Adafruit Neo Pixel Rings Addressable RGB LEDs
- Adafruit 1463, The Adafruit 16 Neo Pixel Ring lets you address every single one of the 16 LEDs & set its 24-bit RGB value. The result is 44.5mm (1.75in.) in diameter & is the height of bling. These seemingly simple gadgets have triggered an amazing array of creative projects, from watches & compasses to steampunk goggles & more. Each ring has solder pads for 5V DC & Gnd, plus data in & data out. Simply feed the data out from one into the data in of another to control them both from the same microcontroller (MCU). Since the data protocol has strict timing requirements, the ring is best controlled by a real-time microcontroller such as the Arduino rather than a Linux board like the Raspberry Pi. Use an MCU with a clock speed of 8 M Hz or greater (Arduino is 16 M Hz). Adafruit have published a driver library to save you the trouble & let you get on with designing eye catching displays. Adafruit have a reputation for the quality of their supporting documentation. You will find their Uberguide to Neo Pixels & their Best Practices guide invaluable. In particular the Best Practices guide will help you prolong the life of your Neo Pixels & help you avoid common mistakes. Adafruit 1463 Neo Pixel Ring 16 Addressable RGB LEDs