Supercon, the Ultimate Hardware Conference, will take place in Pasadena, California, on November 6-8. The program will include talks, workshops, food and drinks, music, badge hacking and entertainment. The event will move to the Art Center campus this year; new speakers will be announced next week.
- Addison Vogt will explain a system that fits 24 motors, 96 switches, 12 RFID readers, 12 motor controllers, six ESP32 units, a Raspberry Pi, a touchscreen and 24 CD into a CD rack smaller than 500mm. The design used 3D printing and an I2C-based distributed system.
- Cyril Engmann will introduce the open-source Minus device, which operates via HDMI. Using a Rockchip RK3588 and a neural processing unit, the device detects advertisements in real time and blocks the image and mutes the sound; it delivers sub-millisecond latency and uses a $100 computer without requiring the cloud or a subscription.
- Doug Goodwin will demonstrate on an LED panel how displays create the appearance of uninterrupted time through separate updates, as well as his experiment that alters visual perception.
- Eleanor Mazzarella will discuss the design of a speedometer bracelet with GPS, a seven-segment display and LEDs for her six-year-old child.
- Estefannie De la Garza and Justin Andarza will discuss alternative game controllers, experimental design, the alt.ctrl.GDC awards and the Warped Worlds collective.
Why it matters
The first announced content shows that Supercon is not merely a gathering introducing components, but a hands-on hardware event spanning embedded systems, human perception and alternative game interfaces. The distributed control architecture in the CD rack and the local processing approach in the HDMI device bring physical automation and real-time image analysis together in the same program. The time perception experiment, the wearable device developed for a child and the experimental controllers highlight the connection between technical design and user experience. In this respect, the program appeals to diverse groups interested in embedded software, open-source hardware, interface design and independent prototype development. However, the event’s final balance of topics is not yet clear until new speakers are announced.