Limor "Ladyada" Fried - Adafruit is a USA Manufacturer, open-source hardware, certified Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE)... account is managed by Limor & Phillip - no bots, all posts are from either ladyada or pt, blame them :)
mini Sparkle Motion prototype - a tiny, fully-featured WLED board ✨🔌📏💡🌈
We’re doing a lot of serious testing with our WLED mega-board, code-name Sparkle Motion .
While doing some holiday lighting projects, we also wanted something slim enough to slip into any design. It still uses an ESP32 for the best support, with USB-serial programming, 5A fuse, 5V level shifting + 100 ohm series resistors for pixel drivers, user/reset buttons, a user LED and onboard neopixel, JST SH analog/digital connector, QT I2C connector, 4 GPIO plus power/ground breakouts, and USB type C power/data input.
However, this version is made simpler and less expensive by dropping the DC jack and USB PD support: it’s only for 5V strips if you want to power them directly (you could still drive 12V or 24V pixels, but you’ll need separate power for them). Instead of a full set of terminal blocks for 3 signals, we only have two outputs, and they have to share the power and ground pins. It could also be used for a single two-pin dotstar LED setup. We kept the built-in I2S mic but dropped the on-board IR sensor - if you want an IR sensor, you’ll be able to plug it into the JST SH port with a simple cable or solder it into the breakout pads.
The trade-off is that it’s much smaller and slimmer, especially when no terminal blocks are soldered in by default: only 1.2" long x 0.785" wide (~1 sq in) x 0.3" thick vs. the original’s 2" x 1.3" (2.6 sq in) x 0.55". To get it that small, we went 4-layer to give us a nice big ground and 5V plane in the middle and double-sided assembly. Coming soon.
and are testing it with various LED grids. First, we tried out a 16x16 NeoPixel grid that runs on 5V. Since that worked well, we’re now onto a much bigger 60 x 60 grid - that’s 3,600 LEDs! These are some NeoPixel pebble
netting samples we’re also testing at the same time; each one has 20 x 60 pixels and uses 12V power, so it’s a good test of the DC pass-through for higher voltages. Since WLED has a limit of 2000 pixels per output, this demo uses the three output ports that are then ‘merged’ together in memory to make a single large grid. We have more to test soon: the onboard IR receiver, USB PD, I2S microphone, extra I/O pins, and I2C, so watch for those videos as they come together. Coming soon -
The first test for our WLED board codename “Sparkle Motion” 🌈💖💡 … 🐇⏳🌌
We got our WLED-friend PCBs today, and we only made one mistake: the wrong resistor on the 3.3V feedback line. Now that it’s fixed, the board seems to work great with the latest version of WLED
We are checking all 4 signal outputs with this handy 256-LED grid that sits on our desk. Next, we will test the onboard IR receiver, USB PD, I2S microphone, extra I/O pins, and I2C. We’ll also do an Arduino IDE board definition in case folks want to use it as a generic ESP32-to-LED-driver board. We’re calling the board “Sparkle Motion” for now, but if you have other naming ideas, let us know - if we pick your name, you get a free board
Dropped some 🔥 new gear! Sleek panel-mount USB-C, MicroSD, and DC connectors, plus sewable power jacks for your builds. Vibrant 1.14" Color TFT Display—absolute vibes for your next project. Level up! Go get some! 🚀✨ https://www.adafruit.com/new
This week, Ladyada tests the Sparkle Motion WLED board with xLights for large-scale LED animations and began decorating. A smaller version of Sparkle Motion and a NeoPixel-inspired USB PCB, and In The Great Search, storage solutions for components and dev boards!
We got this nifty panel-mount cable with a combo action: both USB C and DVI/HDMI connectors on both ends. This could be handy for single-board computers like Raspberry Pi’s or our RP2040/RP2350 boards with DVI outputs
Since we’re testing our Metro RP2350 with HSTX/DVI output anyway, this is a good time to test the cable out - some things we test with USB C cables: verify it enumerates in all 4 orientations (ya never know) and check it with a USB PD sink that requests various voltages. So far, so good; we’ll get some of these into the shop in the next few weeks.
There are currently 2,934 certified open source hardware projects, Adafruit is almost up to 800! We’re just 4 away! https://certification.oshwa.org/list.html?q=adafruit which is 27.13% of all certified open source hardware projects! @oshwassociation @ohsummit
🎄💾🗓️ Day 18: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - Commodore 64🎄💾🗓️
The Commodore 64, released in 1982, is one of the ones we keep hearing got many people their start in their own computing history. Powered by a MOS Technology 6510 processor at 1.02 MHz and featuring 64 KB of RAM, it became the best-selling single computer model of all time, with an estimated 12.5–17 million units sold. Its graphics were driven by the VIC-II chip, capable of 16 colors, hardware sprites, and smooth scrolling, while the SID (Sound Interface Device) chip delivered advanced audio, supporting three voices with waveforms and filters, making it a lot of fun for gaming and music.
Featured a built-in BASIC interpreter, allowing users to write their own programs out-of-the-box. The C64’s affordability, large software library, lots of games, productivity, and educational applications made it a household name. It connected to TVs as monitors and supported peripherals like the 1541 floppy disk drive, datasette, and various joysticks. With over 10,000 commercial software titles and a thriving homebrew scene, the C64 helped define a generation of computer enthusiasts.
Its impact on gaming was gigantic, iconic titles like The Last Ninja, Maniac Mansion, and Impossible Mission. The C64 also inspired a demoscene, where programmers pushed its hardware for visual and audio effects. The Commodore 64 remains a symbol of computing for the masses and creative innovation, still loved by retrocomputing fans today.
== While I started on the VIC 20, the Commodore 64 was my computer for a lot longer. Its SID sound chip was a headline feature, and many of my memories of it center around music. Starting with Ultima III, each game in the series had a different soundtrack for each environment (though each one was on a pretty short loop, it probably drove my folks nuts when I would play for hours). There were music editors floating around, so I tried my hand at arranging music for its 3 independent voices, though I can’t say I was any good or that I have any of the music now. You could also download “SID tunes” on the local BBSes, where people with hopefully a bit more skill had arranged everything from classical to Beatles to 80s music.
Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!
the whole thing, it came up and pretty much works perfectly! Just one component needed a swap - we were able to test all GPIO, analog inputs, MicroSD slot, PSRAM, LEDs & NeoPixel, user button, I2C/SPI/UART, aaand power supplies. The 5V supply is great, we got a nice clean 5V out at 2A+ from 12V DC in. The last thing to check is the HSTX port, which gives us DVI access, and it works, thanks to this festive turtle demo!
🎄💾🗓️ Day 16: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - Tandy 1000🎄💾🗓️
Tandy’s 1000, sold by Tandy Corporation in 1984 via its RadioShack stores, was a low-cost home computer designed to be compatible with IBM PC software. It shipped with an Intel 8088 processor, 128 KB of RAM, expandable to 640 KB, and had better-at-the-time graphics and sound than many of the standard PCs. The 1000 had the Tandy Graphics Adapter, or TGA, and the more superior SN76496 or NCR 8496 sound chips. The built-in joystick port also made it desirable for gamers and home users. Different models were produced, each with improved hardware, before being discontinued in 1993. One of the main selling features was its compatibility with IBM-PC, the MS-DOS operating system, and expansion slots for peripheral devices.
Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!
We’ve been testing the Trinamic/Maxim/Analog/WeylandYutani TMC2209 (https://www.digikey.com/short/8r5m38h8) breakout we designed, and it’s working great - the step/dir interface plus the micro-step select allows a microcontroller to control a stepper with just GPIO and true-to-its-name it is a very silent stepper driver, much quieter than the A4988 (https://www.digikey.com/short/tfjt88dd)! There are a few different I/O pins on the TMC: Index tells you when a full step is completed, which is handy to know when you want to change stepper modes on the fly. Diag lets you know when a power or motor failure has occurred. It can also tell when the motor has stalled if it’s configured to. Finally, and most interestingly, is the UART interface: this unidirectional pin lets you read and write configuration registers, set 1-128 microsteps, change current limiting, and detect stalls for ‘auto homing’. So far, everything works; we’re just going to swap the direction of the potentiometer so it twists clockwise to increase the current limit and book PCBs!
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