Adafruit CircuitPython NeoPixel

Higher level NeoPixel driver that presents the strip as a sequence. This is a supercharged version of the original MicroPython driver. Its now more like a normal Python sequence and features slice support, repr and len support.

Colors are stored as tuples by default. However, you can also use int hex syntax to set values similar to colors on the web. For example, 0x100000 (#100000 on the web) is equivalent to (0x10, 0, 0).

Note

The int hex API represents the brightness of the white pixel when present by setting the RGB channels to identical values. For example, full white is 0xffffff but is actually (0, 0, 0, 0xff) in the tuple syntax. Setting a pixel value with an int will use the white pixel if the RGB channels are identical. For full, independent, control of each color component use the tuple syntax.

Dependencies

This driver depends on:

• Adafruit CircuitPython

Please ensure all dependencies are available on the CircuitPython filesystem. This is easily achieved by downloading the Adafruit library and driver bundle.

Installing from PyPI

On supported GNU/Linux systems like the Raspberry Pi, you can install the driver locally from PyPI. To install for current user:

pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel

To install system-wide (this may be required in some cases):

sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel

To install in a virtual environment in your current project:

mkdir project-name && cd project-name
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel

Usage Example

This example demonstrates the library with the single built-in NeoPixel on the Feather M0 Express and Metro M0 Express.

import board
import neopixel

pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(board.NEOPIXEL, 1)
pixels[0] = (10, 0, 0)

This example demonstrates the library with the ten built-in NeoPixels on the Circuit Playground Express. It turns off auto_write so that all pixels are updated at once when the show method is called.

import board
import neopixel

pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(board.NEOPIXEL, 10, auto_write=False)
pixels[0] = (10, 0, 0)
pixels[9] = (0, 10, 0)
pixels.show()

This example demonstrates using a single NeoPixel tied to a GPIO pin and with a pixel_order to specify the color channel order. Note that bpp does not need to be specified as it is computed from the supplied pixel_order.

import board
import neopixel

pixel = neopixel.NeoPixel(board.D0, 1, pixel_order=neopixel.RGBW)
pixel[0] = (30, 0, 20, 10)

Setup for sudo-less usage on Raspberry Pi boards

1. Enable both SPI and Serial port hardware (Serial interface). Do it by raspi-config tool or manually by adding

   dtparam=spi=on
   enable_uart=1
   

   to the /boot/config.txt

2. Reboot the Pi to apply the changes - the hardware setup takes place during boot.

3. Connect LED's DIN to GPIO10 (physical pin 19)

When initializing the NeoPixel object always do it with board.D10 (GPIO10)

import board
import neopixel

DATA_PIN = board.D10
pixel = neopixel.NeoPixel(DATA_PIN, ...)

Now you can execute the code using python without sudo

Documentation

API documentation for this library can be found on Read the Docs.

For information on building library documentation, please check out this guide.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Code of Conduct before contributing to help this project stay welcoming.