Thread by @SHA2017Badge

To summarise past few weeks into a single thread about the MCH2021 badge with everything we have done so far: (a very long thread ;) )

We have already secured sponsorship from three very cool companies, namely @EspressifSystem , @latticesemi and @BoschMEMS . Lets see what they are bringing to the project:

From @EspressifSystem we're receiving the ESP32 Wrover with 8mb RAM and 16mb Flash! Its the latest version of our dear friend the ESP32. We're also getting a SECOND PSRAM chip for the FPGA part of the badge. Espressif, thank you for supporting us!

We reached out to @latticesemi to bring an FPGA to the badge. We want to make this badge the ultimate gateway into FPGA development with our web-usb and online 'app store', the hatchery. FPGA development has never been easier. It's an honor and privilege to have Lattice on board!

Third awesome company is @BoschMEMS . In this scary day and age sensors can help you determine wether its safe to be in the place where you are. The BME680 provides valuable information about air quality. And we can add gestures and movement to the badge with the BNO055! Thanks!

We're still working on getting a few more components for this badge, mainly the webusb part and possibly a proper PMIC. But with the current lineup we're doing extremely well this early in badge development.

Our community is extremely sensitive to matters of sponsorship. There is always a balance to find to prevent 'influence' from the sponsor. We've got a simple policy:

We will not grant a sponsor influence on our badge, content or presentation. We will highlite them on our Twitter, during the presentation on camp, on our website stating the exact sponsorship. We invite all sponsors to host a workshop at camp, which will be marked as sponsored.

The badge is a cool enough showcase, so no extra logo's will be printed on there. We're open to a lanyard sponsor (as that is a replaceable non-essential part), but we will charge a huge amount of cash.

There *might* be sponsored goodies in the badge kit, like stickers or other things. A sponsor will have paid to make that happen, which in turn makes the badge happen.

We're extremely open about our badge development, the process and the sponsors. Want to see the budget? You will! See every last penny come in and go out? Yes you may.

So lets continue. The design. What is the badge going to look and feel like? What is it going to do? We set out to make the badge shine in three categories: wayfinding (finding cool stuff at the event), environmental (the air we breathe) and education (learning new skills).

In terms of wayfinding we have two ideas: leveraging wifi or bluetooth for figuring out where you are, and the BNO055 to determine direction, angle etc. Not much development has happened yet in this area.

Environmental is a clear goal: we want our visitors to feel (and be) safe and comfortable. With the BME680 we have very reliable data on the current state of the air, and maybe we can look into figuring out how crowded an area is with the sensor and something wireless..

The BME680 also really enables the badge to be used after the event, to monitor the room you're in. You can get yourself notified when its time to open a window, turn up the ventilation, or leave.

For education we've got a great track record. Our first badge brought micropython to the masses and introduced a lot of people to the ecosystem. And the LEDs were a great intro into soldering SMD.

For this badge we will return to those roots of soldering and programming, but also expand into the wild world of FPGA. We have a few ideas of how to make these very accessible.

Currently if you want to get into FPGA development you need to install a toolchain which will take anywhere between 10 minutes to two hours. We will do that for you in our hatchery (app store). It will be as simple as downloading an app to get a fresh FPGA bitstream on the badge.

In addition we will further our efforts with WebUSB that will enable programming and managing the badge from a browser that supports WebUSB. No complicated installs.

Finally we hope to host the worlds largest FPGA workshop on the field and worldwide. We will get as many experts and have stuff to do for you all during camp!

So now we know what we're doing with the badge, what will it look like? Hint: it will look nothing like our prototype:

Our artist @Nekolett , who also designed the @HotelHacker 2020 badge is hard at work. Here's a sketch of the current idea:

It's nowhere near a final design but you see the direction we're headed. Our two heroes, tired after their adventures of HackerHotel2020 are taking a nice relaxing vacation and flying a kite. It's the main theme of the badge: relaxation in the open air, and feeling safe.

So that's OUR progress. But there's two more groups to keep an eye on (at least): @tildeindustries has been a close and dear friend supporting our badges and coming up with beautiful pieces. Also the group from @bill_the_badge is planning a return!

More people to keep an eye on is our extended team: @annejanbrouwer, @renzenicolai, @Tom_Clement, @Pwuts1337, @Nekolett, @RobotMan2412, @Kuritsian, @BasOort, @Sisseren, @raboofje, @JorisWitteman, @ktemkin, @pooyan1 and many others. Give them a follow!