Hack the North open-sources ESP32 conference badge design after 1,750-unit production run
The organizers of Canada's largest hackathon have released as open source the complete hardware designs, firmware, and browser-based emulator for their custom ESP32 conference badge.
Summary
Hack the North 2026 organizers designed and manufactured 1,750 programmable electronic badges based on the ESP32 microcontroller, with a color display, addressable LEDs, NFC, Bluetooth, and an accelerometer. After resolving multiple hardware and manufacturing issues, the team produced badges at approximately $11.60 per unit. The hardware designs, custom firmware with Lua runtime, and a browser-based emulator are now available as open source projects.
Badge hardware and software architecture
- Microcontroller: ESP32 with custom firmware providing a programmable platform
- Display: Small color display connected via FPC connector (revised from direct ribbon-cable soldering)
- I/O: Buttons, addressable LEDs, audio output, wireless connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi implied by ESP32)
- Sensors: Accelerometer for motion-based interactions
- NFC: Revised from tag-only to reader-capable chip after prototype discovery
- Power: Battery with FET-based reverse-polarity protection added after validation-run failures
- Software stack: Lua runtime for attendee applications, browser-based code editor, onboard shell for file and settings access
- Manufacturing: 1,750 populated boards plus 750 unpopulated boards for volunteers; 50-unit validation run revealed assembly orientation errors
Why it matters
The open-source release provides a complete reference design for ESP32-based wearable electronics, including lessons from scaling from prototype to 1,750-unit production. The browser-based emulator lowers the barrier for developers to experiment without hardware.
Original reference: www.hackster.io →