Hacker Con Badges

Kernelcon 2026 · United States · 2026

Kernelcon 2026 Off Grid Badge

ESP32 weather and crank-powered quest badge

Kernelcon's 2026 Off Grid badge is an ESP32 weather-prediction and quest badge with BME280 temperature, humidity, and pressure sensing, twenty addressable RGB LEDs, AAA and hand-crank power modes, BLE/proximity scanning, and MicroPython firmware.

Kernelcon United States Omaha ESP32 BME280 Weather MicroPython BLE Crank Power North America
EventKernelcon 2026
SeriesKernelcon
LocationHilton Omaha Downtown, Omaha, Nebraska
CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge collaborator

elaboratreues

The official 2026 badge page credits elaboratreues as a collaborator.

Source

badge collaborator

popcorndan

The official 2026 badge page credits popcorndan as a collaborator.

Source

badge design and prototyping

Tyler Rosonke / zonksec

The official 2026 badge page credits zonksec / Tyler Rosonke with design and prototyping.

Source

production assembly

JLCPCB

The official 2026 badge page states production assembly was done by JLCPCB.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds Kernelcon's current badge generation as a documented environmental-sensing and narrative-quest platform, including physical assembly, kiosks, weather training, and a crank-powered USB charge-module activity.

Hardware

The official badge site and repository document an ESP32/ESP32-WROOM-32E controller, Bosch BME280 sensor, fully metal 90:1 gear-ratio 6 VDC crank motor, onboard AAA battery pack, buck-boost conversion plus linear regulation, twenty SK6812/addressable RGB LEDs, mode button, thumb-screw weather dials, and KiCad PCB files, Gerbers, BOMs, 3D models, and multiple badge variants.

Software & Apps

The repository documents MicroPython firmware with main badge application, quest system, crank-spinning game logic, BLE scanning, BME280 driver, LED patterns, bootstrap, and flashing utility. The official activity page adds SCAN, CHRG, and LED modes, kiosk progression, quest rewards, and weather-training behavior.

Lore

The official site says source code and quest results were released on April 11, 2026. Manufacturing credits name zonksec / Tyler Rosonke with popcorndan and elaboratreues collaboration, and JLCPCB production assembly.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

event quest historical

Narrative quest kiosks

The 2026 activities guide describes venue kiosks, SCAN mode, crank-built charge, printed clues, tasks, and LED animation rewards.

Compatibility: Kernelcon 2026 Off Grid Badge

Source
soldering add-on source-backed

USB charge module kit

The official activity guide documents a small PCB kit that lets attendees harness the badge crank output to charge devices through USB-A.

Compatibility: Kernelcon 2026 Off Grid Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No Kernelcon 2026 Off Grid image is published because the official `badge.png`, `badge_schematic.png`, repository PDFs, SVG layer exports, STEP/STL models, and KiCad material have not been paired with a reusable image or documentation license, attribution, and processing notes.

The current badge record remains image-free until a rights-cleared original photo or official raster render can be proven.

Confidence
local project policy
Status
open
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
badge.gallery image policy, Kernelcon 2026 badge site, ZonkSec kernelcon-2026-badge GitHub API license metadata, repository README, and recursive tree recheck on May 21, 2026.
repository-license caveat note

The repository README says the project is released for educational purposes and to see individual files for specific licenses; no top-level LICENSE file was recovered in this pass.

The catalogue cites the repository for evidence but does not use repository images locally or claim a single reuse license for the whole project.

Confidence
repository audit
Status
documented
Timeframe
current Kernelcon pass
Source note
ZonkSec kernelcon-2026-badge README and missing top-level LICENSE probe.

Resources

Kernelcon 2026 badge repository hardware and firmware archive · Public ZonkSec repository preserving MicroPython firmware, KiCad files, Gerbers, BOMs, 3D models, flyers, and badge variants. Kernelcon 2026 badge site official badge page · Official badge site for the off-grid weather badge, source-release note, activities, BOM, and quest results. Kernelcon 2026 registration page official event registration · Official registration source for April 7-10, 2026 event dates, April 9-10 main conference dates, and Hilton Omaha Downtown location. Kernelcon past badges list official lineage index · Official current badge site listing the 2019 K, 2020 HackMaster, 2021 Hacker Hotkey, 2022 Watch, 2023 radio, 2024 cable-tester, and 2025 Race Condition badge lineage.

Sources

Kernelcon badge site: Off Grid badge about page Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for weather prediction, BME280 sensing, ESP32, battery/crank modes, 90:1 motor, buck-boost plus regulator power path, LEDs, and manufacturing credits. Kernelcon badge site: Off Grid badge activities Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary activity source for assembly, quest kiosks, SCAN/CHRG modes, weather training, and USB charge-module kit. ZonkSec GitHub repository: Kernelcon 2026 Badge README Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary repository source for ESP32-WROOM-32E, BME280, SK6812 LEDs, crank generator, MicroPython firmware, BLE scanning, quest files, KiCad files, BOMs, Gerbers, 3D models, and license caveat.