge rather than a wholly unrelated Pasadena-only design.

The compendium keeps the US Supercon record separate while preserving the Serbian Belgrade design lineage and firmware evolution.

Confidence: source-backed
Status: documented
Timeframe: 2018
Source note: Hackaday reveal article, Hackaday.io project page, and Hackaday firmware article.

missing rights-cleared image note

No local Supercon 2018 badge photo has been added because Hackaday article images, Hackaday.io images, and repository assets 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 without a complete image provenance record.

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 GitHub repository assets.

Resources

2018 Supercon badge hacks list community archive · Hackaday.io list preserving 25 hardware, software, BASIC, music, enclosure, emulator, chat, QR-code, and display projects for the 2018 badge. 2018 Supercon badge project project page · Official Hackaday.io project source for the retrocomputer concept, attendee distribution, BASIC/CP/M table of contents, hardware hacking notes, proto-board files, and MIT firmware-license statement. 2018 Supercon badge repository source · Public Hack-a-Day firmware repository for the Retrocomputing BASIC Badge, MIT license, built-in features, firmware hex, and modification guidance. Supercon 2018 badge firmware article article · Hackaday firmware source for Jaromir Sukuba's BASIC work, CP/M emulator context, Voja Antonic hardware design, Ziggurat29 tokenizer speedups, and Zork/retrocomputing lore. Supercon 2018 badge hacking report article · Hackaday field report documenting the badge-hacking area, LED sculptures, shift-register examples, wireless add-ons, and community projects during Supercon. The Supercon Badge Is A Freakin' Computer article · Hackaday reveal source for 320x240 color display, full QWERTY keyboard, BASIC, CP/M, games, Easter eggs, GPIO/I2C/serial hacking, and Belgrade lineage.

Sources

GitHub: Hack-a-Day/2018-Supercon-Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Source repository for firmware, built-in feature list, BASIC commands, 3-voice audio, serial communications, Z80 CP/M, firmware hex, and MIT license. Hackaday: The Supercon Badge Is A Freakin' Computer Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Reveal article source for 320x240 display, full keyboard, BASIC, CP/M, game/demo firmware, Belgrade reuse, and GPIO/I2C/serial hacking suggestions. Hackaday: Jaromir Sukuba: The Supercon 2018 Badge Firmware Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Firmware source for Jaromir Sukuba, BASIC interpreter expansion, Ziggurat29 tokenizer work, CP/M emulator, and Zork/retrocomputer context. Hackaday.io: 2018 Hackaday Superconference Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary project source for attendee distribution, retrocomputer framing, keyboard/display/speaker/flash/AA-battery hardware, BASIC/CP/M software, files, and MIT firmware-license statement.