DEFCON China

DEFCON China 1.0

The first official international DEFCON edition, whose Joe Grand-designed flexible PCB badge used a tree-lighting game, USB, accelerometer input, role variants, and open design files.

Beijing · China · 2019

DEFCON China 1.0 Badge

A Grand Idea Studio badge for the first official international DEFCON edition, built as an artistic flexible-substrate PCB with 32 LEDs, USB connectivity, accelerometer input, role-color artwork variants, and a task-completion tree-lighting game.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

DEFCON China 1.0 Badge source-backed

event game

Tree-lighting conference task game

Attendees illuminated roots and branches of the badge's tree by completing conference tasks, with completion turning the badge into a sparkling tree display.

Compatibility: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge

DEFCON China 1.0 Badge source-backed

hardware architecture

Flexible-PCB hardware stack

The badge used a flexible substrate PCB with ATmega328P control, accelerometer input, USB serial, CR2032 power, and 32 LEDs driven through shift-register logic.

Compatibility: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge

DEFCON China 1.0 Badge source-backed

hardware expansion

FPC shield and breakout ecosystem

Grand Idea Studio published shield and breakout documentation, Gerbers, OSH Park links, and Arduino Uno source so attendees could isolate and hack the flexible badge hardware.

Compatibility: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge

DEFCON China 1.0 Badge source-backed

workshop

Badge hacking workshop path

The official workshop slides documented guided hacking paths for attendees working with the flexible-PCB badge and related hardware.

Compatibility: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

DEFCON China 1.0 Badge note

image provenance upgrade · official page license and exact raster source · licensed original replacement applied

The DEFCON China 1.0 visual uses Grand Idea Studio's official `dcn1_bdg_img1.webp` badge photo under the project page's Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International design-license statement.

The public badge page, image archive, and API now point at a real upstream badge photo with source URL, license, attribution, and processing notes preserved.

Resources

DEFCON China 1.0 block diagram hardware source · Block diagram source for ATmega328P/Arduino Mini core, LIS3DH accelerometer, FT231X USB serial bridge, 32 LEDs, 74HC595 LED driver, FPC edge connector, MCP1700 regulator, and CR2032 power. DEFCON China 1.0 schematic hardware source · Schematic source for USB, MCU, accelerometer, LED matrix, FPC, SAO-related wiring, battery, regulator, and CC BY 4.0 distribution statement. DEFCON China 1.0 badge photo image source · Official Grand Idea Studio project-page WebP used as the local rights-cleared badge image under the project page's CC BY 4.0 design-license statement. DEFCON China 1.0 badge project page project page · Grand Idea Studio project page documenting the first official international DEFCON badge, flexible PCB, tree game, USB, accelerometer, CR2032 power, 3,300-unit production, role variants, CC BY 4.0 design license, and documentation links. Creating the DEFCON China 1.0 Badge slides slides · Joe Grand slide deck for concept, prototyping, manufacturing, and production challenges behind the badge. InfoconDB talk record talk record · Talk record documenting the May 31, 2019 Creating the DEFCON China 1.0 Badge presentation and Joe Grand presenter credit. DEFCON China 1.0 badge hacking workshop workshop slides · Workshop slide source for attendee hacking paths around the flexible PCB badge and support hardware.

Sources

Grand Idea Studio: Creating the DEFCON China 1.0 Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary slide source for badge concept, prototyping, manufacturing, and production-process context. Grand Idea Studio: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for first-official-international-DEFCON claim, flexible-substrate PCB, tree-lighting game, USB, accelerometer, CR2032 power, 3,300 badges, role variants, CC BY 4.0 design license, and documentation set. Grand Idea Studio: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge Block Diagram Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary hardware source for ATmega328P/Arduino Mini, LIS3DH, FT231X, 32 LEDs, 74HC595 LED driver, FPC edge connector, MCP1700 regulator, and coin-cell power architecture. Grand Idea Studio: DEFCON China 1.0 Badge Schematic Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary schematic source for component-level wiring and CC BY 4.0 design-file distribution. Grand Idea Studio: dcn1_bdg_img1.webp Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Image-provenance source for the official DEFCON China 1.0 badge photo published on the Grand Idea Studio project page; the page states that all designs are distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. InfoconDB: Creating the DEFCON China 1.0 Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Talk metadata source for presentation date, first DEFCON China event context, and Joe Grand presenter attribution.