Electromagnetic Wave 2013 · United Kingdom · 2013

SiNE

EMW2013 LED and IR badge

A small Electromagnetic Wave badge with ATTiny44A, 20 location LEDs, IR receiver/transmitter, unique-ID beacon behavior, coin-cell power, and a ship-wide treasure hunt.

EMW EMF ATTiny44A IR LEDs Scavenger Hunt Locator

EventElectromagnetic Wave 2013

SeriesElectromagnetic Wave

LocationMilton Keynes

CountryUnited Kingdom

People

Authors & Credits

SiNE SMT assembly sponsor

Ciseco

Listed by the EMF badge wiki as donating time to build badges on its SMT assembly line.

Source

SiNE parts sponsor

Twilio

Listed by the EMF badge wiki as sponsor for parts needed to make the badges.

Source

Why It Mattered

SiNE is one of the clearest examples of a badge designed to alter camp play directly: it was a wearable object, game piece, status indicator, locator-beacon participant, and privacy lesson.

Hardware

The EMF badge wiki lists an ATTiny44A MCU, 74HCT164AD shift register, 20 0805 LEDs for hidden locations, IR receiver, IR sender, 2032 coin cell, ISP header, and development boards used before final production.

Software & Apps

Firmware and wiki records document a treasure-hunt flow where found IR beacons light corresponding LEDs, EEPROM preservation of found locations, a 9-bit badge ID shown on LEDs A-I, ID transmission around five times a second, and avrdude/ISP flashing with t44 part and fuse settings.

Lore

SiNE turned Electromagnetic Wave's Stubnitz venue into a clue map. It also planned attendee movement trails through Raspberry Pi receivers, while documenting that the badge ID could be erased and that the Raspberry Pis were ultimately not set up, so no locator data was collected.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

camp-game extension historical

Treasure-hunt LED alphabet

The wiki describes hidden beacons around EMWave/Stubnitz: reaching a clue location and holding the badge near the matching letter lit the corresponding location LED, with progress preserved in EEPROM.

Compatibility: SiNE / EMW2013

Source

hardware development artifact historical

Development-board bring-up path

The team built three development boards before final production so hardware wiring could be checked and firmware could be written while the final badges were produced.

Compatibility: SiNE / EMW2013

Source

hardware hacking workflow documented

ISP flashing and fuse settings

The badge wiki documents avrdude/ISP flashing for ATTiny44A with t44 part flag and low/high/extended fuse values, pointing deeper work to the firmware Makefile.

Compatibility: SiNE / EMW2013

Source

privacy/control feature historical

Locator ID and erase workflow

Each badge transmitted a random 9-bit ID about five times a second, showed the ID on LEDs A-I at power-up or with the ID button, and allowed users to clear the ID by holding Erase.

Compatibility: SiNE / EMW2013

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

documentation/lore note

The clue list and badge behavior are preserved, but the wiki notes some details were only filled in after EMWave had passed and still left some answers to be added.

The hidden-beacon mechanic is source-backed, while exact participant gameplay reconstruction remains partial.

Confidence: primary wiki
Status: historical
Timeframe: during event
Source note: EMF Badge Wiki SiNE page.

flashing caveat note

Firmware hacking required ISP programming, avrdude, the ATTiny44A t44 part flag, and specific fuse values rather than a beginner-friendly USB bootloader path.

The badge was hackable, but deeper firmware work assumed AVR tooling and care around fuse configuration.

Confidence: primary wiki and firmware repository
Status: documented
Timeframe: badge hacking workflow
Source note: EMF Badge Wiki flashing/fuse notes and SiNE-Firmware repository.

locator privacy note

SiNE was designed to transmit a random badge ID to Raspberry Pis around the ship for movement trails, with public data planned after the event and a user-visible erase workflow.

The plan makes SiNE an early example of a playful badge feature with privacy implications; the wiki also states that the Raspberry Pis were never set up, so no location data was collected.

Confidence: primary wiki
Status: not collected
Timeframe: during event
Source note: EMF Badge Wiki SiNE page.

missing rights-cleared image note

No SiNE 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 Kingdom 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 EMF SiNE source trail.

Resources

SiNE PCB repository source · Public archived PCB repository with Gerbers, production board files, schematic files, and dev-board files. SiNE badge wiki official wiki · Primary EMF badge wiki page for treasure hunt, locator ID behavior, sponsors, dev boards, flashing, components, PCB, and firmware links. SiNE firmware repository firmware · Public archived firmware repository linked from the EMF badge wiki. SiNE flashing and fuses hardware hacking notes · Wiki notes for avrdude, ISP programming, ATTiny44A part flag, and low/high/extended fuse values.

Sources

EMF Badge Wiki: SiNE Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for SiNE's treasure hunt, locator ID behavior, sponsor credits, dev boards, flashing/fuse notes, components, and linked resources. GitHub: SiNE-PCB Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Archived source repository linked from the badge wiki, with Gerbers and Eagle board/schematic files. GitHub: SiNE-Firmware Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Archived firmware repository linked from the badge wiki.