Install a strip of NeoPixel lights in your bedroom or living space. Hook them up to a Circuit Playground Bluefruit and control the lights with your phone or tablet. You can add as many different animation modes as you like - it's really easy to do with Adafruit's CircuitPython LED Animations Library.

Choose from millions of colors with our graphical color picker. And the library includes around a dozen pre-written animations that you can customize to your heart's content including Rainbow, Pulse, Sparkle Pulse, Color Chase, Comet, and more. Within each animation you can set custom colors, speeds, directions and brightness. You can even layer the animations over one another to create your own custom animated lighting scenes.

Cycle through modes and fine-tune your brightness levels using Adafruit's free BlueFruit app, which works seamlessly with our CircuitPython sample code. 

Difficulty Level

Assembly:

This is a beginner level project! There's no soldering required - the whole project can be assembled with a screwdriver and a pair of wire strippers!

Code:

For setup, you'll need to download and drag the latest version of the free firmware to your Circuit Playground Bluefruit, then copy and paste a couple of library files from our downloadable bundle. 

You can then copy and paste our code directly onto the board, or install the free Mu code editor if you want to customize your animations. The code for this project is fairly simple and easy to understand and experiment with. This is a great place to start if you're new to CircuitPython.

Cost:

The cost will depend on how many lights you want to install. For my room, a 4 meter strip of 60/m lights is enough to light two rooms when placed near the ceiling along the room divider. The total cost for my project came in at around $150.

Comparatively, the Philips Hue line charges $239 for a light strip that's about half as long, and that doesn't include the control system -- and it's not customizable.

With our solution you'll get to dig into the nuts and bolts a bit, and you'll end up with a one of a kind Home Automation lighting system you can be proud of.

Parts

shot of a Black woman's neon-green manicured hand holding up a Circuit Playground Bluefruit glowing rainbow LEDs.
Circuit Playground Bluefruit is our third board in the Circuit Playground series, another step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We've...
$24.95
In Stock
Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip reel wired to a microcontroller, with all the LEDs in a rainbow
You thought it couldn't get better than our world-famous 32-LED-per-meter Digital LED strip but we will prove you wrong! You wanted...
$99.80
In Stock
Close up angled shot of a LED strip attached and powered by a circuit playground.
You have a Circuit Playground Express, and want to connect some wires to it for adding LEDs or sensors or speakers? You can use our...
Out of Stock
5V 4A switching power supply brick with figure 8 power port.
Need a lot of 5V power? This switching supply gives a clean regulated 5V output at up to 4 Amps (4000mA). 110 or 240 input, so it works in any country. The plugs are "US...
$14.95
In Stock
Angle shot Female DC Power adapter - 2.1mm jack to screw terminal block
If you need to connect a DC power wall wart to a board that doesn't have a DC jack - this adapter will come in very handy! There is a 2.1mm DC jack on one end, and a screw terminal...
$2.00
In Stock

This guide was first published on Sep 29, 2020. It was last updated on Mar 17, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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