In this article we take a quick look at the 25 RGB led matrix which is on the BPI-Bit, we will try out a basic example using the Arduino IDE – there are other ways to use this. We will look at these in other articles

Code
This code example needs the following library installed – https://github.com/Makuna/NeoPixelBus. you can download the zip file or install via the library manager
This is the NeoPixeltest code example with a few tweaks
#include <NeoPixelBus.h>
const uint16_t PixelCount = 25;
const uint8_t PixelPin = 4;
#define colorSaturation 2
#define LED_POWER 2
// three element pixels, in different order and speeds
NeoPixelBus<NeoGrbFeature, Neo800KbpsMethod> strip(PixelCount, PixelPin);
//NeoPixelBus<NeoRgbFeature, Neo400KbpsMethod> strip(PixelCount, PixelPin);
RgbColor red(colorSaturation, 0, 0);
RgbColor green(0, colorSaturation, 0);
RgbColor blue(0, 0, colorSaturation);
RgbColor white(colorSaturation);
RgbColor black(0);
HslColor hslRed(red);
HslColor hslGreen(green);
HslColor hslBlue(blue);
HslColor hslWhite(white);
HslColor hslBlack(black);
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(115200);
while (!Serial); // wait for serial attach
Serial.println();
Serial.println("Initializing...");
Serial.flush();
// this resets all the neopixels to an off state
strip.Begin();
strip.Show();
Serial.println();
Serial.println("Running...");
pinMode(LED_POWER, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(LED_POWER, HIGH);
}
void loop()
{
delay(5000);
Serial.println("Colors R, G, B, W...");
// set the colors,
// if they don't match in order, you need to use NeoGrbFeature feature
strip.SetPixelColor(0, red);
strip.SetPixelColor(1, green);
strip.SetPixelColor(2, blue);
strip.SetPixelColor(3, white);
// the following line demonstrates rgbw color support
// if the NeoPixels are rgbw types the following line will compile
// if the NeoPixels are anything else, the following line will give an error
//strip.SetPixelColor(3, RgbwColor(colorSaturation));
strip.Show();
delay(5000);
Serial.println("Off ...");
// turn off the pixels
strip.SetPixelColor(0, black);
strip.SetPixelColor(1, black);
strip.SetPixelColor(2, black);
strip.SetPixelColor(3, black);
strip.Show();
delay(5000);
Serial.println("HSL Colors R, G, B, W...");
// set the colors,
// if they don't match in order, you may need to use NeoGrbFeature feature
strip.SetPixelColor(0, hslRed);
strip.SetPixelColor(1, hslGreen);
strip.SetPixelColor(2, hslBlue);
strip.SetPixelColor(3, hslWhite);
strip.Show();
delay(5000);
Serial.println("Off again...");
// turn off the pixels
strip.SetPixelColor(0, hslBlack);
strip.SetPixelColor(1, hslBlack);
strip.SetPixelColor(2, hslBlack);
strip.SetPixelColor(3, hslBlack);
strip.Show();
}
You will see 4 LEDs flash on and off