Introduction: Conference/Gathering Lanyard Smart Badge

By Sharon Mitchell
About: "I see things that aren't there yet"

This @4tronix_UK Smart Badge v0.2 comes preset with displays and even games.

I made mine into a conference/gathering badge with colour and pattern choices.

Step 1: @4tronix_uk Smart Badge V0.2

I won this Smart Badge in a raffle[*]. It's ATmega328 based, the same chip as the Arduino UNO and is totally compatible with the IDE, you even select 'board type' as UNO when you're ready to flash your code to the little device.

The package comes with a rechargeable 3.6v LIR2032 coin cell battery, and battery charger (plug in to USB).

In order to program this board you will need a CP2102 serial converter with DTR. Which is an add-on you may purchase from the badge vendor:

http://4tronix.co.uk/store/index.php?rt=product/pr...

[*] I had issues getting this project going, all involved me spending money, LOL :)

My existing CP2102 didn't "do" DTR, so I bought myself a new one that does. Also the battery in my prize wouldn't hold any charge, I replaced that too, plus some spares - OK I bought 5 batteries in total but a full charge won't buy you much LED goodness, you might want to run it long time, full day at a conference for example.

I soldered a right-angled female header onto the badge package to make connections more reliable.

Step 2: CP2102 With DTR Pin

This converter board sits between the Smart Badge and your computer when you need to flash your code onto the badge.

One important note I discovered by trial and error: The RX and TX on the Smart Badge package are "wrong" in that RX on the package needs to go to RX on the CP2102, TX to TX.

I couldn't figure out why I couldn't flash the chip and in a last minute "it's crazy but they may have just.." moment I swapped my connections around, and Lo, We had Light, and it was good.

Step 3: Code

The badge has lanyard attachment built right in, and as I couldn't imagine doing anything else I made it into a traffic light system for conferences/other gatherings.

My code is here:

https://github.com/PicoPixie/SmartBadge/tree/maste...

I've only coded for colour and pattern change at time of writing.