Controlling Neopixels
The Omega + Arduino Dock can be used to control Neopixels, with the Omega sending the commands and colour codes, and the Arduino Dock acting as a communication channel.
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Arduino Dock Setup
Download and install the latest Onion Arduino Library, and flash a sketch to the Arduino Dock that has the Onion Library enabled and setup.
The Arduino Dock is now ready to accept commands from the Omega that will control Neopixels. The Library code handles all of the Neopixel commands, no additional changes to the Arduino Sketch are required to control the Neopixels.
Methods to Control the Neopixels
Any connected Neopixels can be controlled with the following methods:
- Command line tool on the Omega
- C++ Library
- C Library
- Python Module
The latter three options allow you to write your own programs to interact with Neopixels.
Programming Flow
All of methods listed above follow the same programming flow:
- Initialize the Neopixels; set the Arduino Dock pin to be used as data output, set the number of Neopixels
- Set the colour of one or several pixels
- Display the queued up colour changes
Omega Command Line Tool
The neopixel-tool utility provides a method to control Neopixels from the command line.
Installation
To install the neopixel-tool utility:
opkg update
opkg install neopixel-tool
Usage
The following describes how to use the command line tool.
Initialization
The Arduino Dock must be told which Port to use to communicate with the Neopixels, and how many Neopixels are to be programmed:
neopixel-tool -i -p <pin> -l <number of neopixels>
Arguments
The pin argument indicates which Arduino Dock pin is connected to the Neopixel Data In. If no pin is specified, the tool will assume Pin 6 is being used to control the Neopixels.
The number of neopixels argument indicates how many neopixels there are in the conencted Neopixel strip, array, or matrix. If the number is not specified, the tool will assume there are 32 individual pixels.
Examples
Initialize Arduino Dock to use pin 5 for a strip with 64 pixels
neopixel-tool -i -p 5 -l 64
Set the Colour of a Single Pixel
Single pixels can be programmed with a specific hex colour code:
neopixel-tool set <pixel> <colour code>
Note that the above command will queue up the colour change, to immediately show the colour change:
neopixel-tool -s set <pixel> <colour code>
Arguments
The pixel specifies which Neopixel in your strip or array to program, with the first pixel being 0.
The colour code is a 24-bit hex colour, with 8-bits representing the intensity of each colour component. Experiment with a colour wheel to find your favourite colours.
Examples
Set the first pixel in the strip to be red:
neopixel-tool set 0 0xff0000
Set the fifth pixel in the strip to be blue:
neopixel-tool set 4 0x0000ff
Set the second pixel in the strip to be green, and to show this change immediately:
neopixel-tool -s set 1 0x00ff00
Set the Colour of Many Pixels
Multiple pixels can be programmed at once by writing a large buffer of colours:
neopixel-tool buffer <pixel colour string>
Note that the above command will queue up the colour change, to immediately show the colour change:
neopixel-tool -s buffer <pixel colour string>
Arguments
The pixel colour string specifies the colours for each pixels, starting with pixel 0. Imagine it like stringing together a number of commands that set single pixels: 24-bits for each pixel.
Examples
Set the first three pixels to red, green, and then blue:
neopixel-tool buffer ff000000ff000000ff
Set the first five pixels to: yellow, pink, light blue, purple, and lime
neopixel-tool buffer ffff00ff66ff3399ffcc00ccbfff80
Set the Maximum Pixel Brightness
Neopixels can be programmed with to maximum brightness:
neopixel-tool -b <brightness>
Note that the above command will queue up the brightness change, to immediately show the colour change:
neopixel-tool -sb <brightness>
Arguments
The brightness argument specifies the maximum colour intensity for all colour components. The range is 0 to 255
Examples
Set the maximum brightness:
neopixel-tool -b 255
Set to half brightness:
neopixel-tool -b 127
Set to quarter brightness, taking effect right away:
neopixel-tool -sb 63
Show Queued Colour Changes
Any commands to set the colours of pixels will not be immediately displayed on the Neopixels (unless they are run with the -s option).
To show all queued colour changes:
neopixel-tool -s
Using the Libraries
The C and C++ Libraries and Python module can be used in your own programs to control Neopixels. Allowing you to put on light shows of your own creation!
For more information, see this guide.