X-CTF 2016 Badge
NUS Greyhats' X-CTF 2016 finals used a custom ESP8266 electronic badge documented by the official event page, the badge designer's hardware and firmware writeups, and public hardware and firmware repositories.
X-CTF
X-CTF 2016
The June 18, 2016 NUS Greyhats student cybersecurity finals in Singapore whose participants received a custom ESP8266 electronic badge with LCD, buttons, LiPo power, and public challenge firmware.
NUS School of Computing, Singapore · Singapore · 2016
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
X-CTF 2016 Badge
released
CTF firmware apps
The firmware repository preserves applet, challenge, Wi-Fi scanner, LCD, and game source modules for the event badge firmware.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
source-backed
Six-button input surface
The badge used multiple buttons for menu and challenge interaction, with GPIO support preserved in the public firmware.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
source-backed
Nokia 5110 / PCD8544 LCD
The firmware and hardware trail document a Nokia 5110-style PCD8544 LCD as the badge display surface.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
source-backed
ESP8266 badge core
The hardware writeup and repository document the badge around an ESP8266 module with USB serial programming and Wi-Fi features.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
source-backed
LiPo charging and portable power
The hardware trail documents lithium-polymer battery power and MCP73831-based charging for portable badge use.
Operational history
Issues & Camp Impact
X-CTF 2016 Badge
note
The public firmware repository preserves participant-side badge code and CTF apps, but this pass did not recover every private organizer backend, provisioning script, or final competition infrastructure artifact.
The software section describes the recovered badge firmware without overclaiming complete event infrastructure publication.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
note
The public hardware repository preserves Eagle design files and badge imagery but GitHub reported no detected license, and no top-level reusable hardware or image license was recovered in this pass.
Hardware files are cited as evidence, but repository images are not copied locally and reuse claims stay limited.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
note
The hardware repository and writeups include real badge imagery, but no image is promoted because this pass did not recover a complete reusable image license, attribution basis, and processing provenance for catalogue publication.
The Singapore record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying repository photos, sponsor artwork, or blog images without complete image rights.
X-CTF 2016 Badge
note
X-CTF was a student cybersecurity competition rather than a general public hacker conference, but the official event page and badge-maker sources document a real event-specific electronic badge and firmware challenge surface.
The record is included as a Singapore hacker-culture competition badge while keeping the event type explicit.
Resources
X-CTF 2016 event page
event page · NUS Greyhats page documenting X-CTF 2016 as a cyber-security competition at NUS School of Computing on June 18, 2016 after online qualifiers.
geekman/badger
firmware repository · Public firmware repository for the X-CTF 2016 badge, including Arduino-style ESP8266 code, LCD, Wi-Fi scanner, applet, challenge, and game modules.
X-CTF 2016 Badge Firmware
firmware writeup · Darell Tan's firmware writeup for the badge software, challenge apps, LCD/GPIO support, and post-event code release.
neander hardware README
hardware documentation · Repository hardware README pointing to the BOM and production writeup.
jellyjellyrobot/neander
hardware repository · Public hardware repository preserving Eagle board and schematic files, BOM notes, libraries, and sponsor image assets; no top-level GitHub license was detected during the 2026-05-21 recheck.
Designing the X-CTF 2016 Badge
hardware writeup · Darell Tan's hardware-production writeup for the badge, used for component, board, power, display, and manufacturing context.
badger firmware license
repository license · BSD-3-Clause-style license source naming Darell Tan and Jacob Soo as 2016 copyright holders.
Sources
GitHub / Darell Tan and Jacob Soo: geekman/badger
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary firmware repository preserving the BSD-licensed participant firmware and source modules.
GitHub / X-CTF badge team: jellyjellyrobot/neander
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Public hardware repository preserving Eagle board/schematic files, BOM reference, and hardware readme; used as evidence for source availability, not image publication.
GitHub / geekman: LICENSE.txt
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Firmware license source for BSD-3-Clause redistribution terms; the hardware repository still lacks a top-level visible license.
NUS Greyhats: X-CTF 2016
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event source for X-CTF 2016, NUS School of Computing location, June 18, 2016 finals date, and student-team cybersecurity competition framing.
irq5.io / Darell Tan: Designing the X-CTF 2016 Badge
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary badge-maker hardware source for the custom X-CTF 2016 electronic badge, ESP8266 platform, LCD, buttons, LiPo power, USB serial programming, manufacturing constraints, sponsor artwork, and public hardware handoff.
irq5.io / Darell Tan: X-CTF 2016 Badge Firmware
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary badge-maker software source for the firmware architecture, CTF apps, Wi-Fi scanning, LCD/GPIO drivers, and public firmware release.