“Ideas for using an LED ring include as a bike headlight or in a lamp. This particular model has 24 ‘5050’ RGB LEDs – the ultrabright kind often used in smart strip lighting – arranged in a 2.6-inch (outer) diameter circle. Adafruit sells a whole range of other sizes with varying numbers of LEDs, all with integrated drivers and chainable. For a larger ring, you can even buy quarter-circles of 15 RGB or RGBW LEDs to make a 6.2-inch diameter circle of 60.
Whichever ring you choose, you can program lighting effects in Python or CircuitPython with the aid of Adafruit’s CircuitPython NeoPixel module. In CircuitPython, you can also make use of Adafruit’s LED Animations library, which includes effects such as comet, theatre chase, pulse, blink, colour cycle, rainbow, and sparkle.”
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
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!
