For the last couple of years, we’ve had lights on the back of the rucksack. Originally, these were a simple string of battery-powered fairy lights from the sadly defunct Wilkos. Then we upgraded these with a strip of WS2811 lights (we preferred the form factor of these waterproof string lights to anything available using the smaller WS2812B LEDs). This helps us remain visible from behind, but we’ve never been too
happy with the visibility from the front. We’ve tried LEDs attached to the bike, but this has always been unsatisfactory. They get knocked about more than LEDs on the rucksack, and they’ve never lasted long.
This year, we wanted to up our visibility by attaching LEDs to the front as well, and the only front facing part of the rucksack – the shoulder straps.
Attaching the LEDs is only half the battle, though. We also need to control them, and fortunately, there are a couple of things that have made it easier to run multiple animations from a single microcontroller.
The first is NeoPXL8, a library that outputs data to up to eight strings of LEDs simultaneously, and LED animations, which is a module that does exactly what it says. Both of these have been developed by Adafruit and work with CircuitPython on Raspberry Pi Pico.
The first step in getting these modules to work is to download both CircuitPython for Pico and the Library Bundle from circuitpython.org.
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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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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Select Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: PyCon AU 2024 Talks, New Raspberry Pi Gear Available and 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
