LayerOne 2016 · United States · 2016

LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge

PSoC4 and ESP8266 badge with 20 WS2812B LEDs

LayerOne 2016's electronic conference badge returned to the PSoC4, ESP8266, and WS2812B platform as a single LED badge with Wi-Fi working before the event, a mini prototyping area, exposed rails and I/O, and public build logs from CharlieX.

LayerOne United States Los Angeles PSoC4 ESP8266 WS2812B Wi-Fi CR123A Prototyping Hardware Hacking Village North America

EventLayerOne 2016

SeriesLayerOne

LocationSheraton Gateway LAX, Los Angeles, California

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge-team member

mmca

The Hackaday.io project team list includes mmca for the LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge project.

Source

badge-team project author

charliex

The Hackaday.io project is published under charliex and preserves the 2016 badge description and build logs.

Source

event and badge-page publisher

LayerOne

Official LayerOne HHV pages establish the public electronic-badge link trail for the 2016 badge.

Source

Why It Mattered

It fills the LayerOne bridge between the 2015 dual-badge experiment and the 2017 CAN-bus badge, showing the badge team consolidating around a more attendee-hackable blinky platform with working Wi-Fi, exposed PSoC/ESP8266 interfaces, and planned mini hardware projects.

Hardware

The project description lists a 5x4 WS2812B LED array, PSoC 4 controller, mini breakout/prototyping area, 3.3 V rail, battery rail, PSoC4 I/O broken out, and an ESP8266 with GPIO lines added to the PSoC4 so the two chips could interact and the ESP8266 could be reset. Build logs document Eagle PCB work, CR123A cells and holders, CPUs, reverse-protection diode and voltage-drop decisions, level-shifting and capacitance debugging, daisy-chain tests, spare WS2812B inventory, stencil-holder work, and pick-and-place preparation.

Software & Apps

The Hackaday.io description says the team wanted Wi-Fi working after running out of time the prior year, and the logs report LED control from a PC over Wi-Fi, ESP8266 reset and GPIO handling, noisy-power fixes, an ESP8266 firmware update station plan, and a possible Linux PSoC tooling path. The project also mentions mini add-on project ideas such as speaker, switches, IR, and photo-sensor style experiments without publishing a complete final software release in this pass.

Lore

LayerOne's HHV archive names the 2016 Electronic Badge and links CharlieX's Hackaday.io build story. The project lists charliex and mmca on the team, while the May 2016 logs capture late PCB arrival, hand-built early units, Wi-Fi mode running in a tool-holder box, ESP8266 supply pressure, and the aim to pre-build badges so the team could spend more time hacking at the conference.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge controller source-backed

PSoC4 LED badge core

The project description lists PSoC 4 as the controller for the 2016 badge platform.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge

Source

badge software partial archive

Wi-Fi controlled LED behavior

The all-at-once log reports that the LEDs were being controlled from a PC over Wi-Fi after ESP8266 orientation, reset, GPIO, noisy-power, and capacitance debugging.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge

Source

hacking surface documented

Mini prototyping breakout area

The project describes a mini prototyping area with 3.3 V rail, battery rail, and PSoC4 I/O broken out so attendees could add their own components.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge

Source

production workflow historical

CR123A and pick-and-place build

The Wi-Fi and pick-and-place log documents CR123A cells and holders, diode validation, stencil-holder work, eight early hand-built badges, and pick-and-place setup six days before the conference.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2016 badge build

Source

visual badge surface source-backed

5x4 WS2812B display

The project description names a 5x4 WS2812B LED array, and the development log says the design uses 20 LEDs rather than the earlier 25-LED expectation.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge

Source

wireless interface source-backed

ESP8266 Wi-Fi bridge

The project says the ESP8266 worked before the conference and exposed GPIO connections to the PSoC4 so the chips could interact and the PSoC4 could reset the Wi-Fi module.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge image is published because the current public source trail has not been paired with a reusable original badge or artifact photo or official upstream raster render with source URL, license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes.

The United States record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying source-page media, documentation screenshots, event photos, 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 LayerOne 2016 HHV, InfoconDB, and CharlieX Hackaday.io source trail.

prototype-to-production caveat note

The public Hackaday.io material is a late build diary with PCB bring-up, component substitutions, Wi-Fi power debugging, hand-built early units, and pick-and-place preparation rather than a complete final manufacturing package.

The catalogue records the source-backed architecture and build status while avoiding unsupported claims about every final shipped component, production quantity, or assembled variant.

Confidence: badge-team logs
Status: documented with caution
Timeframe: 2016 badge development
Source note: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge project and May 2016 project logs.

source-release gap note

The all-at-once log says Eagle files and software would be uploaded to GitHub, but this pass did not recover a complete public final repository, release package, board-production archive, or challenge/software bundle for the 2016 badge.

Hardware and software claims remain tied to the public HHV page and Hackaday.io logs instead of treating planned source publication as recovered source.

Confidence: project logs but incomplete source recovery
Status: needs artifact-level archive
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: LayerOne 2016 All at once log and current source search.

Resources

LayerOne 2016 All at once log development log · Project log source for PCB arrival, Eagle design, reverse-protection diode, level-shifter debugging, daisy-chain tests, ESP8266 power/noise fixes, Wi-Fi control, planned firmware-update station, and pre-build intent. LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge project badge-team project page · Primary project source for the PSoC4, ESP8266, WS2812B, mini prototyping area, exposed rails/I/O, team, and Wi-Fi working-before-event claims. LayerOne 2016 InfoconDB entry conference archive · Conference archive source for the May 28-29, 2016 Sheraton Gateway LAX, Los Angeles LayerOne event context. LayerOne 2016 WiFi and pick-and-place log production log · Project log source for CR123A parts, diode validation, Wi-Fi mode, stencil-holder work, early hand-built badges, pick-and-place preparation, and ESP8266 supply limitations. LayerOne Hardware Hacking Village official village page · Official HHV page identifying the 2016 Electronic Badge and linking CharlieX's Hackaday.io project page.

Sources

Hackaday.io / charliex: LayerOne 2016 Conference Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary badge-team source for the PSoC4, 5x4 WS2812B LED array, mini breakout area, 3.3 V and battery rails, broken-out PSoC4 I/O, ESP8266 Wi-Fi bridge, and charliex/mmca team listing. Hackaday.io / charliex: All at once Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Development-log source for PCB arrival, component reuse, reverse protection, level-shifting and capacitance debugging, daisy-chain testing, Wi-Fi control from a PC, and planned firmware-update station. Hackaday.io / charliex: WiFi, pick and placing Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Production-log source for CR123A parts, diode validation, Wi-Fi mode, stencil-holder and pick-and-place work, eight hand-built badges, and ESP8266 supply pressure. InfoconDB: LayerOne 2016 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Conference archive source proving the May 28-29, 2016 Sheraton Gateway LAX, Los Angeles LayerOne event context. LayerOne: Hardware Hacking Village Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official village source naming the 2016 Electronic Badge and linking CharlieX's Hackaday.io project page for build details.