ShmooCon XIV · United States · 2018

ShmooCon 2018 WiFi Rocket Badge

Battery-powered WiFi signal-strength badge

The ShmooCon XIV badge is preserved here as a battery-powered WiFi signal-strength meter from the 2018 Washington, DC conference, with corroborating public notes for an ESP8266 core, serially addressable LEDs, and an injection-molded rocket enclosure.

ShmooCon United States Washington DC ESP8266 WiFi Signal Strength Meter LEDs Injection Molded Enclosure Rocket Badge Jaycon Systems North America

EventShmooCon XIV

SeriesShmooCon

LocationWashington Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

ShmooCon top-level organizer attribution

Heidi and Bruce

The 0wn the Con organizer deck names Heidi and Bruce in top-level decisions, sponsorship, graphics, and related conference operations context.

Source

attendee field-report author

MaxVT

Author of the attendee report used for WiFi signal-strength behavior, missing-parts-box context, and just-before-conference reflash detail.

Source

contemporary Hackaday.io project source author

Benchoff

Author of the Hackaday.io project log used for ESP8266, LED, molded-enclosure, Jaycon Systems, and badgelife influence evidence.

Source

event and organizer source

ShmooCon

ShmooCon Press preserves the 14th ShmooCon conference context, while the 0wn the Con deck preserves organizer-side badge operations evidence.

Source

injection-molded badge production attribution

Jaycon Systems

The Hackaday.io source says the ShmooCon 2018 ESP8266 LED rocket badge work was done by Jaycon Systems.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds ShmooCon's Washington, DC lineage to the North American compendium and captures a practical signal-finding badge that also influenced badgelife manufacturing expectations through its molded enclosure and production scramble.

Hardware

An attendee report describes the badge as a battery-powered WiFi signal-strength meter. A contemporary Hackaday.io project-owner note, written after attending ShmooCon, describes that year's ShmooCon badge as ESP8266-based with serially addressable LEDs and a fancy injection-molded rocket enclosure made by Jaycon Systems.

Software & Apps

Public sources do not expose a firmware repository in this pass. The record is limited to reported WiFi signal-strength behavior and the pre-conference firmware-reflash note rather than claiming an open software stack.

Lore

The attendee write-up says a box of badge parts went missing and factory firmware drove LEDs too brightly, so all badges had to be reflashed just before the conference. ShmooCon's own 0wn the Con deck also preserves a material badge budget line for that organizing year.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge utility attendee-reported

Battery-powered WiFi signal meter

The badge was described by an attendee as a practical, battery-powered WiFi signal-strength meter rather than a decorative-only blinky.

Compatibility: ShmooCon 2018 WiFi Rocket Badge

Source

hardware architecture source-backed

ESP8266 LED badge core

A contemporary Hackaday.io project log describes the ShmooCon 2018 badge as basically an ESP8266 with serially addressable LEDs.

Compatibility: ShmooCon 2018 WiFi Rocket Badge

Source

mechanical enclosure source-backed

Injection-molded rocket enclosure

The same Hackaday.io log identifies the enclosure as an injection-molded rocket shell and credits Jaycon Systems for the production path.

Compatibility: ShmooCon 2018 WiFi Rocket Badge

Source

production recovery attendee-reported

Pre-conference firmware reflash

An attendee report says factory firmware left LEDs blindingly bright, requiring all badges to be reflashed just before the conference.

Compatibility: ShmooCon 2018 WiFi Rocket Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

hardware-detail caveat note

Public sources in this pass describe the badge's role, ESP8266 class, LED behavior, enclosure, and production trouble, but no complete schematic, firmware repository, BOM, or official badge guide was recovered.

The catalogue avoids claiming pinouts, radio firmware internals, LED counts, or final production files until an official or creator archive is found.

Confidence: corroborated but incomplete
Status: needs deeper archive recovery
Timeframe: current ShmooCon 2018 pass
Source note: MaxVT attendee report, Hackaday.io project-owner log, and ShmooCon organizer deck.

missing rights-cleared image note

No ShmooCon 2018 badge image is published because the proceedings reserve image rights and the available attendee/project photos 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 proceedings, attendee-report, or Hackaday.io project imagery without a clear catalogue reuse basis.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, ShmooCon Proceedings publication notice, MaxVT report media, and Hackaday.io project media.

production scramble note

The attendee report says one box of badge parts went missing and factory firmware set LEDs too bright, forcing a pre-conference badge reflash.

The record preserves manufacturing and logistics context as part of the badge's historical importance rather than presenting it as a frictionless production run.

Confidence: attendee-reported
Status: documented
Timeframe: just before ShmooCon XIV
Source note: MaxVT ShmooCon 2018 conference notes.

Resources

2018 ShmooCon Proceedings official proceedings · ShmooCon Press source for the 14th ShmooCon context, all-rights-reserved publication notice, and image-rights boundary. How I built one MrRobotBadge project log · Contemporary Hackaday.io source for ESP8266, serially addressable LEDs, injection-molded rocket enclosure, Jaycon Systems, and badgelife manufacturing context. ShmooCon 2018 0wn the Con deck organizer deck · ShmooCon organizer deck preserving the 2018 operating context, badge contest department, and badge budget line. ShmooCon 2018 conference notes attendee report · First-hand attendee source for the battery-powered WiFi signal-strength badge, missing parts box, bright factory firmware, and just-before-conference reflash. ShmooCon XIV InfoconDB record event metadata · InfoconDB source for ShmooCon XIV dates, Washington Hilton venue, Washington, DC location, and event schedule context.

Sources

Hackaday.io / Benchoff: How I built one MrRobotBadge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Contemporary project-owner source for the ESP8266, serially addressable LEDs, injection-molded rocket enclosure, Jaycon Systems manufacturing attribution, and badgelife influence. InfoconDB: ShmooCon XIV (2018) Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Event metadata source for January 19-21, 2018 dates, Washington Hilton venue, Washington, DC location, and schedule context. MaxVT's Home On The Net: ShmooCon 2018 conference notes Retrieved 2026-05-15 · First-hand attendee source for the battery-powered WiFi signal-strength meter badge, missing-parts-box production issue, and pre-conference reflash. ShmooCon: 0wn the Con Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Organizer deck source for badge contest operations and a badge budget line in ShmooCon's public operating retrospective. ShmooCon Press / GitBook: 2018 ShmooCon Proceedings Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official proceedings source for the 14th ShmooCon context and publication/image-rights boundary.