Published July 4, 2024

The SecretCon Owl Badge

An owl badge with wings to glow colourfully by tagging it with different parts of the conference and a fun game to glow its tail lights.

BeginnerFull instructions provided127

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Custom PCB

MS51FB9AE Nuvoton Micro-controller

SMD LEDs 1206 Package

Capacitors SMD

Resistors SMD

M7 Diode

Battery Holder, Lithium CR2032

Slide Switch, SMD

Pushbutton Switch

Story

The Design

I was asked by Michael to think about a badge for the SecretCon conference he runs in Minnesota. The theme was owls and we could licence an artwork of a flying owl fitting the criteria.

The wings would be a set of colourful 10 LEDs on each side. The eyes glowing red. And the same colourful theme for the tails - reserved for a fun game using a tactile push button. All of which would be powered by a couple of coin cells.

Putting all that into production and we get...

UV Printing The Artwork

Putting Everything Together

The Remotes

Different parts of the conference were handed out remotes to tag and activate a specific bunch of LEDs on the Owl wings. Continuing our remote innovation from The RSAC 2023 Badge, we added the acrylic sheet padding for better ergonomics with a unique owl pattern artwork.

A total of 10 remotes to unlock 1 LED each on each wing.

1 / 2

Fastest-Finger-First

The tail lights are unlocked by a game. Press the push button switch on the backside to start the game. Then press the switch every time the tail LED is on. The game progresses level by level with the LED blinking for a very short duration during which the switch must be pressed. Failure to do so resets the game back to the beginning. If all levels are achieved, the tail LEDs unlock and stay on forever.