PI PICO
NeoPixel URL control
Les Pounder thinks of NeoPixels as LED candy. They taste awful but look phenomenal. Will they taste better with a slice of Pi?
OUR EXPERT
Les Pounder is associate editor at Tom’s Hardware and a freelance maker for hire. He blogs about his adventures and projects at http://bigl.es.
YOU NEED
> Pi Pico W
> NeoPixels (WS2812B) RGB LED Ring
> Breadboard 3x M-to-M jumper wires
> Soldering equipment
> Code: https:// github.com/ lesp/ LXF_305_ Circuit Python_ NeoPixel_ URL_Control/ archive/refs/ heads/main. zip
Web-controlled projects are easy thanks to boards such as the ESP8266, ESP32 and now the Raspberry Pi Pico W. There are so many ways to control a web project, it can be taxing to find one that just works. So, why don’t we build our own using CircuitPython, a tiny HTTP server called Ampule (https://github.com/deckerego/ampule) and custom URLs to create our own custom RGB LED light show, controlled directly from a browser?
The hardware build is simply connecting an RGB LED NeoPixel ring to three pins on the Pico. GPIO 16 is used for data, any GND pin is connected between the ring and the Pico, and the 3V3 OUT pin connects to the 5V pin of the NeoPixel. Technically NeoPixels need 5V, but we can supply 3V and it should work quite happily.