My First Hackaday Supercon: Amazing and Inspiring

Living in Southern California and being an avid attendee of maker-related conventions, I’d heard about Hackaday’s Supercon but had never managed to go (the last two years’ tickets were sold out). It was only a matter of time before I finally made it — and this year, I jumped in last-minute to join some friends from CRASH Space. What I got was not at all what I was expecting … it was so much more. I can’t wait to go again.

Supercon isn’t your typical conference. With attendance capped around 500–600 people, it’s an intimate, hands-on gathering that feels more like a hacker summer camp than a tech expo. The first one, spearheaded by a few individuals at Hackaday, was held in the SF Bay Area. It went so well, they knew they had to do it again. Since then, the event has been held in Pasadena, California. The venues are low-key: Supplyframe HQ, the Supplyframe Design Lab, the adjacent Los Angeles College of Music (LACM), and even an alleyway turned hacking haven. Compared to giant 2,000+ person events, this felt like something special — a genuine community event. This was the 9th edition of Supercon, not counting the remote event they held during the pandemic.

I found myself circling downtown Pasadena, looking for a convention center-style venue, only to arrive at a nondescript three-story building with a pizza place on the bottom floor. A small black-and-white sign reading “Hackaday Superconference” and an arrow pointed the way. I knew I’d found it. Up to the third floor I went, where Supplyframe, one of the main sponsors, is headquartered.

Day 1 was all about getting situated, meeting people, and hacking on your badge. Some folks had brought SAOs — Simple Add-Ons for Supercon’s legendary electronic badges — to trade or sell. Others were learning on the fly. There were also a couple paid workshops on the second floor — small, hands-on sessions with limited space — but the social energy was all on that third floor.

Check-in was smooth: scan your ticket, grab your swag bag, get your badge, mug, bottle, and T-shirt, and head down a hallway lined with folding tables where the badge hacking frenzy was already underway. Lunch consisting of pizza was also already being served.

This year’s badge? A full-blown LoRa communicator, complete with a screen, full keyboard, and the event schedule built-in. It also featured a 6-pin SAO (Simple Add-On) connector — a Hackaday hallmark that invites creativity. People were building everything from blinking LED accessories to full-blown game controllers.

Among the SAO entusiasts, I met brothers Andy and Jeremy Geppert. Jeremy was showing off SAOfinity, a modular system to display your collection of SAOs. It is a combination of custom PCBs and a 3D printed frame to hold the modules together. I got to see both V1 and V2 of the project and it has come a long way. Andy was showing off some of his SAOs including his Etch-sAo-Sketch, an SAO that emulates the classic toy, that won an award last year. Andy is also behind the SAO that allows you to use a Wii Nunchuck as an input device for the badge.

Aaron Eiche was showing off both his Macintosh SAO and his brand new Gameboy SAO (which he’s still working on code for). They got me excited about making my own, and Aaron was trying his best to show me how.

Allie Katz traveled all the way from the UK and brought out their animatronic beetle necklace. It was modeled in 3D and cast from an entire pound of silver! Its thermal camera senses heat and the shell of the beetle opens to show an interactive LED pattern that changes based on how close or far a person is. I’ve seen it online, but it’s even more amazing in person.

Friday finished out with catered Thai food for dinner and a costume party I couldn’t stay for, but the costumes I did see before I left were awesome! (I need to plan better next year!)

The second day shifted a couple blocks away to the main venues: the Supplyframe DesignLab and LACM. Check-in continued at the Lab, which also hosted the smaller stage and some equipment demos. Meanwhile, LACM had a much larger room for the main stage and larger talks.

Supercon officially opened with welcoming notes from Elliot Williams, the Editor-in-Chief of Hackaday, followed by Majenta Strongheart, the Director of the DesignLab, setting the tone for an inclusive, inventive weekend. I got to speak with both of them during the event and their passion is evident. Elliot came all the way from Germany to participate in the event!

The keynote? A panel of folks who worked on props and art for all of Star Trek — a dream for any hardware nerd with a love of sci-fi. Hearing them speak about design constraints, creative problem-solving, and storytelling through electronics was incredibly inspiring.

Debra Ansell gave a talk called “LEDs Get Into Formation: Mechanically Interesting PCB Assemblies.” It was very interesting to hear about her use of unconventional materials to create circuits in her designs, like clothing snaps or random hinges.

Outside, the alley between the venues had been transformed. Under tents and umbrellas, attendees soldered SAOs, shared snacks, and talked shop. Meals were provided daily, keeping everyone energized. I can’t overstate how good those tacos were Saturday night.

On one of the back tables in the alley, I spotted a modified Ender 3 printer sitting idle, but there was something strange about it. Instead of a spool of filament and a traditional print head, it had a spool of wire and a rotating, toothed blade as a print head. The Rotoforge team is using friction welding to melt a thin wire in a friction welding process to 3D print metal. Evidently it was running at the beginning of the day, but due to noise and the open spinning blade, they had to shut it down. But that didn’t stop me from joining their Discord server to follow the project.

There was even an SMD soldering competition with heats Saturday and Sunday and finals Sunday afternoon. I gave it a shot and didn’t get very far — but my friend Brandon from MAG Laboratory won our heat and placed second in the finals on Sunday! He was one of the volunteers who helped to assemble the badges this year so he has plenty of soldering experience. If you haven’t heard of Mag Lab, they are a maker space in Walnut, CA. They hold regular meetups via meetup.com.

The final day continued the same energy: engaging talks, side projects in every corner, and new friends made over shared hardware quirks. People continued badge hacking right up until the end.

Elli Furedy hosted a talk about “Hardware for Emergent Games.” They showed off their cyberpunk bounty hunting game that utilizes electronics and 3D printing for the hunter and prey devices with the roles being indicated by the LED color scheme making the devices universal. The game acts as an interactive, mass ice breaker activity. They’ve run it at multiuple events, including Supercon, and were very excited to talk about or demo it outside the talk.

DJ Harrington held a talk called “Bringing Animatronics to Life” where he demonstrated a custom motion capture device he used to animate his robotic Claptrap from the video game series Borderlands. It was amazing to see how “alive” the robot looked because it was mimicking live motion as opposed to repeating a program. You can follow him on Instagram.

The last “talk” of the event was the badge hacking ceremony, celebrating the creativity and ingenuity of attendees. Awards were given across multiple categories — from best graphics to games to utilities — showcasing just how diverse and clever the badge projects had become over the weekend.

What struck me most about the event overall was how open and helpful everyone was. I was a total newbie to badge hacking, but that didn’t matter. People were eager to help, troubleshoot, and encourage. When my badge finally started doing what I intended, I felt like I’d leveled up.

Hackaday Supercon wasn’t the massive, impersonal conference I imagined. It was something far better: a community of passionate builders, hackers, and learners. From solder smoke in the alley to deep conversations about open-source firmware, it felt like home.

If you want to learn more about the event, many of the talks are already over on the Hackaday YouTube channel and more are being added as they become available.