New Library and Updated Guide: DMA-driven NeoPXL8 for M0 boards
Last month we solved the riddle of controlling a NeoPixel strip using SPI DMA (direct memory access) on SAMD21-based boards like the Feather M0 or Arduino Zero, freeing up the processor for other, more interesting things.
Sometimes even a DMA-driven strand of NeoPixels isn’t enough. Sometimes you need a firehose of color!
NeoPXL8 (pronounced “NeoPixelate”) is a more intense approach to driving NeoPixels on Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers, with eight separate strands all running concurrently. It shares the same benefits as NeoPixel_ZeroDMA — minimal CPU use, nondestructive brightness setting, plays well with timekeeping functions and servos
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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