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Proto-PDN
First digital PDN for Neo 2023 (retired) Historical reference only.
Decommissioned after Neo 2023. The Proto-PDN was our first microcontroller Portable Data Node. The team nicknamed the enclosure The Shoe: Arduino Pro Mini on breakout boards, Amazon-sourced parts, and thousands of hand-soldered joints before Neo.
We introduced Quickdraw on this hardware: jack two nodes together, countdown, Go, first button press wins. Rules that lived on paper in 2022 moved into firmware. 44 units shipped (22 Hunter, 22 Bounty). None returned to the field after 2023.
Why it did not become the platform
Hunters and Bounties were different physical devices with fixed TX/RX wiring on the 3.5 mm jack. Duels were reliable, but you could not reflash one SKU into the other or add roles without a new generation. Assembly, spares, and game design all paid the price for two hardware lines.
That lesson drove PDN MK I in 2024: one PCB and enclosure program, either role through lighting and firmware.
Bill of materials
| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| MCU | Arduino Pro Mini |
| LEDs | 5× UV LEDs |
| Serial I/O | Audio jack (3.5 mm), role-fixed wiring |
| Haptics | 10k RPM motor |
| Power | 1650 mAh battery sourced from discarded nicotine vapes |
| Enclosure | 3D printed; breakout boards + hand soldering |
Engineering write-up: Neo 2023 dispatch. Successor hardware: Portable Data Node (PDN MK I and PDN MK II).