We'll be using CircuitPython for this project. Are you new to using CircuitPython? No worries, there is a full getting started guide here.

Adafruit suggests using the Mu editor to edit your code and have an interactive REPL in CircuitPython. You can learn about Mu and its installation in this tutorial.

Install the latest release of CircuitPython, version 4. Follow the instructions here using the appropriate CircuitPython UF2 file.

Get the latest 4.0 library pack, unzip it, and drag the libraries you need over into the /lib folder on CIRCUITPY.

For this project you will need the following libraries:

• adafruit_bus_device
• adafruit_motor
• adafruit_register
• adafruit_ds3231.mpy
• neopixel.mpy

When these are installed, your CIRCUITPY/lib directory should look something like:

Example Project

The hardware this code is meant to run on is described in the NYE Ball Drop project by the Ruiz Brothers.

There are two versions of the codebase, each in it's own subdirectory. You can load it all using the download Project Zip link below.