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If you just got your badge and it doesn't do anything

don't despair, quite a few of them need to be factory reset before showing the loading screen. Press and hold MENU while quickly pressing the reset button at the back. Keep the MENU button hold for another 2 seconds while the green light on the front is blinking. Release it while the green light and the screen back light is on. If you got it correct the red light should flash. If this doesn't work you can update the firmware

App Library isn't working?

If you're having problems downloading some apps from the App Library please update your badge via the App Library update option. After a restart it should work much smoother.

Assembly

With your badge you will receive a booklet explaining how it's done. If you have any problems, please come to the Badge Operation Center and we will help you.

Basic usage

After you have assembled your badge you can just use the tiny switch at the bottom of the screen to turn your badge on. Alternatively you can use any USB power source. If you turn your badge on for the first time (or if for some reason it has reset itself) you will get some on-screen information while we try to download the newest set of software.

If at any point you want to restart your badge you can just press the reset button at the back.

Changing your name

  1. Press 'Menu'
  2. Select the 'Change Name' app and press 'A'
  3. Use the joystick and 'A' key to enter your name
  4. Press 'Menu' to save your name and reset the badge - your name should now be displayed!

Installing new apps

  1. Press 'Menu'
  2. Select the 'App Library' app and press 'A'
  3. Select "Browse App Store"
  4. Select a category and then an app. Wait until you see the description and press "A" to save it.
  5. Press B a few times (or alternatively MENU) to restart your badge
  6. On the home screen you can now press MENU and select "View all" to find your newly installed app. If you want to pin it to the quick launcher screen select your app and press MENU. If you just want to start it press A instead.

WiFi

Your TiLDA Badge has built-in wifi support. It should all just work if you're at the campsite, but if you're on your own network you might have to tell the badge about it. For more information please have a look here: WiFi

A word of warning: During EMF the badge will use "emf-insecure". This is, as the name implies, not the most secure way of transmitting data. On top of that there are some problems with HTTPS and SSL, so we're not using it for with the default apps (we're working on it!). Please don't send anything private or important to or from the badge via wifi.

Charging

The badge charges via a microUSB socket, and takes about 2-3 hours for a full charge. The red charge LED next to the USB connector will extinguish when charging is complete

Nothing works! Help!

Don't worry, you can always "factory reset" your badge. Please follow these instructions.

If everything else absolutely fails, you can try following these instructions (advanced)

Hacking your badge

Badge Hacking Workshop Documentation

One of the main goals of TiLDA is to make hacking it as easy as possible. All you need to do so is a computer with USB and your badge.

The badge itself runs code written in the computer language Python which is run by a bit of software called Micropython.

For more information about the functions available please have a look at the Badge API section of this page.

If you're already familiar with all this you can jump right into the topic of Apps. Apps can be shared via the EMF App Library or by copying files of and on via USB. If you want to know more about how this works go to TiLDA MK3/apps

In case you're more interested in what makes the hardware tick and your confident with C++ and microprocessors then you can work directly with the micropython code that runs TiLDA: How to build the firmware from scratch

All code used is hosted on Github. Contributions and PR are very welcome!

Some ideas

Please share what you've done (or want to do) with others!

Laser cut case files

The files used in the Fab Lab Truck for lasercutting are available here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1707973

Badge hardware

TiLDA comes with a long list of very useful hardware. Some might be obvious, but some are a bit hidden.

  • Colour LCD screen 320x240
  • Joystick and A/B/Menu Buttons
  • Wifi (cc3100)
  • Accelerometer
  • Compass
  • Buzzer
  • Battery
  • WS2812B aka "Neo Pixel" on port PB13. Sadly defunct
  • MicroSD slot

Hardware files are available on GitHub 3.

NOTE: The WS2812B is actually on pin PB13, not X2 as shown below!

pinout-1.png pinout2-1.png