Bradán Lane Is Back with a New Sara Cladlow eChallengeCoin — Doubling as a CircuitPython Dev Board

Maker Bradán Lane has launched the latest in the "Sara Cladlow" family of "eChallengeCoin" badges, dubbed the Explorer Badge — marking a shift to the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and the introduction of an interactive fiction element.

"As the eChallengeCoin, it replaces the series of interactive and story challenges with a completely new text adventure game Sara and the Dark Labyrinth," Lane explains of the device. "But that is less than half the story. This is primarily the Explorer Badge learning platform running CircuitPython. Its core purpose is to give the next generation of hackers and makers an all-in-one device for exploring Python programming and CircuitPython programming for hardware."

Lane launched the eChallengeCoin family back in 2020, inventing the character of Sara Cladlow — a social consultant who accepts contracts for "security investigations requiring a subtle touch" — to deliver a narrative challenge solvable using a challenge coin inspired electronic badge. New badges have followed each year, with the latest marking a move to the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and a focus on delivering something usable as a more general-purpose development device in addition to a tool for storytelling and puzzle-solving.

"While past eChallengeCoins, have been so much fun, I really wanted to pivot to something for the next generation to explore and learn new STEAM skills," Lane explains. "To jump start exploring the Explorer Badge, there is a workshop series. The series starts with two workshops covering basic Python. The third workshop is an introduction to CircuitPython and all of the hardware of the 2024 eChallengeCoin/Explorer Badge."

That hardware includes the RP2040 microcontroller, 8MB of external flash, EEPROM, addressable RGB LEDs, touch sensors, an accelerometer, infrared receiver and emitter, and audio capabilities. The dominating feature of the device, though: a compact circular ePaper display dead-center at the front. Those following the challenge will find the text adventure loaded on the device and accessible over USB; those using the device as a development board can run their own CircuitPython programs instead.

More information on the 2024 eChallengeCoin is available on "Sara Cladlow's" website; Lane is selling units in his Tindie store at $75.