Dabao Open Hardware Hackathon · incl. board pickup at Devcon 8 (Pickup Nov 3 - 6)
Pick up a free Dabao at Devcon 8, build something cool on it, win up to $5,000.
Open software on secret hardware misses the point. The Dabao runs the Baochip-1x / CrossBar Daric — a chip whose design source we published, and whose die you can inspect with IRIS. Register here, pick up your limited-edition Devcon 8 board in Mumbai, and show us what an open chip lets you build.
The challenge: "Show us something cool on this board, win a prize." No categories, no required stack.
Hackathon Important Dates
Duration: November 3 - December 15.
In-Person Pickup in Mumbai: November 3 - 6
Results Announced: December 18
How it works
Register on this page and choose your pickup window. Opt in as a Builder to reserve your board.
Start now — the tools and the BIO simulator are on GitHub. No board needed yet.
Pick up your Dabao in Mumbai, Nov 3–6, at either the Impact Space or our off-site event.
Build from the day you pick up, at the Impact Space bench or wherever you are.
Submit one link — a repo, a video or a write-up — by Tues, Dec 15, 9 pm ET. Submission link to be announced.
Winners announced online Fri, Dec 18, 9 pm ET.
Prizes
Up to $5,000 for the builds that impress us most.
Pickup
Tue Nov 3 – Fri Nov 6: CrossBar Impact Space, Jio World Centre (until 15:00 on Nov 6)
Weds Nov 4 19:30: Off-site Launch Event at Sofitel Mumbai BKC - Please also register at Sovrency C8 Launch
Walk-ups get a board only if any remain. Can't make it to Mumbai? Request a board under "Direct Shipping" and we'll send it to you.
What "something cool" can mean
BIO · I/O engine — make the four 700 MHz RISC-V I/O cores do something new.
Signing · Ethereum — a signer you can inspect: crypto accelerators, key store, TRNG on open RTL.
Verification — check the chip against its source; build a tool others can reuse.
Countermeasures — attack it, then defend it: glitch sensors, security mesh, ECC RAM.
Xous · Rust OS — an app that needs the MMU.
Tooling — make the next hacker faster.
How we judge
Works — a live demo on the board, not a slide.
New — something the chip enables that other boards don't.
Open — source published, reproducible by the next person.
Uses the silicon — BIO, MMU, crypto, IRIS: the more of the chip, the better.
The board
VexRiscv RV32IMAC @ 350 MHz with an MMU
BIO: 4× PicoRV32 @ 700 MHz I/O co-processor
4 MiB RRAM + 2 MiB SRAM; USB 2.0 HS, SPI, I²C, UART, ADC, camera
Crypto accelerators, TRNG, key store, glitch sensors, security mesh
TSMC 22 nm, IRIS-inspectable package, RTL published
Runs Xous, a Rust microkernel
100 % of our own design — CrossBar's and Baochip's — is open. Some third-party IP is closed, and we say so.
Start before Mumbai
FAQ
Do I have to be in Mumbai? Yes, to get a free board. Free boards are handed out only in person in Mumbai around Devcon 8.
Can't make it to Mumbai? We're happy to ship you one; you just cover the $20 shipping.
How many boards are there? A limited number. Builders are reserved first, then board-only requests in the order they come in.
What do I submit? One link: a repo, a video or a write-up. Source published, so the next person can reproduce it.
Who judges? Engineers from CrossBar and Baochip.