LayerOne 2023 · United States · 2023

LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

PIC16F1455 USB keyboard badge with addressable LEDs

LayerOne 2023's electronic badge was a PIC16F1455 USB HID and keyboard badge with WS2812B/SK6812-style addressable LEDs, DFU update workflow, writable flash-backed macro behavior, and a badge-competition path around a partial RubberDucky 2.0 script interpreter.

LayerOne United States Pasadena PIC16F1455 USB HID Keyboard WS2812B SK6812 DFU RubberDucky Hardware Hacking Village North America

EventLayerOne 2023

SeriesLayerOne

LocationHilton Pasadena, Pasadena, California

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge assembly and support context

LayerOne Hardware Hacking Village

The HHV page links the LayerOne2023 badge repository and describes attendee badge assembly in the Hardware Hacking Village.

Source

badge repository, firmware, and host-tool publisher

charliex / charlie-x

The public LayerOne2023 repository preserves the PIC badge README, firmware, host uploader, board files, enclosure assets, and BSD-3-Clause license with copyright (c) 2023 charliex.

Source

event and badge-page publisher

LayerOne

Official LayerOne pages establish the May 27-28, 2023 Hilton Pasadena event context and public HHV link trail for the 2023 electronic badge.

Source

Why It Mattered

It fills the post-hiatus LayerOne return-to-in-person year between the older CharlieX badge archive and the later 2024/2025 hardware-hacking platforms, preserving the badge as both an HHV soldering artifact and a USB HID macro target with public firmware, host uploader code, board files, and enclosure models.

Hardware

The repository README names PIC16F1455 and WS2812B/SK6812 hardware. The source tree includes Eagle board/schematic files, an interactive BOM, PIC16LF145x datasheet, 3MF/STEP enclosure assets, and source pin definitions for RC3 as WS2812 output, RA4 button input, and RC5 LED behavior.

Software & Apps

The README documents Microchip MPLAB 6.10, XC8 2.41, a DFU bootloader entered by holding the button while plugging in USB, Zadig/WinUSB setup, dfu-util upload, and Pickit fallback programming. Firmware source exposes a generic HID interface, keyboard HID interface, LED control commands, flash read/write commands, keyboard report generation, and a partial RubberDucky 2.0 parser in `keyboard.c`.

Lore

LayerOne's HHV page links the 2023 electronic badge to the public repository. The README frames a badge competition where the first person to make the commented partial RubberDucky 2.0 script support run would win a single prize claimed with charliex, mmca, or datagram.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge challenge partial archive

RubberDucky 2.0 competition hook

The README says a very partial RubberDucky 2.0 script interpreter is commented out in the code and tied to a single-prize badge competition.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

Source

badge controller source-backed

PIC16F1455 USB core

The README names a PIC16F1455 badge core, and the firmware configures USB clocking, interrupts, generic HID, and keyboard HID behavior.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

Source

badge interaction source-backed

Keyboard HID output

The USB descriptor and keyboard source expose a keyboard HID interface, scan-code conversion, report sending, and button-triggered output including the default `LayerOne 2023` string.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

Source

firmware workflow documented

DFU and Pickit programming path

The README documents holding the button while plugging in USB for DFU mode, Zadig/WinUSB setup, dfu-util upload, 454hex2dfu conversion, and Pickit fallback programming if the bootloader is overwritten.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

Source

host tooling documented

Generic HID macro uploader

The host README and firmware document HID writes that stage data in RAM and commit it into flash for later keyboard/macro output.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

Source

visual badge surface source-backed

WS2812B/SK6812 LED output

The README names WS2812B/SK6812 LEDs, while the firmware maps RC3 as the WS2812 output and cycles color-wheel and slow-fade LED effects.

Compatibility: LayerOne 2023 PIC HID Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No LayerOne 2023 badge image is published because the recovered official page images, repository files, and article media have not been paired with a specific original badge photo or official upstream raster that carries complete source URL, reusable license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes.

The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying official-page images, repository previews, article photos, or screenshots without complete provenance.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, LayerOne HHV page, charlie-x/LayerOne2023 repository tree, and available badge media.

partial-competition archive note

The badge competition is documented as a partial RubberDucky 2.0 interpreter in the code, not as a complete public challenge archive with rules, released solve, or prize outcome.

The record preserves the competition hook without overstating the completeness of the recovered challenge material.

Confidence: repository README and source
Status: partial archive
Timeframe: LayerOne 2023 badge competition
Source note: LayerOne2023 README badge competition note and `keyboard.c` partial parser.

programming-access caveat note

The README says DFU flashing depends on the L1 bootloader and notes that overwriting it requires reinstalling with a PIC programmer such as a Pickit 3 or better.

The catalogue presents the badge as reflashable while preserving the practical recovery boundary for surviving units.

Confidence: repository README
Status: documented
Timeframe: badge firmware workflow
Source note: LayerOne2023 README DFU and optional programmer sections.

source-depth caveat note

The repository preserves firmware, board and schematic files, host tooling, enclosure assets, and an interactive BOM, but this pass does not claim a complete production package, final assembly guide, attendee count, or challenge solve archive.

The record keeps hardware, USB, LED, and firmware statements tied to the recovered public repository while avoiding unsupported production-scale claims.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs deeper artifact inventory
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: charlie-x/LayerOne2023 README, firmware sources, PCB files, OKBB host tool, and repository tree.

Resources

LayerOne 2023 conference post official event post · Official LayerOne source for the May 27-28, 2023 Hilton Pasadena return-to-in-person event context. LayerOne Hardware Hacking Village official village page · Official HHV page linking the 2023 electronic badge to the public LayerOne2023 repository and describing electronic badge assembly in the village. LayerOne2023 README badge documentation · Primary repository documentation for PIC16F1455, WS2812B/SK6812 LEDs, MPLAB/XC8 setup, DFU mode, dfu-util flashing, Pickit fallback programming, and the badge competition. LayerOne2023 firmware sources firmware source · Firmware source for USB initialization, button behavior, LED effects, flash-backed messages, generic HID handling, and keyboard-output behavior. LayerOne2023 host uploader host tool docs · Host-side uploader documentation and HID-write example for sending macro data into badge flash. LayerOne2023 repository source repo · Public source repository for the badge README, PIC firmware, USB descriptors, host uploader, board and schematic files, interactive BOM, enclosure assets, and BSD-3-Clause license. LayerOne2023 repository license license · BSD-3-Clause license source for the repository code and documentation; no badge image is reused from this repository in this catalogue pass.

Sources

GitHub / charlie-x: charlie-x/LayerOne2023 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Public badge source repository preserving the README, PIC firmware, keyboard and USB code, host uploader, Eagle board and schematic files, interactive BOM, enclosure assets, and BSD-3-Clause license. GitHub / charlie-x: LayerOne2023 README Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary technical source for PIC16F1455, WS2812B/SK6812 LEDs, MPLAB/XC8, DFU mode, dfu-util flashing, Pickit fallback, and RubberDucky 2.0 badge-competition framing. GitHub / charlie-x: LayerOne2023 main.c Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Firmware source proving USB initialization, generic HID commands, flash-backed messages, button-triggered keyboard output, LED effect modes, and the default `LayerOne 2023` keyboard string. GitHub / charlie-x: LayerOne2023 keyboard.c Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Keyboard firmware source for HID report generation, ASCII-to-scan-code conversion, alt-code helpers, and the partial RubberDucky command parser. GitHub / charlie-x: LayerOne2023 UsbDescriptors.h Retrieved 2026-05-15 · USB descriptor source for the generic HID and keyboard HID interfaces, report sizes, vendor/product identifiers, and keyboard report descriptor. LayerOne: LayerOne 2023 Dates and Call for Papers Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event source proving the May 27-28, 2023 Hilton Pasadena LayerOne return-to-in-person event context. LayerOne: Hardware Hacking Village Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official village source linking the 2023 electronic badge to the LayerOne2023 repository and documenting electronic badge assembly support in the HHV.