While we only published one new guide this week, we did update a few guides. Scroll down to learn more about the new guide. The PyPortal Titano, Feather RP2040, FunHouse, and QT Py RP2040 guides were all updated. This week is a good week to dive into some of the older guides and see if there might be one of the 2,417 guides that you might have missed. This week I want to feature one of my favorite Adafruit products, the Trellis and NeoTrellis.
Featured Category: Trellis
The NeoTrellis M4 is an all-in-one USB + NeoPixel + Elastomer + Audio board. It’s powered by our new favoritest-chip-in-the-world, the SAMD51, a Cortex M4 core running at 120 MHz. This chip has a speedy core with CircuitPython and Arduino support, hardware DSP/floating point, dual DACs (more on that later!) and all the goodies you expect from normal chips like I2C, ADC, DMA, etc. It has a roomy 512KB of flash and 192KB of SRAM so it’s great for CircuitPython, we added a full 8MB flash chip so tons of space for files and audio clips. Or you can load Arduino in for bonkers-fast audio processing/generation with our fork of the PJRC Audio library.
The native USB port can turn it into a MIDI USB device if you like – currently that’s only supported in Arduino. Tether it to a computer or tablet, if you like. Or use it in standalone mode, as long as its powered from a USB power plug, it’ll run whatever firmware is burned into it.
The Trellis and NeoTrellis is just a panel of light up buttons, but with a little imagination, you can do amazing things with it. Thankfully, we have 33 different Trellis projects to give you some inspiration. Check them all out on the Adafruit Learning System.
Favorite New Guide
Motion-activated devices have been around for a while. They are an excellent way to save money if you have a habit of leaving the lights or fan on while you’re not in the room.
With the FunHouse, it’s easy to set up your own motion activated device using a PIR sensor. This guide will take you through setting up a FunHouse board to control an outlet strip that you can plug a light or fan into. For this guide, we’re going to use a fan.
This project is designed so you can either use the FunHouse as a standalone device or interface with Home Assistant to optionally control the device as well. If you want to get creative, you can use it to do things like automatically turning off your TV to encourage you to keep moving around every so often.
ALS Deep Cut
With so many guides on the Adafruit Learning System, some amazing guides of years past get buried and lost. ALS Deep Cuts brings these guides back up to the surface. This week’s guide is from back in 2016.
Bluetooth Controlled NeoPixel Headphones
Headphones are incredibly ubiquitous. They can range from different sizes to styles, comfort to noise cancelling and now even wireless bluetooth. Here’s an upgrade you won’t find on even the biggest brands. RGB LEDs.
This DIY upgrade uses NeoPixel LED rings and an Adafruit Feather Bluefruit LE module to make slick lighting effects.
With The Adafruit Bluefruit LE connect app for iOS or Android, you can change the colors of the LEDs using a color picker and even trigger dope animations with the tap of a button.
The 3D printed enclosures keep everything together and doesn’t add too much weight or bulk to your pair of headphones.