#embedded

2 articles

project8 min read · Jun 14, 2026

Reviving the WHY2025 Badge, part 2: Emulators & Badge-to-Badge OTA

Part 2 of reviving the WHY2025 badge: porting NES, Game Boy and Sega Master System emulators to a RISC-V badge OS, fighting SPIRAM latency for every frame, and building a badge-to-badge OTA system that updates older badges over an open WiFi network with no PC in sight.

why2025badgeesp32-p4emulationnesgameboysegaotawifidnstlsbadgevmsembedded

project12 min read · Jun 5, 2026

Reviving the WHY2025 Badge, part 1: Firmware Port, Bluetooth & the LED Matrix

The WHY2025 camp is over, that doesn't mean it should collect dust. Part 1 mentions bringing BadgeVMS up to a newer firmware build, surviving the porting war stories, implementing Bluetooth Low Energy and support for the LED-matrix add-on.

why2025badgeesp32-p4esp32-c6firmwareembeddedbluetoothblebadgevmsreverse-engineering