The AW9523 GPIO Expander and LED Driver makes it possible to connect a whole bunch of n00ds to your project and drive them from one battery source. It has 16 available GPIO pins and will regulate the voltage automatically, so you don't need to do any calculations or solder a whole bunch of resistors.
Plug your Feather RP2040 into the AW9523 using a Stemma QT cable.
The n00ds will be connected to the GPIO pins: the - pad goes into the numbered pin and the + end goes into the corresponding VIN pin on the inner row of the AW9523.
You can connect up to 16 3v n00ds (this won't work with the 12v or 24v), but remember that the more you connect, the larger the battery you'll want to run your project.
The photo shows female headers soldered to the AW9523. I did this for prototyping purposes, but my final build had the wires soldered directly into the pin holes to save space and keep the connections permanent and reliable.
I used a 2000mAh lipoly battery and it runs the 7 n00ds on my project for several hours.
Order of Operations
- Decide which GPIO pins you want to use and upload the code to the Feather.
- Solder extension wires to all your n00ds following the directions on the previous page.
- Install the n00ds on your headpiece or mask, making sure the extension wires will reach the spot you pick for the controller boards.
- Connect the extension wires to the AW9523 after the n00ds are all in place and the glue is dry. Remember, the - wire goes to the numbered GPIO pin and the + wire goes to VIN.
- Connect the Feather to the AW9523 using the Stemma QT cable and power it all up.
It feels a little backwards to do it this way, but it will minimize wire trimming and re-soldering if you have the n00ds solidly in place before hooking them up to the controllers.
Page last edited March 05, 2026
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