Mk9-badge

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D C Z I A  ----------  2 0 2 6

DCZia Presents: The MK9 Badge

It blinks. It types. You can wear it around your neck and then set it on your desk and actually use it*.

* Desk productivity not guaranteed. DCZia assumes no responsibility for keys accidentally sent during badge parties. Consult your keyboard layer documentation before operating heavy machinery.

About

The MK9 is a fully functional 3×3 mechanical macropad badge. Nine real mechanical switches, per-key RGB lighting, ambient underglow, an accelerometer that actually does something interesting, SAO support, and CircuitPython firmware out of the box — all in a package sized to hang around your neck at DEF CON and survive the week.

Specs

Keys

• 9× mechanical switches in a 3×3 grid — standard MX footprint, swap keycaps as you please
• Ships with translucent blue keycaps
• Full N-key rollover USB HID keyboard when plugged into a computer

Lighting

• 9× WS2812B per-key RGB LEDs — one under each switch
• 6× SK6812 side-firing LEDs — edge-mounted for ambient underglow out the sides

Brains & Sensors

• RP2040 microcontroller
• 3-axis accelerometer — tilt-reactive lighting, shake to change patterns
• 2× SAO connectors (standard 6-pin, I2C + 2 GPIO each) — expand with the badge add-on ecosystem

Power & I/O

• USB-C — power and data
• 3× AAA battery pack — run it untethered
• Power switch for battery mode
• Reset button + BOOTSEL button for easy firmware flashing

Firmware

• Ships with CircuitPython firmware
• QMK-compatible hardware — reflash and run it as a full QMK macropad

What It Does Out of the Box

On boot: a rainbow diagonal wipe sweeps across the keys and backlights. Any keypress skips it.

Once running:

• Background light patterns cycle across all 15 LEDs — rainbow wave, breathing pulse, or sparkle
• Pressing a key sends a colour ripple expanding outward from that key through all the LEDs
• Tilt the badge to shift the colour palette; shake it to switch patterns
• Plug into a computer and it shows up as a numpad (7–9 / 4–6 / 1–3 layout)

Repository

mk9-badge/
├── hardware/   — KiCad design files, BOM, fabrication outputs
└── software/   — CircuitPython firmware

• Hardware → — schematics, PCB layout, drill files, BOM
• Software → — firmware architecture, pinout, library requirements, flashing instructions

Fabrication outputs:

• PCB layer plot
• PTH drill map
• NPTH drill map

Programming / Updating

The badge runs CircuitPython. To update the firmware:

1. Hold BOOTSEL while plugging the badge into your computer — it mounts as RPI-RP2.
2. Drag the CircuitPython .uf2 onto the drive. It reboots as CIRCUITPY.
3. Copy the lib/ folder contents to CIRCUITPY/lib/ (see software/README.md for the library list).
4. Copy all .py files from software/ to the root of CIRCUITPY.

The badge restarts automatically. If it gets into a weird state, delete everything on CIRCUITPY and start fresh — it won't brick.

Want to run QMK instead? The hardware is fully compatible; QMK setup instructions will be posted separately.

Recommended IDEs: Visual Studio Code with the CircuitPython extension, or Thonny. A Commodore 64 with a serial adapter also works but is left as an exercise for the reader.

Open Source

DCZia is committed to open source hardware and software. All design files and firmware are publicly available.

• Live CAD (OnShape): View the design