Products/Hardware / Open Source / IoT/Show HN: I made open source, zero power PCB hackathon badges

Show HN: I made open source, zero power PCB hackathon badges

NFC hackathon badges for the Overglade game jam in Singapore!

Hardware / Open Source / IoTSingapore, SingaporePassive NFC tap for data transferE-ink display (no battery needed for display)20 GPIO pins broken out onto header pins for programmingActive NFC mode for more complicated functionalityZero power design - no power needed for core featuresRP2040 SoC with 4MB flash memoryCustom PCB design with exposed copper artUSB-C programming interfaceconfig.json for personal details configurationBitmap image replacement support

Our Take

The Overglade badges are the kind of project that makes you wonder why nobody thought of this sooner — Kai Pereira built hackathon name tags that tap to share info via passive NFC, display everything on e-ink so they sip power like a water bottle at a marathon, and cost under $10 per unit to fab if you're brave enough to hand-solder. The RP2040 chip gives you 4MB of flash and 20 broken-out GPIO pins, which means attendees can actually reprogram their badges after the event instead of throwing them in a drawer, and the custom copper art aesthetic is a low-key flex that makes these genuinely fun to trade. With 43 stars on GitHub and a build guide that makes bulk ordering approachable, this is a solid open-source play that hackathon organizers should be paying attention to.

Zero-power hackathon badges powered by RP2040 with passive NFC and onboard e-ink driver that require no battery for core features

Problem It Solves
Provides hackathon attendees with programmable badges that display information without needing batteries
Target Customer
Hackathon organizers, particularly for the Overglade hackathon in Singapore (HackClub event for high schoolers)
Use Cases
Hackathon attendee badges, Event identification and networking, Interactive NFC-enabled name tags, Programmable information displays
Pricing Details
Bulk ordering recommended; hand soldering significantly cheaper than PCBA
Differentiator
Zero-power operation using e-ink display, RP2040 microcontroller with 4MB flash, passive NFC capability, custom PCB art design
Traction
Customers Mentioned: Overglade hackathon attendees (high schoolers in Singapore) · Notable Metrics: 43 stars, 2 forks, 114 commits, 1 contributor

Key Facts

Category
Hardware / Open Source / IoT
Location
Singapore, Singapore
Pricing
Less than $5/board for PCB, ~$5 for e-ink display, ~$100 for 5 boards with PCBA
Discovered via
hacker-news

The people behind Show HN: I made open source, zero power PCB hackathon badges

K

Kai Pereira

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M

Mpkendall

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M

Mynameisashllee

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N

Nimit Vijayvargee

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Links

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