Propeller Mini Module on the DEFCON 24 Uber Badge: First electromechanical badge has a tentacle eye and WS2812 LEDs

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Rick Galinson is a well-known Hollywood special effects artist. His animatronics have been in many movies including Jurassic Park, Spiderman 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Men in Black 1 and 2, as well as lots of television shows, commercials, and private industry prototypes. This year, Rick developed the prestigious Uber badge for DEFCON 24 conference in Las Vegas. The Uber badge started with a demo human and skull model in a 3D sculpting program. Rick then merged the design with mechanical parts created in a traditional CAD program. Then, the back of the badge was covered with a laser-cut acrylic backplate to house the electronics and mount the mechanics. A 3D printed version of the face was smoothed out by a body shop effects expert and a silicone mold was made to cast the faces in resin. Next they were coated with primer, painted black and clear-coated. The Propeller Mini module controls two WS2812 LEDs and three servos for the tentacle eyeball. The tentacle wiggles left, right, up and down. But there’s more - the tentacle is also retractable! According to the firmware contributor Jon McPhalen (JonnyMac) it’s a “truly clever design that shows what Rick can do with years of experience and an amazing set of equipment.”  Perhaps we’ll have one of these badges in the Parallax exhibit hall someday. Jon and Rick spent most of DEFCON 24 in their hotel room assembling 20 of these badges with the help of Rick’s son, Justin. A short video of the Uber badge is here: What about the standard entrance badges for the other 20K guests? They’re documented by our friends on Hackaday: http://hackaday.com/2016/08/05/def-cons-x86-badge/ Excellent work, Rick and Jon! - Ken Gracey, CEO