What is a Fladge?

A fladge is a portmanteau of flag and badge. It is a capture the flag badge. The fladge is emitting or broadcasting via ten (pnly seven for now) different methods of communication. I'll be wearing this on Saturday at the SuperCon for other attendees to try and connect to it.

What is the point?

The point is to have fun and learn something. I hope people can look at this as an opportunity to say "I've never used X communication method on a MCU before I wonder if I can..." and try and make it happen. Each communication method is transmitting a unique 32-bit number (or 8 digit ASCII Hex string depending). The goal is to collect as many as you can.


What if I don't have anything to connect to X?

Come find me and we can talk. I'll have a few boards I can loan out for those who are interested in trying something new.


What are the different communication methods and how do I connect?

I think it would be a little too much to do in a single day if you tried to connect to these blind, so I've included the most important details below

MethodDetailsNotes
VisibleMorse Code
Infrared950 nm, 38 kHz
RFIDMiFare Classic (13.56 MHz)
315 MHz315 MHz ASK 2000bpsThis one won't be working for the SuperCon. I killed the transmitter and I don't have a spare.
433 MHz433 MHz ASK 2000bps
915 MHz902.4 MHz (Ch. 288) GFSK Addr. 0xE7E7E7E7nRF905
2.4 GHz2.401 GHz (Ch. 1) 2Mbps Addr. 0xE7E7E7E7E7nRF24L01+
WiFiThis one will not be running for the SuperCon. ESP8266s suck a little too much power for the regulator I've got.
Bluetooth 2.0MAC 20:15:08:04:15:45 Pin 1234
BLEiBeaconThis one will not be working either for the SuperCon. I couldn't get it working in time.


How do I submit the numbers once I find them?

In an ideal world I would have had a nice little site where you could submit them and it would keep track of them and run a leader board. Unfortunately this never progressed beyond the weekend hack phase, so right now the submission method will be to just write them down as you find them and come find me at the after party.

Will there be prizes?

Maybe. Not sure how many people are going to participate and how far people will get. I'll have a few NRF24L01+ boards I can give away, but I'm not sure what criteria I'll use (most, fastest, creativity, a combination, etc.)