LEDs, lots and lots of LEDs
BEST OF BREED
e were big fans of the
original Unicorn HAT with its
64 RGB LEDs, but it pales in
comparison to the new and
improved Unicorn HAT HD,
boasting 256 tightly packed
RGB LEDs. With four times as many pixels as the
original Unicorn HAT, you are able to generate much
more complex and smooth animations.
The board features an ARM STM32F and three
LED drivers. These components take care of all the
fast processing needed to control all 256 LEDs. This
allows your Raspberry Pi to do other things, rather
than worry about the refresh rate of a bunch of
LEDs. There is a nice Python library to help you get
up and running, along with tons of examples which
really show off the power of this board.
he Rainbow Light Show from
SpikenzieLabs is a fun kit that allows
you to control a strip of RGB LEDs
with a simple wave of your hand.
The kit is available in a traditional bring-
your-own-soldering iron version, or you
can pick it up in a simple no-solder version too. Once
assembled, both kits allow you to adjust the red,
green, and blue colour mixing of the LED strip. The
kit comes with a strip of 16 addressable LEDs, but it’s
expandable up to 64 in total. That’s enough to light up
a room!
W
T
Unicorn HAT HD
Rainbow Light Show
UNICORN $42 shop.pimoroni.com
RAINBOW LIGHT SHOW $29.95 spikenzielabs.com
Make your Raspberry Pi glow
Dancing lights
More LEDs than
we thought was
possible to pack
into a HAT form
factor board.
VERDICT
10 / 10
A fun way
to create a
light show with
the swipe of
your hands.
VERDICT
Left
256 LEDs all
packed into
this HAT
Below
Make your own
light show with a
wave of your hand
8 / 10