OrangeCon 2026 Badge on OrangeCon Badge

Introduction

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

What’s up with these badges?

These badges are interactive devices designed to make Orangecon more fun and force some socialization. They track your interactions, help you earn points, and let you compete on a leaderboard. Think of it as a mix between a digital companion and a gamified social experience. After the con they can be reflashed to become any number of useful tools. (hint. the 10:05 talk at Track 1 by Slawomir Jasek should inspire you a little)

How it works?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

While activated, the badge at the same time broadcasts and listens to Bluetooth Low Energy advertising signal.

It is also connected via wifi to the central server.

Troubleshooting

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

Known issues and limitations

The battery level indicator is not very accurate.

No connectivity

In the top left corner of the display there is a connectivity indicator:

How secure is it?

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

This is for you to find out;)))

Privacy

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

Each badge features a unique, random ID and name with no connection to your personal identity.

To keep track of points, the system simply records interactions between badges (for example, when Badge A pairs with Badge B) without us ever knowing who owns them. The leaderboard displays entirely anonymous data and will remain online after duration of the event.

Badge hardware

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

M5Stack M5StickS3 hardware specs:

Integrated ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8 main controller
8MB Flash and 8MB PSRAM
ES8311 mono audio codec chip
MEMS microphone + speaker
Integrated IR transmitter + IR receiver
Magnetic back design
Expansion interfaces:
Expandable Hat2 bus (2.54-16P)
HY2.0-4P interface
240x135 Display

3D printing cases

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0100

We want to thank iksteen for providing the badge case design, as well as printing over 400(!) of them for our conference, details for building your own customised case can be found on github.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:30:56 +0100

So, I’ve heard they can be reused, but I don’t feel like doing that.

That’s perfectly ok! Please give them back to a volunteer and we will give them to students or other people who will be using them.

Introduction

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:04:48 +0200

The OrangeCon badge will work for you also after the event!

We offer a few suggestions here on the website as well as in the badge talk and badge workshop, but use your please feel free to use your imagination (and let us know what you are planning to/have done:)

Flashing

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:04:48 +0200

In order to manually set the device in bootloader mode, hold the left button until it starts blinking:

If you would like to keep the current identity of the badge, please only start flashing from 0x100000. For more information please have a look at the slides.