Just in time for convention season, this unofficial badge is perfect for PyCon, Maker Faire, or just for fun! The design uses a laser cut base, copper tape for capacitive touch, and Circuit Playground Express for lots of blinking, sensors, and programming possibilities. Anyone can hack this badge!

If this is your first time using Circuit Playground Express, prepare to be hooked! Circuit Playground Express is packed with NeoPixels, an accelerometer, an infrared sensor, and more, all built-in and ready for you to tinker with. It's perfect for tricking out a con badge! The code in this guide uses capacitive buttons to play different NeoPixel animations, but the best part of #badgelife is hacking your badge - use your imagination and make it your own!

In this project, I've used a small wire as a bridge between the conductive pins of the Circuit Playground Express and the foil tape areas. If soldering wire is not an option, try extending the foil tape so that it sits directly under each pin. Use a double layer of copper foil tape to make sure each pad touches its pin on the CPX snugly.

Check out the Circuit Playground Express guide before getting started, and visit makecode.adafruit.com to get started with programming.

Tools & Materials

You'll need:

• Circuit Playground Express
• Copper Foil Tape
• Solid-Core Wire or Magnet Wire
• 2x 2032 Coin cell battery holder or small lipo battery
• double sided tape or small zip ties (8) for mounting the Circuit Playground Express

You'll also need to cut the backplate of the badge out of acrylic, plywood, or whatever laser-cuttable material you prefer. If you don't have access to a laser cutter, you can look for a maker space near you that has one, or send the files out to a service for cutting.