DEFCON 22: Badge: Code, Schematics and Info by Ken Gracey

Check out @ParallaxKen's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ParallaxKen/status/498692720018223104

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/156782-DEFCON-22-Badge-Code-Schematics-and-Information-Here

DEFCON 22 Badge: Code, Schematics and Information Here!

Parallax P8X32A Multicore Microcontroller and DEFCON 22 Badge
DEFCON 22 Attendees: files you might need for the badge contest are right here!

You’ve arrived at Parallax's DEFCON 22 badge resource page. If you’re in Las Vegas and participating in the DEFCON 22 badge contest to win one of the coveted Uber badges, this page offers a starting point for resources and source code. You'll learn a bit about the contest at the DEFCON 22 Opening Ceremonies on Friday at 10:00 am.

If this is your first time to Parallax forums we welcome you! Feel free to use this forum for anything you need - our local Propeller experts will be happy to answer any questions! 

The DEFCON 22 Badge was designed and manufactured for the largest continuously running hacker and computer security convention in the world www.defcon.org. This year's DEFCON is a four-day technical session held at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, founded and run by Jeff Moss (DarkTangent). Ryan Clarke (@LostboY), JonnyMac (@J0nnyM@c), and Parallax designed this year’s badge as a core part of the hacking contest. Jon Williams authored the badge firmware and you will be familiar with his coding style if you've seen it before. Parallax was invited to do this project on June 1st, providing only 60 days from concept through production yet our team pulled it together and manufactured almost 14,000 units in our Rocklin, California facility in July! 

DEFCON 22 Badge Overview

The badge is based around the Propeller P8X32A 32-bit Multicore Microcontroller. The circuit consists of a Propeller (microcontroller, EEPROM, clock), an infrared LED and receiver for badge-to-badge communication, a bank of eight LEDs for visual feedback, four button touch pads and a USB circuit for data access and programming. Most importantly, this badge is useful well beyond DEFCON because it's a complete Propeller development board. All I/Os, Vss, Gnd connections are clearly ported to the side of the badge so you can solder directly to the I/O pins or jump them off to a breadboard. Stop by DEFCON’s Hardware Hacking Village to work with others on badge hacking. You’ll need a micro USB cable which you can source from one of the hardware vendors if you need to reprogram. I suggest asking Garrett Gee at Godai Group - I asked him to bring 300+ micro USB cables. 

The contest code is available as a zip archive, below. The contest code initially excludes the infrared communication method required for the contest, yet the infrared objects are included. Therefore, you're only missing a small portion of the firmware. When the contest is over, you get every piece of code including the methods that communicate with the infrared objects.

The badge types were produced in eight color schemes for different types of attendees: ARTIST, CONTEST, GOON, HUMAN, PRESS, VENDOR, UBER, and SPEAKER. The HUMAN badge was produced in eight different variants for 13 unique badge styles. 

At the DEFCON 22 opening ceremony attendees will receive key information about how the badge is used to solve the challenge. We really don’t know much about the Badge Challenge, but it’s really clear that people need to mingle to unlock some cryptology clues. Take a walk around, connect your badge to Parallax Serial Terminal to see who’ve you encountered. Everybody has access to the Propeller objects used in the top-level firmware. They're available for download below.

Propeller P8X32A Verilog Hardware Design Files Released!

Timed with DEFCON 22, Parallax has also announced that the entire Propeller Multicore Microcontroller hardware design is now released open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0. You can now access the Propeller 1 Verilog files and run them on an $89 DE0-Nano FPGA board, changing the code as you wish. 

Helpful Resources and Downloads

DEFCON 22 Badge Resources (Creative Commons 3.0), at the bottom of this post:

• Badge Schematic Page 1 (PDF)
• Badge Schematic Page 2 (PDF)
• Badge Schematic (DipTrace)
• DipTrace Layout (DipTrace)
• dc22_badge_human - Archive [Date 2014.07.12 Time 14.32].zip - for contest, as provided on DEFCON 22 CD - absent the methods used to talk to to the infrared objects
• DCBadgeMaster.zip - full badge source code now posted, in entirety, Sunday evening at 9:41 pm Pacific Time

Propeller Multicore Microcontroller Resources (GPL v3.0):

• P8X32A Multicore Microcontroller Open-Source Page. Verilog design files.
• PropellerIDE, an open source editor for Spin/ASM for Mac, Windows and Linux
• Propeller Tool, the Parallax editor for Spin/ASM Windows only
• SimpleIDE, an open source C editor for Mac, Windows and Linux
• Propeller Manual

Feel free to ask for more information! You can ask here or find a Parallax person at DEFCON, usually in the Hardware Hacking Village. We're packing our bags this evening yet four of us are already there.

Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.

DEFCON 20: Badges

Here are the Defcon 20 badges (pics borrowed from the Parallax website).  Parallax had the awesome job of making them this year, and they did an amazing job.  You read all about it on their website

Each of the badges are issued to the type of attendee you are.  I personally think that other than the Uber (black) the Goons (red) and the Press (blue/yellow) had the best badges.  They have an infra red sensor that can dock with other badges.  According to l057, by completing on docking all the badge types, it'll reveal an easter egg.  To check what you have to far, you'll have to plug  your badge to the Parallax Serial Terminal at 57,600 BPS to see who you have encountered.  You can see my badge results below.  I thought I was able to pair with an artist but it obviously did not dock.  The Uber (contest winners) holders were pretty hard to locate since they do not give those out until the end of the con.  Most of them just rush to the airport...

 

The Human badges also come in multiple variations. I'm not sure how many there were.  According to DT, they made 16,500 badges this year.  The rough estimate for attendees was about 15,000.  So they had extra Human badges after the con.  He has announced that they will be selling the badges for $40 each.  

The Defcon 20 badge and Always Panti liners..

I was searching the hotel room for some kind of material that can at least protect the DEFCON 20 badges and survive the trip home in my backpack without breaking in half. I came across the perfect size in length and protection.... my lovely wife's Always Panti liner box...
The fit is perfect and offers complete protection!

The Defcon 20 Rotunda Clues

For the 2nd year at Defcon, clues were left on the rotunda floors by 1o57.  I didn't spend anytime on figuring them out this year due to a number of reasons, basically technical reasons.  I was not able to connect to the Defcon Secure Wifi so my resources were an issue. In any case, I hope the pictures help for your personal entertainment and learning.  There were more clues tweeted by 1o57 from his twitter account, so the bread crumbs are all over the place.  You just have to put it all together.