Two years ago we hacked some circuits. Last year we showed you how to build things with FPGAs. This year you're in for a real treat - we're going to pull it all together. Up until now you've been limited to demo kits and pre-made packages. You've bought your Arduino, your MSP430, your HCS08, and connected a bunch of nonsense to it to make really cool things - and we've seen some really cool things! Now it's time to learn another skill in the art of hardware black magic: printed circuit board design. It's time to make your own shields, your own kits, and your own neighborly belt buckles! Like last year we're going to demystify the process to you and help you get on track to build you own boards!
This tutorial will go through the process of showing everybody exactly how easy PCB fabrication can be. Starting from an initial circuit design we will take you through all the steps needed to have that new device sitting in your hand. We'll explain all about data sheets, footprints, design rules, verification, taping out, why you need that cap between Vcc and Gnd, silkscreens, layers and much, much more. Several different software packages will be demonstrated to give the audience a wide spread of options to choose from. The audience will be encouraged to follow along as they like. For our use case we'll show you how to build the circuits from the DEFCON 17 badge starting from scratch. This should help those hacking the badge get a better idea of what they're working with. As those who have come to our talks before know, we will have lots of surprises to give away as always!