The 60 element NeoPixel ring is sold as a quarter segment of 15 pixels each so you will need a total of four of these to complete the full ring.
The code we provide depends upon having a SAMD21 processor to make use of its built-in real-time clock. Although any of the Adafruit boards which use the SAMD21 processor could be used, we have chosen to use the Feather form factor so that we have the option to connect it to the Music Maker Feather Wing. If you're going to use the option of BLE control to set the time and control various features of the clock then you will have to use the Feather M0 Bluefruit LE.
If you are not using Bluetooth control then either the Feather M0 Basic or Feather M0 Express can be used. These boards are slightly less expensive if you don't plan to use the Bluetooth feature.
Note if you are using the M0 Express, we will still be programming it using the Arduino IDE. We have not implemented any code for this project using CircuitPython.
If you're going to use the music, chimes, and/or voice menus then you need the Music Maker Feather Wing and a speaker or two.
Although the image above shows speakers, they are sold separately. We recommend this pair of enclosed stereo speakers.
You will need a micro SD memory card to store the MP3 files containing the voice prompts, chimes, and music files. The sample files we provide required just over 25 MB so this 8 GB card or anything similar you might already have on hand is way more than sufficient.
You can connect your Music Maker Wing to your Feather M0 using female headers but we decided to use the Feather Wing Doubler Prototype board to mount them side-by-side and to give us some prototyping space for the IR receiver and the photocell options.
The design for the 3D printed case in this guide assumes you are using the Doubler and the set of speakers shown above. You can feel free to adapt the design however you want and connect the components to meet your needs.
This project is powered through the USB connector of the Feather M0 and it must be plugged in at all times. The NeoPixels operate off of the 5 volts from the USB. So you will need a good USB power supply. If you do not turn up the brightness on the NeoPixels very high or do not use animations that light up all of the pixels it can reduce your power requirements. We have had success with this supply.
If you are going to use an infrared remote to set the time and control the features of the clock you will need an IR receiver such as this one.
You can use a wide variety of remote controls for TV, DVD and other consumer electronic devices as long as they use a protocol supported by IRLib2. It is a Arduino compatible library for receiving, decoding and transmitting IR signals. We have preconfigured the software to use the Adafruit Mini Remote shown here that uses NEC protocol. So if you already have one of these remotes or purchase one you will definitely be ready to go. If you choose to use your own remote, we will tell you how to configure it in the "Advanced Configuration" section.
You can also optionally add a photocell so that the volume level of the speakers and/or the brightness of the NeoPixels is reduced at night when the ambient light in the room is below a certain threshold which you can set. If you use the photocell, you also need a 10K resistor.
