RULE 01
Budget
Total BOM under ₹50 per badge, including the PCB and battery.
Under ₹50. Inside 40 × 40 mm.
Soldered by a first-timer in 15 minutes.
Design the official PCB badge for the next TinkerSpace Carnival: the circuit, the board shape and the artwork. The winning design gets fabricated and handed to every attendee as a keepsake they solder themselves.
It must cost under ₹50 to build, PCB and battery included, and it should say something about our local maker culture.
Who can join: anyone. Students, makers, first-timers. No PCB experience needed.
What you send: a public GitHub repo with your schematic, Gerbers, a BOM with prices and a render or photo, submitted as a link on the TinkerHub app.
RULE 02
Board size
Must fit within 40 × 40 mm. Any shape inside that.
RULE 03
Power
A 3 V coin cell, or USB.
RULE 04
Assembly
Must give attendees a real soldering experience. Through-hole parts recommended.
RULE 05
Theme
Represents local maker culture: Kerala, Kochi, our communities, language and stories.
RULE 06
Manufacturer
Designed for Lion Circuits. Check their capabilities before you finalise.
Show your costing in the BOM: one row per part, with quantity, unit price at 300 units and a source link. Count the PCB at its quoted price for your board size.
Why a badge?
for many attendees, it's the first time holding a soldering iron.
We want them to walk away having built something that works and that they are proud to wear. Every attendee assembles their own badge at the Carnival, so it has to be solderable by a beginner in about 15–20 minutes.
The badge is a small piece of art that says where it came from. Opening the design up lets more people learn PCB design, and the winner sees their board made in the hundreds. At hundreds of units every rupee matters, hence ₹50.
make it useful, not just pretty.
A badge doesn't have to only blink. A USB-powered badge saves the battery cost and can be something people keep using after the Carnival. Microcontrollers with built-in USB (like the CH552) keep the cost low.
Macro keyor a volume knob for your laptop
Tiny FM radioa receiver on a badge
Mesh badgeslight up when attendees meet
Status lightnotifications for your computer
The 2025 badge
300 badges for three years of TinkerSpace, kitted by the community.
It was deliberately minimal: drop in a coin cell and it lights up. This year we want to go further, with more soldering, more ideas, and a design that comes from the community.
The whole design is open source. Open the EasyEDA files to see how a real badge is put together.
Spec sheet
- Board
- 40 × 40 mm, 2 layers, 1.6 mm FR-4
- Power
- 1 × CR2032 coin cell (3 V)
- Parts
- 2 × 5 mm self-cycling RGB LEDs + a coin-cell holder
- Artwork
- Space Carnival logotype on the front; "be kind. be curious." and a write-your-name strip on the back
- EDA tool
- EasyEDA Standard
- Made by
- Lion Circuits
- Designer
- Salman Faris
The parts stall
any component is allowed. ₹50 is the whole wallet.
Rough bulk prices to help you plan. Tap + to drop parts on your badge and watch the budget. Prices change with quantity and supplier, so quote real ones in your BOM.
Never made a PCB?
start with EasyEDA. it's free, runs in the browser, and last year's badge was made with it.
Start here
EasyEDA
Runs in the browser, has a big parts library linked to LCSC, and exports Gerbers in one click.
KiCad
Full-featured desktop tool used by professionals. Steeper learning curve; no account or cloud needed.
Fusion
Autodesk's tool combines PCB and 3D/mechanical design. Useful for unusual board shapes.
- Draw the schematic. Place parts and wire them up.
- Make it a PCB and draw the board outline: your badge shape.
- Place and route. Arrange parts, draw the traces.
- Add the artwork on silkscreen. This is where your theme lives.
- Run DRC and fix the errors.
- Export Gerbers, BOM and a 3D render.
Ask Anything call
An open online call for questions about the competition, PCB design or your idea. A few of us from the team will be there. Bring half-done designs: we'll look at them together.
call date & joining link coming soon
Submissions close Nov 21 · submit on TinkerHub ↗
How we judge
pass the hard rules first, then spin for points.
✓ BOM under ₹50 with sourced prices✓ fits in 40 × 40 mm✓ Lion Circuits can make it✓ in by 21 November
CreativityUsabilityDesignThemeSoldering
- 25%
Creativity
An original idea, something we haven't seen on a badge before.
- 25%
Usability
Useful or fun beyond the event: does it do something people keep using?
- 20%
Design
Board shape, artwork and a clean, tidy layout.
- 15%
Theme
How well it represents local maker culture.
- 15%
Soldering experience
Doable and satisfying for a first-timer in about 15–20 minutes.
Questions?
Can I use a microcontroller?
Yes, as long as the total badge stays under ₹50. If it needs programming, tell us how it gets flashed for hundreds of units.
Can I make a purely analog badge?
Yes. LEDs, 555 timers and transistor circuits are all welcome.
Battery or USB?
Either. A 3 V coin cell, a 90 mAh Li-Po or USB power are all fine; just include the cost in your BOM. A USB badge skips the battery cost and can do something useful when plugged into a computer.
Does the ₹50 include the PCB?
Yes. ₹50 is the total for everything on the badge, including the PCB and the battery.
Can I use SMD parts?
Yes, but attendees must still get to solder something. Through-hole parts are easier for beginners.
I've never designed a PCB. Can I still join?
Yes. Start with EasyEDA (see Never made a PCB?) and come to the Ask Anything call.
Can I work in a team?
Team size is still being decided. We'll update this page soon.
ADMIT ONE
Your design
- Make a public GitHub repo for your badge. Easiest: start from our template, which has the README, BOM sheet and folders ready.
- Put everything in it: the schematic, Gerbers (zipped), a BOM with quantities, unit prices at 300 units and source links, a render or photo, and a README about your idea.
- Submit the repo link on the TinkerHub app.
your-badge/ ├─ README.md idea, theme, how it works ├─ schematic/ PDF + source files ├─ gerber/ Gerber zip for Lion Circuits ├─ bom.csv qty, unit price @300, source link └─ images/ render or photo
submissions closeNov 21
Submit on TinkerHub ↗Need an example? Last year's badge repo is laid out the same way.
The winning design is made for every attendee, with your name on it.
want to sponsor the badge?
Help put a badge in every attendee's hands. Talk to us at tinkerspace@tinkerhub.org