SAINTCON 2019 · United States · 2019

SAINTCON 2019 Enigma Badge

STM32 and iCE40 Enigma-machine badge with linked-ring challenge

The SAINTCON 2019 Enigma Badge was a two-board electronic conference badge shaped as a segment of an Enigma rotor, combining a curved RGB LED matrix, lampboard LEDs, 26 buttons, plugboard wiring, minibadge-holder support, and badge-to-badge connectors for a cooperative ring challenge.

SAINTCON United States Utah Provo Enigma STM32L433 ICE40HX1K FPGA RGB Matrix Minibadge DFU Badge Challenge North America

EventSAINTCON 2019

SeriesSAINTCON

LocationUtah Valley Convention Center, Provo, Utah

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge co-designer and firmware contributor

bashNinja

The creator write-up credits @_bashNinja as co-designer and says most badge firmware was written by @_bashNinja and compukidmike.

Source

badge designer, write-up author, and repository publisher

Michael Whiteley / compukidmike

The MK Factor write-up says the 2019 badge was designed by compukidmike and bashNinja, and the SAINTCON video title identifies Michael Whiteley as the badge-talk presenter.

Source

event and official archive publisher

UtahSAINT / SAINTCON

The official archive and attendee letter establish SAINTCON 2019's dates, venue, Enigma theme, badge framing, minibadge culture, and Hardware Hacking Community context.

Source

first-day firmware support

Sodium_Hydrogen

The firmware section credits @Sodium_Hydrogen with jumping in to help during the first day of the conference.

Source

first-day firmware support

risenrigel

The firmware section credits @risenrigel with jumping in to help during the first day of the conference.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds the Utah SAINTCON lineage to the compendium with a high-production North American badge whose conference game explicitly required attendee collaboration: rings of 26 badges, Hut 6 message pickup, Commander-badge interaction, and Enigma decoding were part of the intended social hardware surface.

Hardware

The creator write-up documents two stacked PCBs with a top four-layer board, a curved 16x64 RGB LED matrix, Lattice ICE40HX1K FPGA display drive, STM32L433 microcontroller, 26 buttons, 26 RGB lampboard LEDs, a 1500mAh LiPo battery between the boards, plugboard connectors, edge connectors for badge rings, minibadge-holder connectors, I2C port-expander control for chained minibadge boards, and 1051 LEDs including the charge indicator.

Software & Apps

The public repository preserves STM32CubeIDE firmware, the Icestudio FPGA design, release HEX files for the STM32 and FPGA, KiCad/Gerber hardware material, PDFs for badge instructions, code sheet, build instructions, minibadge-holder build instructions, and challenge messages. The README documents DFU flashing with STM32CubeProgrammer, optional ST-Link V2 development, test mode, and a post-event firmware path that lets a single owner finish the challenge at home.

Lore

The official 2019 letter frames the event theme as The Enigma and says the badge provided a challenge. The creator write-up explains that each badge represented one of 26 rotor notches, that attendees linked rings of 26 badges, visited a Hut 6 teleprinter station for intercepted messages, decoded them on the badge, and later formed Commander-assisted rings to progress.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge-to-badge challenge historical

Twenty-six-badge Enigma ring

The creator write-up says each badge represented one of 26 rotor notches and that attendees connected rings of 26 badges to receive and advance challenge messages.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2019 Enigma Badge

Source

challenge mechanic historical

Commander badge progression

The write-up documents special Commander badges used by SAINTCON Committee members to help Agent rings progress through later challenge stages.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2019 Badge Challenge

Source

event challenge station historical

Hut 6 teleprinter challenge station

Attendees visited a Hut 6 station with a teleprinter-style receipt printer to receive intercepted messages for Enigma decoding.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2019 Badge Challenge

Source

expansion hardware source-backed

Minibadge holder boards

The badge used a bottom connector for minibadge holder boards, I2C port expanders, individual minibadge power control, and chaining of up to eight boards.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2019 Enigma Badge

Source

firmware workflow documented

STM32 DFU and FPGA reflash path

The README documents STM32CubeProgrammer DFU flashing, separate STM32 and FPGA HEX files, TEST-pin bootstrapping, and first-boot test mode.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2019 Enigma Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

destructive reflash caveat note

The README warns that reprogramming erases badge memory, including challenge progress and custom messages.

Surviving-badge owners should preserve state before using the documented post-event firmware path or DFU flashing workflow.

Confidence: repository README
Status: documented
Timeframe: post-event challenge workflow
Source note: Saintcon 2019 Enigma Badge README.

missing rights-cleared image note

No SAINTCON 2019 badge image is published because the creator write-up, archive, video, and repository visuals have not been paired with complete original-photo provenance, explicit reuse rights, attribution, and processing notes.

The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying blog, conference, video-thumbnail, or repository imagery without a clear license.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, MK Factor write-up images, SAINTCON archive images, and compukidmike/Saintcon2019 repository.

repository-license caveat note

The public GitHub repository exposes source, hardware files, PDFs, and images but GitHub reports no detected repository license in this pass.

The catalogue can cite the repository as evidence, but it does not republish repository media or claim a blanket reuse license for hardware files, photos, or PDFs.

Confidence: GitHub metadata
Status: documented for source only
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: GitHub repository metadata and badge.gallery image policy.

Resources

SAINTCON 2019 Enigma Badge repository source repo · Public GitHub repository preserving badge firmware, hardware files, PDFs, FPGA design, and release images; repository has no detected license for media reuse in this pass. SAINTCON 2019 archive official event archive · Official mirror source for October 22-25, 2019 dates, Provo, Utah location, and event context. SAINTCON 2019 badge README source · Raw README source for post-event challenge use, DFU flashing, STM32CubeProgrammer, ST-Link V2 development, firmware directories, FPGA Icestudio source, and warning that flashing erases badge memory. SAINTCON 2019 badge challenge PDF challenge artifact · Repository challenge PDF referenced by the README for post-event challenge play. SAINTCON 2019 badge talk talk video · SAINTCON-published badge talk video titled SAINTCON 2019 - Michael Whiteley - The Badge Talk. SAINTCON 2019 firmware tree firmware source · Repository firmware tree for the STM32CubeIDE badge firmware project. SAINTCON 2019 hardware tree hardware source · Repository hardware tree with KiCad files, Gerbers, board schematics, and minibadge-holder schematics. SAINTCON 2019 letter from Jup1t3r official attendee letter · Official attendee letter documenting The Enigma theme, Utah Valley Convention Center venue, badge handout, badge challenge, minibadges, and Hardware Hacking Community context. Saintcon Enigma Badge write-up creator writeup · MK Factor creator write-up for the Enigma badge design, STM32L433, ICE40HX1K FPGA, LED matrix, lampboard, minibadges, badge-ring challenge, firmware, production, and credits.

Sources