Kernelcon 2020 Virtual · United States · 2020

Kernelcon 2020 Hack-Master Badge

ATmega328P dual-PCB image-reel badge

The Kernelcon 2020 Hack-Master badge was a dual-PCB electronic badge with an ATmega328P-AU, three-AAA power, nine APA102 RGB LEDs, a backlit custom image reel, serial-port game plans, EEPROM mode storage, and ICSP pogo-pin programming.

Kernelcon United States Virtual Event ATmega328P APA102 Image Reel Pogo Pins ICSP Hack-Master North America

EventKernelcon 2020 Virtual

SeriesKernelcon

LocationVirtual / Omaha, Nebraska

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge chair, maker, and talk presenter

Tyler Rosonke / ZonkSec

InfoconDB names Tyler Rosonke as a Kernelcon 2020 badge talk presenter; the ZonkSec writeup describes his badge-chair role.

Source

badge maker and talk presenter

Aaron Gunning / @scotchsec

InfoconDB names Aaron Gunning as co-presenter for the Kernelcon 2020 badge talk.

Source

Why It Mattered

It records how Kernelcon kept a physical badge project alive through the 2020 virtual pivot while documenting production, programming clamps, and a mini-game that was removed when the event moved online.

Hardware

The public repository and ZonkSec writeup document a dual-PCB design, carefully placed mounting hardware for a custom image reel, an Atmel ATmega328P-AU controller, three AAA batteries, nine APA102 RGB LEDs, two LEDs used as reel backlights, a button for mode changes, and ICSP programming through pogo pins.

Software & Apps

Repository notes list fade, freeze, reel-only, rave, looping animation, knight-rider, windmill, pseudorandom color, and twinkle modes. The badge offered serial communication for a CTF mini game, but public sources state that the mini game was removed when the conference became virtual.

Lore

ZonkSec describes the badge as a vision-themed homage to a childhood image-reel toy and links a Kernelcon 2020 badge talk by Tyler Rosonke and Aaron Gunning about making the Hack-Master badge.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

manufacturing workflow source-backed

Pogo-pin ICSP production workflow

Public sources document ICSP programming with pogo pins and a clothespin pogo-clamp workflow used during badge production.

Compatibility: Kernelcon 2020 Hack-Master Badge

Source

mechanical/electronic feature historical

Backlit image reel

The Hack-Master badge used a dual-PCB assembly and two RGB LEDs as backlights for a custom image reel.

Compatibility: Kernelcon 2020 Hack-Master Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No Kernelcon 2020 badge image is published because the recovered repository photos and animation have not been cleared with complete reuse provenance.

The Hack-Master record stays image-free under the no-generated/no-placeholder image policy.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: open
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, ZonkSec writeup, and kernelcon-2020-badge repository.

virtual-event behavior caveat note

The serial CTF mini game was removed when Kernelcon 2020 became virtual, so the record documents planned/offline capability without claiming that the mini game ran at the event.

The badge remains an electronic artifact, but its event-game behavior is kept narrower than the original hardware capability.

Confidence: project-owner source
Status: historical
Timeframe: 2020 event pivot
Source note: ZonkSec retrospective and kernelcon-2020-badge README.

Resources

Kernelcon 2020 InfoconDB record event metadata · InfoconDB event record for the March 25-28, 2020 virtual Kernelcon context. Kernelcon 2020 badge repository hardware archive · Public ZonkSec repository preserving ATmega328P, dual-PCB, image-reel, LED, serial, EEPROM, and pogo-pin programming notes. Kernelcon2020 Badge talk badge talk metadata · Talk record for Tyler Rosonke and Aaron Gunning explaining the Hack-Master badge production story.

Sources

InfoconDB: Kernelcon2020 Badge: nonononoyes Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Talk metadata source naming Tyler Rosonke and Aaron Gunning and summarizing the badge-making presentation. ZonkSec GitHub repository: kernelcon-2020-badge README Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for the Hack-Master dual-PCB badge, ATmega328P-AU, three AAA power, nine APA102 LEDs, backlit image reel, serial mini-game removal, EEPROM, and ICSP pogo-pin programming.