ShmooCon
The January 19-21, 2018 ShmooCon XIV edition at the Washington Hilton, whose public conference record and attendee write-up preserve a battery-powered WiFi signal-strength meter badge with last-minute reflashing and parts-shipping caveats.
Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC · United States · 2018
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.
Lifecycle
The badge was described by an attendee as a practical, battery-powered WiFi signal-strength meter rather than a decorative-only blinky.
A contemporary Hackaday.io project log describes the ShmooCon 2018 badge as basically an ESP8266 with serially addressable LEDs.
The same Hackaday.io log identifies the enclosure as an injection-molded rocket shell and credits Jaycon Systems for the production path.
An attendee report says factory firmware left LEDs blindingly bright, requiring all badges to be reflashed just before the conference.
Operational history
The catalogue avoids claiming pinouts, radio firmware internals, LED counts, or final production files until an official or creator archive is found.
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.
The record preserves manufacturing and logistics context as part of the badge's historical importance rather than presenting it as a frictionless production run.