# Hackaday 2018 Year in Review

- Show: [Hackaday Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast)
- Published: 2018-12-18
- Length: 1h 06m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review
- Listen: https://hackaday.libsyn.com/hackaday-2018-year-in-review

## Summary

Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams review 2018 trends, highlighting the rise of private space exploration with SpaceX's reusable rocket nose cone recovery and the 'year of the FPGA' driven by open-source toolchains like IceStorm and soft cores like RISC-V. They discuss the explosion of 'badge life' in the maker community, where hackers produce custom conference badges and 'shitty add-on' headers, and note the shift in home automation toward Wi-Fi and MQTT. The episode concludes with their favorite hacks, including a garage-built IC by Sam's Aloof, a self-solving Rubik's cube, and analog mechanical keyboards.

## Chapters

- [0:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=9) Introduction: Hackaday 2018 Year in Review
- [2:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=162) Space Trends: SpaceX Reusability and Space Garbage
- [10:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=631) Home Automation: Wi-Fi, MQTT, and Protocols
- [13:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=780) The Year of the FPGA: Open Source Tools and Soft Cores
- [22:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=1334) Silicon Security: Meltdown, Spectre, and Side-Channel Attacks
- [26:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=1561) Badge Life: Custom Conference Badges and Add-Ons
- [36:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=2201) Accessible Robotics and Laser Cutters
- [41:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=2507) Favorite Articles: Soy Wires, C Pointers, and Game Consoles
- [56:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review#t=3386) Favorite Hacks: Garage IC, Rubik's Cube, and Luminati Ring

## Topics

- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Maker community & events](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/maker-community)
- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- SpaceX (company)
- IceStorm (tool)
- Arduino (product)
- RISC-V (chip)
- Meltdown (other)
- Spectre (other)
- DEFCON (other)
- Sam's Aloof (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [100: Unintentional Radiator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2015-05-06-100-unintentional-radiator) (Embedded.fm)
- [Space Difficulties and Lost Heroes - Wanzing Workshop Whemmle](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-11-06-space-difficulties-and-lost-heroes-wanzing-workshop-whemmle) (The Amp Hour)
- [Spacing Out On Space - Dave's Dongle Designing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-05-07-spacing-out-on-space-daves-dongle-designing) (The Amp Hour)
- [Psst...Hey buddy, wanna buy an Octopus?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-10-09-psst-hey-buddy-wanna-buy-an-octopus) (The Amp Hour)
- [031 - The Title Isn't DibbleDabble](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2019-12-27-031-the-title-isnt-dibbledabble) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2018-12-18-hackaday-2018-year-in-review. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Hackaday Podcast.