Eye

Head out to your next corporate conference, and you’ll probably be handed a little paper badge in a plastic holder so people can learn what to call you (or whether they should talk to you at all). It serves a function, but it’s a little soulless. [Aahan Sharma]’s Eye-D badge is a touch more interesting. At the heart of the build is an ESP32-C6 microcontroller. It’s a capable part, with clock speed configurable up to 160 MHz, and wireless connectivity baked in. It’s hooked up to an 8 x 16 matrix of WS2812B addressable RGB LEDs, creating a color 128-pixel display. [Aahan] took advantage of the onboard Bluetooth Low Energy connection of the ESP32 to enable the display to be readily controlled by a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. It can be configured to display a name, social handle, or custom message as desired. Beyond that, it can display animations, like an eye scanning around the room, Nyan Cat, or fire or Matrix-like effects just for the fun of it. There’s also a Draw Mode that lets one create their own pixel art on the display, too. [Aahan] wanted the build to feel like a serious conference badge, rather than a random electronic trinket, so whipped up a custom enclosure. The LEDs, microcontroller, and a battery, are all wrapped up in a tidy 3D printed housing with a ring for easily hanging the badge from clothes, lanyard, bag, or similar. If you’re running your own little conference and have the budget for something cool, you might like to build a run of these. Or, you could explore some of the more advanced badge designs that are out there. Can espressif do anything about the sleep current of their chips? I hate going the Nordic route but it’s the only option for low standby power I’d dip my toes into the bluetooth capable CH32V ecosystem if it weren’t for my day job (i do have free time, just no energy left)