PhreakNIC 26 · United States · 2025

PhreakNIC 26 Electronic Shelf Label Badge

Battery-less ZBD shelf-label badge with per-attendee firmware images

PhreakNIC 26's official electronic badge reused dead-battery ZBD 55c-RB electronic shelf labels as 3D-printed pager-styled badges with static 240x96 one-bit displays, QR-code-backed attendee customization, and on-site reflashing.

PhreakNIC United States Murfreesboro ZBD 55c-RB EPOP55 CC1110 Electronic Shelf Label Bistable LCD cc-tool E-waste North America

EventPhreakNIC 26

SeriesPhreakNIC

LocationMurfreesboro, Tennessee

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

ESL inspiration and flashing-tool author

atc1441

The project writeup credits atc1441 for electronic shelf-label reuse inspiration and ESP CC Flasher.

Source

ESL reverse-engineering reference

Dmitry Grinberg

The project writeup credits Dmitry's ZBD EPOP reverse-engineering source code and documentation as an enabling reference.

Source

badge image configurator developer

Nathan

The project writeup thanks Nathan for building the web application used to configure badge frames, names, size, and positioning.

Source

badge project owner and writeup author

Tyler Crumpton

The CrumpSpace writeup documents Tyler's role in converting electronic shelf labels into the official PN26 electronic badge and running the update table at the event.

Source

case design, shucking, and assembly

Mog and Heather

The project writeup credits Mog and Heather for 3D-printed case design, physical ESL disassembly, and badge assembly work.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds a small-conference North American badge that avoided a fresh PCB run by turning retail e-waste into a source-backed conference artifact, showing how badge culture can be built from reverse engineering, cheap surplus hardware, and practical on-site tooling.

Hardware

The project writeup documents ZBD 55c-RB / EPOP55 shelf labels with a TI CC1110 microcontroller, sub-GHz radio hardware, two spent coin cells removed from the original enclosure, a bistable LCD that keeps its image without power, exposed debug/flasher pads, UART TX/RX, GPIO pads, and 3D-printed pager-style cases with QR codes.

Software & Apps

Firmware was derived from Dmitry Grinberg's related ZBD EPOP work and flashed with cc-tool plus TI CC Debugger hardware. The badge firmware displayed a hardcoded image, emitted the badge MAC address and image hash over 9600-baud UART, and was patched per attendee by replacing embedded one-bit 240x96 image data and hash strings before reflashing.

Lore

The original self-service station plan used ESP32-based CC flashing and an online configurator, but the conference run fell back to a Bluetooth barcode scanner, a local script, a CC Debugger, and a programming jig. Around 200 finished badges reached PhreakNIC in different case colors.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

attendee customization source-backed

QR-backed badge image configurator

A unique 3D-printed QR code on each case led attendees to a configurator for frame selection, name text, size, and position before firmware generation.

Compatibility: PhreakNIC 26 Electronic Shelf Label Badge

Source

firmware workflow source-backed

Per-attendee firmware image patching

The badge update pipeline patched one-bit 240x96 image data and a hash into a base firmware image, then reflashed the badge with cc-tool and CC Debugger hardware.

Compatibility: PhreakNIC 26 Electronic Shelf Label Badge

Source

production tooling source-backed

DB9 pogo programming jig

Mog noticed the exposed pad spacing lined up well enough with DB9/DE9 connector pins, leading to a pogo-pin cable and CC Debugger flashing workflow.

Compatibility: PhreakNIC 26 Electronic Shelf Label Badge

Source

reused hardware platform source-backed

Reclaimed ZBD 55c-RB display core

The badge reused surplus ZBD 55c-RB / EPOP55 electronic shelf labels with CC1110 control hardware and a bistable LCD that keeps its image without power.

Compatibility: PhreakNIC 26 Electronic Shelf Label Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

firmware-patching risk note

Each visual update required flashing a newly patched firmware image instead of writing display data to EEPROM.

The project owner notes that interrupted flashing could leave a badge in a broken state; EEPROM storage is listed as a future improvement.

Confidence: project-owner writeup
Status: documented
Timeframe: PhreakNIC 26 badge update process
Source note: Official PN26 Electronic Badge writeup.

missing rights-cleared image note

No PhreakNIC 26 badge image is published because the available project-writeup and article photos do not include the full source URL, reusable license or explicit permission basis, attribution, and processing provenance required by badge.gallery; a May 22, 2026 CrumpSpace recheck found real optimized badge photos but no visible reusable photo license or permission statement.

The record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying article media, site-optimized photos, screenshots, generated art, or other unclear imagery.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, CrumpSpace project writeup image HTML, CrumpSpace footer/license check, and Hackaday article media audit.

programming-station fallback note

The intended ESP32 self-service programming station was not reliable enough with the FDM-printed cases and tiny pogo-pad alignment before the conference.

Badge updates were handled manually at the event with a Bluetooth barcode scanner, local script, CC Debugger, and programming jig.

Confidence: project-owner writeup
Status: documented
Timeframe: PhreakNIC 26 field deployment
Source note: Official PN26 Electronic Badge writeup.

Resources

Dmitry Grinberg ESL reverse-engineering notes reverse-engineering reference · Technical reference named by the project owner as the source code and documentation base for related ZBD EPOP shelf-label firmware work. ESP CC Flasher tool repository · Tool source named in the project writeup as the ESP32-based CC1110 flashing path that informed the planned badge programming stations. Hackaday PN26 ESL badge coverage article · Secondary technical coverage corroborating the official badge claim, ZBD 55c-RB electronic shelf-label reuse, DB9 pogo programming approach, QR customization, and conference field workflow. Official PN26 Electronic Badge project-owner writeup · Primary project-owner source for official-badge status, reclaimed ZBD 55c-RB / EPOP55 hardware, CC1110 pinout, flashing workflow, customization pipeline, production count, and credits. PhreakNIC 26 schedule official event schedule · Official PhreakNIC 26 source for November 14-15, 2025 dates, Murfreesboro, Tennessee location, and Tyler Crumpton's electronic shelf-label talk.

Sources

CrumpSpace / Tyler Crumpton: Official PN26 Electronic Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source proving that the artifact was the official PN26 electronic badge and documenting hardware, firmware, tooling, production, caveats, and thanks. Dmitry Grinberg: Dmitry Grinberg ESL reverse-engineering reference Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Referenced technical basis for related ZBD EPOP firmware behavior and display work used by the PN26 badge project. GitHub / atc1441: ESP_CC_Flasher Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Referenced tool repository for ESP32-assisted CC1110 flashing and the planned programming-station path. Hackaday: Shelf Life Extended: Hacking E-Waste Tags Into Conference Badges Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Corroborating secondary source for the official badge, reclaimed shelf-label design, DB9 pogo-pin programming, QR customization, and field update fallback. PhreakNIC: Schedule Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event source establishing PhreakNIC 26 dates, location, schedule context, and Tyler Crumpton's talk on electronic shelf labels.