2019 Hackaday Superconference

The 2019 Hackaday Superconference was not the kind of tech event where people politely collect lanyards, nod at a few slides, and go home with a branded pen. This was Supercon: three days in Pasadena, California, where engineers, hardware hackers, makers, artists, programmers, open-source enthusiasts, and the dangerously solder-curious gathered to build, break, repair, explain, demo, and occasionally ask, “Why is this badge drawing so much current?”

Held from November 15 to November 17, 2019, the fifth Hackaday Superconference brought the maker community together at the Supplyframe DesignLab and the Los Angeles College of Music. The event mixed technical talks, hands-on workshops, demos, badge hacking, the Hackaday Prize ceremony, and the informal hallway magic that happens when hundreds of people who normally live in GitHub repos and lab benches suddenly occupy the same physical space.

For anyone interested in open hardware, embedded systems, FPGA development, RISC-V, quantum computing, circuit art, side-channel attacks, reverse engineering, or the social sport of comparing soldering scars, the 2019 Hackaday Superconference was a memorable snapshot of where hardware hacking stood at the end of the decade.

What Made the 2019 Hackaday Superconference Special?

The Hackaday Superconference has always been more than a conference. It is part lecture series, part hardware lab, part reunion, part science fair, and part “please do not plug that in until someone finds a fire extinguisher.” In 2019, that personality was on full display.

The event arrived during a particularly exciting moment for open hardware. RISC-V was gaining momentum as a serious open instruction set architecture. Open-source FPGA tooling was becoming more practical. Affordable microcontrollers were giving hobbyists powers that would have seemed magical only a few years earlier. Meanwhile, the maker movement had matured beyond blinking LEDs into environmental sensing, bio-inspired machines, wearable electronics, hardware security research, and product-ready open-source designs.

Supercon 2019 captured all of that energy. It was intimate enough that attendees could actually meet speakers, but technical enough that even experienced engineers could leave with homework. That balance is rare. Many conferences either aim at beginners and stay safely shallow, or aim at professionals and become a fog machine of acronyms. The 2019 Hackaday Superconference did something better: it made difficult topics feel approachable without sanding off the interesting edges.

The Legendary 2019 Superconference Badge

No discussion of the 2019 Hackaday Superconference can avoid the badge. Calling it a “conference badge” feels almost unfair, the way calling a Swiss Army knife “a pointy rectangle” feels unfair. The 2019 badge was one of the event’s biggest stars, and for good reason.

An FPGA Badge in a Game Boy-Style Body

The 2019 Supercon badge was designed by Jeroen Domburg, also known as Sprite_TM, and it leaned heavily into the playful seriousness that defines Hackaday culture. The badge used a Lattice ECP5 FPGA with 45,000 LUTs and ran a RISC-V soft core. In plain English: attendees did not just receive a plastic name tag. They received a tiny, reconfigurable computing playground that looked like it had wandered out of a retro handheld gaming museum and enrolled in an advanced digital design course.

The Game Boy-inspired form factor included a color LCD screen, eight buttons arranged in familiar game-console fashion, USB connectivity, a cartridge-style expansion interface, and enough open-ended possibility to make even disciplined engineers cancel their evening plans. Apps could be written in C and copied to the badge through USB mass storage. FPGA bitstreams could be flashed for deeper experimentation. The badge also included a 40-pin cartridge connector, allowing users to extend the device with custom hardware.

In a world full of disposable swag, this badge was deliberately non-disposable. It was built to be explored long after the weekend ended. That is a very Hackaday idea: the best souvenir is not something you put on a shelf, but something that keeps creating new problems for you to solve.

Why the Badge Mattered

The 2019 badge was important because it made advanced FPGA concepts tangible. FPGAs can intimidate newcomers. Compared with microcontrollers, they require a different mental model: instead of writing software that runs on fixed hardware, you describe hardware itself. That can sound like wizardry until you hold a device that invites you to experiment one small step at a time.

By pairing FPGA fabric with a RISC-V core, workshops, example programs, and open repositories, the badge helped turn a difficult subject into a weekend adventure. It also reflected a wider movement toward open silicon, open tools, and accessible digital design. For many attendees, the badge was not just a toy. It was an invitation to learn how modern hardware can be designed, modified, and understood from the inside out.

Talks That Went Beyond Ordinary Tech Slides

The Superconference talk lineup covered a wonderfully strange and useful range of topics. That range is part of the event’s charm. One moment you might be learning about thermal management in circuit boards; the next, you are thinking about quantum key distribution hardware, FPGA glitching, or musical instruments made from unexpected electronic parts.

ESP32 Multimedia and Creative Constraints

Matthias Balwierz, known online as bitluni, presented on multimedia experiments with the ESP32. The ESP32 had already become a favorite among makers because it was inexpensive, capable, and packed with wireless features. But pushing it into video and audio territory required clever timing, careful coding, and a willingness to treat “not officially intended for this” as a polite suggestion.

This kind of talk fit Supercon perfectly. It was not only about what a chip could do on paper, but about what a determined hacker could squeeze out of it with enough curiosity and just enough disregard for sleep.

Quantum Hardware Security

Dr. Sarah Kaiser brought quantum computing down from the clouds and into hardware reality with a talk on hacking quantum key distribution systems. Quantum technologies are often marketed as mysterious, futuristic, and nearly magical. Supercon’s attitude was more practical: if it is hardware, it can probably be poked, measured, stressed, misunderstood, and eventually hacked.

The talk highlighted a key idea for modern technology: security does not stop at elegant theory. Real systems are built from lasers, detectors, circuits, enclosures, cables, firmware, and assumptions. Every layer matters.

Circuit Sculptures, Synths, and Sound Hacking

Mohit Bhoite’s work in free-form circuit sculpture showed the artistic side of electronics. His projects blur the line between circuit and sculpture, proving that functional electronics can be visually beautiful without being trapped on a rectangular board like tiny prisoners of FR-4.

Thea Flowers discussed building a Sega-inspired hardware synthesizer, while Helen Leigh explored sound hacking and music technologies. Together, these sessions reminded attendees that hardware is not only about efficiency, measurement, and manufacturing. It can also be expressive, weird, musical, and emotionally delightful. Sometimes the correct engineering answer is, “Yes, but can it make a funky noise?”

Security, Debugging, and Thermodynamics

Samy Kamkar’s talk on FPGA glitching and side-channel attacks brought hardware security into sharp focus. Side-channel attacks are fascinating because they exploit the messy physical realities of computation: timing, power, electromagnetic behavior, and induced faults. They remind engineers that devices do not operate in abstract perfection. They leak clues. Sometimes they practically gossip.

Adam Zeloof tackled thermodynamics for electrical engineers, including why boards melt and how designers can prevent that fate. Daniel Samarin spoke about debugging electronics and finding the real source of problems. These topics are not glamorous in the movie-trailer sense, but they are priceless in the real world. Every hardware builder eventually learns that the most heroic tool is not always the oscilloscope; sometimes it is a calm debugging process and the humility to check the ground connection.

Hands-On Workshops: Learning by Actually Doing the Thing

Workshops were a major part of the 2019 Hackaday Superconference experience. The event included sessions on FPGA badge hacking, quantum computing, USB reverse engineering, scanning electron microscopy, malicious hardware prototyping, logic-noise synthesis, and flexure design.

FPGA Badge Hacking

The FPGA badge workshops were among the most natural fits for the weekend. Introductory sessions helped attendees add and program new virtual hardware on the Supercon badge. Advanced sessions explored developing custom FPGA IP cores. These workshops turned the badge from “cool object” into “learning platform.”

For attendees who had spent years working with microcontrollers, the FPGA approach offered a new way of thinking. Instead of asking, “What peripherals does this chip include?” the badge encouraged a more dangerous question: “What hardware do I want to create?” That shift is powerful. It turns users into designers.

USB Reverse Engineering and Quantum Computing

The USB reverse engineering workshop, led by Kate Temkin and Mikaela Szekely, addressed a topic that is everywhere and often misunderstood. USB is one of those technologies people use daily but rarely inspect deeply. For hardware hackers, learning how devices enumerate, communicate, and expose interfaces can open the door to debugging, building tools, and understanding how computers interact with the physical world.

Kitty Yeung’s introduction to quantum computing gave attendees a way into another challenging field. Rather than treating quantum computing as an unreachable research topic, the workshop focused on foundational concepts and coding. That is one of Supercon’s best qualities: it gives ambitious topics a workbench.

Electron Microscopy, Flexures, and Hardware Implants

Other workshops expanded the definition of what hardware hacking can include. A scanning electron microscope session gave attendees access to imaging at a microscopic scale. Amy Qian’s flexure workshop explored springy and bi-stable mechanisms, the kind of mechanical design that often hides inside products until someone points it out and ruins your ability to ignore clicky things forever.

Joe FitzPatrick’s malicious hardware workshop explored how low-cost tools can be used to prototype and test hardware implants. In the right context, learning about offensive hardware techniques helps engineers build better defenses. Supercon’s audience understood that curiosity and responsibility need to share the same bench.

The 2019 Hackaday Prize Ceremony

The 2019 Superconference also hosted the Hackaday Prize ceremony, a major moment for the open hardware community. That year’s prize focused on taking ideas toward production, emphasizing user experience, industrial design, manufacturability, software, mechanical planning, communication, and real-world usefulness.

FieldKit won the Grand Prize as Best Product. The project stood out as an open-source, modular sensor system designed for scientific research in difficult environments. Its purpose was practical and meaningful: make field research more accessible by combining rugged hardware, modular sensors, useful software, and an open design philosophy.

That result fit the spirit of the year. Supercon 2019 was not only about clever hacks. It was also about turning clever hacks into tools that other people can use. The maker movement had grown up enough to ask harder questions: Can this be manufactured? Can users understand it? Can it be repaired? Can it solve a real problem? Can the documentation survive contact with a tired human?

Community: The Secret Component on Every Board

Hardware people sometimes joke that everything is a software problem until smoke comes out. But Supercon demonstrated another truth: many engineering problems are community problems. You need people to review designs, write documentation, test edge cases, answer questions, share failures, explain tools, and make newcomers feel less like they accidentally walked into a secret society with better oscilloscopes.

The 2019 Hackaday Superconference created that environment. Attendees could watch talks, then find the speaker later and ask follow-up questions. Badge hackers could sit near each other, compare progress, and borrow knowledge. Presenters, hobbyists, professional engineers, students, artists, and open-source contributors shared the same rooms.

That is why the event’s small scale mattered. A giant expo can show you what companies want to sell. A community conference can show you what people are excited to build.

Why Supercon 2019 Still Matters

Looking back, the 2019 Hackaday Superconference feels like a strong marker of a transitional moment in hardware. Open-source electronics were becoming more capable. RISC-V was moving from conversation to practice. FPGA experimentation was becoming more accessible. Security researchers were making advanced attacks understandable. Artists and engineers were blending disciplines. Makers were thinking more seriously about production, usability, and social impact.

The event also showed that technical depth and playfulness do not have to be enemies. In fact, they often make each other stronger. The 2019 badge looked like a retro game system, but it taught serious digital design. Sound-hacking talks were fun, but they explored signal generation, history, and creative engineering. Badge hacking felt playful, but it introduced concepts that could shape future open hardware work.

That combination is rare and valuable. Learning sticks better when it feels like discovery instead of punishment. Supercon understood this. It did not ask attendees to choose between rigor and fun. It handed them a badge and quietly implied, “You may now ruin your sleep schedule in the name of education.”

Experiences Inspired by the 2019 Hackaday Superconference

To understand the experience of the 2019 Hackaday Superconference, imagine arriving with a laptop, a microUSB cable, too many ambitions, and the quiet confidence of someone who has not yet tried to build custom hardware at 1:17 a.m. The first impression would have been the density of curiosity. Every table seemed to contain some combination of laptops, wires, badges, dev boards, half-finished ideas, and people explaining their projects with the intensity of a chef describing soup to a royal court.

The badge alone could dominate the weekend. At first, it looked friendly: colorful screen, buttons, handheld shape, charming retro vibes. Then the technical reality emerged. This was not a simple microcontroller board wearing a costume. It was an FPGA-based system with a RISC-V core, open tooling, cartridge expansion, USB workflows, and enough flexibility to make beginners excited and experts suspiciously quiet. The best kind of hardware has layers, and the 2019 badge had layers like an onion designed by a digital logic professor.

One of the most memorable parts of an event like this is how quickly strangers become collaborators. Someone gets stuck flashing firmware. Another person has already solved that problem. Someone wants to generate audio. Another attendee has a half-working synth demo. Someone forgot batteries. Someone else has spares, because in the hardware world, preparedness is just anxiety with a parts drawer. Knowledge moves across the room informally, person to person, like a decentralized support network powered by caffeine and stubborn optimism.

The talks created a rhythm for the weekend. You could spend the morning learning about quantum hardware security, the afternoon wrestling with FPGA fabric, and the evening listening to someone explain why a circuit sculpture is both art and engineering. That variety kept the event from feeling narrow. Supercon was not only for embedded developers, not only for security researchers, not only for artists, and not only for professional engineers. It was for people who enjoy understanding how things work, especially when the answer involves tools, code, physics, and the occasional mistake that smells faintly electrical.

The workshops added another dimension because they required active participation. A good workshop is humbling in the best way. Slides can make a concept seem tidy; hands-on work reveals the little details that actually matter. Drivers need installing. Toolchains need paths. Cables are never where you left them. Documentation is both a blessing and a treasure hunt. Yet when the first example runs or the first custom behavior appears on the badge, the effort becomes instantly worthwhile.

Supercon 2019 also had the emotional texture of a community celebrating its own weirdness. The event respected deeply technical work without making everyone perform corporate seriousness. There was room for polished engineering and messy prototypes, for finished products and ambitious experiments, for elegant design and delightfully unnecessary hacks. That openness is part of why people remember it fondly. It rewarded curiosity, not just credentials.

By the end of the weekend, attendees likely left with more than swag. They left with new ideas, unfinished projects, new friends, recommended repositories, workshop notes, and a badge that practically dared them to keep experimenting. The best conferences do not end when the venue closes. They follow people home in the form of projects, questions, and small technical obsessions. The 2019 Hackaday Superconference did exactly that.

Conclusion

The 2019 Hackaday Superconference was a celebration of open hardware at a moment when the field felt especially alive. It brought together FPGA experimentation, RISC-V development, hardware security, quantum computing, circuit art, reverse engineering, product design, and hands-on learning in a way that felt both technically serious and delightfully human.

Its famous FPGA badge became a symbol of the event: playful on the outside, powerful underneath, and open enough to invite real exploration. The talks and workshops showed how broad the hardware community had become, while the Hackaday Prize ceremony highlighted the growing importance of turning prototypes into useful, documented, manufacturable products.

Most importantly, Supercon 2019 proved that hardware hacking is not just about components. It is about people sharing knowledge, taking risks, solving problems, and building things that make the world a little more interesting. Preferably with fewer melted boards, but no promises.