ToorCon San Diego 20 · United States · 2018

ToorCon 20 Official Badge

SMD Challenge and 8-bit art badge

The ToorCon San Diego 20 badge is preserved here as a 400-kit official-badge request that folded MakersBox's SMD Challenge into a larger 8-bit-art conference badge with hidden codes, eight SMD LEDs, and an ATtiny84.

ToorCon United States San Diego SMD Challenge ATtiny84 SMD LEDs 0201 LED 8-bit Art Puzzle Badge MakersBox North America

EventToorCon San Diego 20

SeriesToorCon

LocationSan Diego Westin Emerald Plaza, San Diego, California

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

SMD Challenge builder and project-log author

MakersBox

Hackaday.io attributes the ToorCon badge-builder log to MakersBox, who documents the 400-kit request, LED challenge, art/code caveats, and assembly warning.

Source

assembly video author

Piotr Esden-Tempski

The builder log points struggling attendees to Piotr Esden-Tempski's assembly video for getting started with the badge.

Source

event and badge context

ToorCon

InfoconDB preserves the ToorCon San Diego 20 event metadata; the Hackaday.io log ties the SMD Challenge work to that year's ToorCon badge request.

Source

Why It Mattered

It adds ToorCon's San Diego lineage to the North American compendium and captures a badge where puzzle artwork, deliberately difficult soldering, and small-run hardware production were part of the attendee experience.

Hardware

The Hackaday.io builder log says the SMD Challenge was only a small part of the badge, but identifies eight SMD LEDs, one 0201 LED, and an ATtiny84 whose orientation mattered during assembly. It also notes 400 kits for ToorCon.

Software & Apps

No public firmware repository, schematic bundle, or official badge manual was recovered in this pass. The record therefore limits software claims to code/puzzle surfaces and the ATtiny84-based SMD Challenge behavior described by the builder.

Lore

MakersBox wrote that a request for more SMD Challenges for ToorCon became a request to help with the official badge. The same log says the badge carried many codes, 8-bit art, and 'Toor' plus heart-cat references, while deliberately withholding the secrets and Gerber files.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge puzzle surface source-backed

8-bit art and hidden code surface

The log says the badge carried 8-bit art plus many codes in many places while withholding the exact meanings and Gerber artwork.

Compatibility: ToorCon 20 Official Badge

Source

microcontroller source-backed

ATtiny84 badge controller

The same source identifies the controller as an ATtiny84 and warns that incorrect orientation leaves the badge non-functional.

Compatibility: ToorCon 20 Official Badge

Source

soldering challenge source-backed

Eight-LED SMD Challenge

The builder log says the ToorCon badge incorporated an SMD Challenge with eight LEDs, including one smaller 0201 LED.

Compatibility: ToorCon 20 Official Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No ToorCon 20 badge image is published because the Hackaday.io project photos and screenshots 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 project-gallery 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 and Hackaday.io project media.

official-source caveat note

The badge record relies on a public builder log that frames the work as an official-badge request, but this pass did not recover an official ToorCon badge guide, repository, schematic set, or firmware archive.

The catalogue keeps the official-badge wording tied to the cited log and avoids claiming complete production ownership, final challenge rules, or released design files.

Confidence: builder-log backed
Status: needs deeper archive recovery
Timeframe: current ToorCon 20 pass
Source note: Hackaday.io Official Toorcon Badge? log and InfoconDB event metadata.

withheld puzzle files note

The builder log explicitly says the author was sworn to secrecy and forced to burn Gerber files, so the public record intentionally withholds the art secrets and full board files.

Future archive work should seek official or creator permission before treating private Gerbers, puzzle art, or code meanings as publishable catalogue evidence.

Confidence: source-backed
Status: documented
Timeframe: 2018 badge-builder report
Source note: Hackaday.io Official Toorcon Badge? log.

Resources

Official Toorcon Badge? project log · Hackaday.io source for the ToorCon badge request, 400 kits, SMD Challenge role, hidden codes, 8-bit art, eight SMD LEDs, 0201 LED, ATtiny84, and assembly-video pointer. ToorCon San Diego 20 InfoconDB record event metadata · InfoconDB source for ToorCon San Diego 20 dates, San Diego Westin Emerald Plaza venue, San Diego location, and schedule context.

Sources

Hackaday.io / MakersBox: Official Toorcon Badge? Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Builder-log source for the official-badge request wording, 400 kits, SMD Challenge integration, hidden-code/art surfaces, eight SMD LEDs, 0201 LED, ATtiny84, and assembly warning. InfoconDB: ToorCon San Diego 20 (2018) Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Event metadata source for September 10-16, 2018 dates, San Diego Westin Emerald Plaza venue, and ToorCon San Diego 20 schedule context.