Issue 16 — HackSpace magazine – Can I hack it? A smart pixel purse #NeoPixels #Making @HackSpaceMag @Biglesp

Issue 16 — HackSpace magazine – Can I hack it? A smart pixel purse

This Project Mc2 Smart Pixel Purse, looks like a handbag (known as a purse in American parlance) but, in reality, it houses lots of very hackable electronics. The purse was made as part of the Project Mc2 Netflix series, which involves a team of girls working for government organisation NOV8 as spies, using their STEM skills to protect the world.

The smart pixel purse is a vital piece of equipment, but can we hack it? Let’s find out! The purse is held together with a mixture of friction-fit plastic and six cross-head screws, and so taking the purse apart is relatively simple. The LED matrix screen has a clear plastic screen to protect it, and to separate the pixels, so that our image/text is clear.

If you ish to use the matrix with a Pi, then purchase an Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet for Raspberry Pi, or the Adafruit RGB Matrix HAT – these both come with on-board level shifters and an IDC cable, so no messy jumper wires! We tested our board using another Adafruit product, an RGB Matrix Shield for Arduino. Coming as a kit, we soldered everything up and installed the libraries necessary. Then a quick demo script was tested, and everything worked.

Read morebuy issuesubscribe, and PDF.

And see a range of RGB Matrix products at Adafruit.


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Happy New Year 2025
Happy New Year from Adafruit!

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.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/15/2024 Featuring Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger with 3.3V Buck Board! (Video)

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A Fabulous Year for Python on Hardware and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — The 2024 Recap Issue!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — Same-day delivery, not for convenience, but customer loyalty

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — Level Conversion Hack

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !


No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.