Adafruit has launched a brand new gadget that makes it simpler to drive addressable LED tasks from USB battery packs: the Sparkle Movement Stick.
“The Adafruit Sparkle Movement Stick is a part of our collection of ‘Sparkle Movement’ boards, that are our try to make the very best small WLED-friendly good LED driving board in the entire world,” Adafruit explains of the brand new system. “Our resident mermaid, firepixie [Erin St Blaine], makes plenty of tasks with WLED, and she or he loves it! So, how can we make one thing highly effective sufficient to drive superior LED tasks that want a compact design?”
The reply” by making it within the type issue of a USB stick. One finish of the board includes a USB Kind-A connector, whereas the opposite finish has a screw terminal block for 5VDC, floor, and two information pins — and there is a push-button enter, programmed as an on/off switcher within the inventory firmware. Much less seen except you are trying intently are an infrared receiver for distant management, an I2S microphone for audio-reactive lighting management, and a small NeoPixel RGB LED together with a single-color crimson LED standing mild.
Constructing on the corporate’s earlier, and bigger, Sparkle Movement, the Stick variant is considerably extra restricted: it is based mostly on a traditional Espressif ESP32 microcontroller, giving it Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Power (BLE) and Wi-Fi connectivity, however solely helps 5V operation and has fewer outputs. On the flip-side, it is significantly smaller and is designed for straightforward integration into moveable tasks: every thing may be powered by simply plugging the USB Kind-A connector right into a USB battery financial institution or energy provide, as long as you are not planning on drawing greater than 2A in your lights.
The board is on the market naked, as pictured, or with a plastic enclosure package with USB cap, as above. (📷: Adafruit)
“Whereas we suggest it to be used with WLED [firmware],” Adafruit notes, “it should additionally work simply nice as a compact ESP32 board to be used with Arduino, ESP-IDF, MicroPython, CircuitPython, or every other ESP32-supported codebase.”
The Adafruit Sparkle Movement Stick is on the market on the Adafruit retailer for $17.95 or $19.95 with plastic enclosure, each earlier than quantity reductions.
