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Tilt-a-Rainbow Mini Kit

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The little sibling of the Tilt-a-Rainbow Kit, using an 8x8 matrix with the same Pico, sensor, and buttons, plus five drawing labs.

Source book: Moving Rainbow
Kit page: https://dmccreary.github.io/moving-rainbow/kits/8x8-matrix-accel/
Printable one-pager: 8x8-matrix-accel-one-pager.html

Features

  • Wire a light matrix, a tilt sensor, and two buttons to a Raspberry Pi Pico.
  • Test each part by itself before you put them together.
  • Turn a row and a column into a pixel number.
  • Draw pictures, animations, and scrolling words.
  • Read the tilt sensor and use it to move lights.
  • Run twelve different light shows from one program.

Benefits

  • Free, open lessons: the Moving Rainbow textbook has the kit page, wiring, and MicroPython code.
  • Ready-made curriculum: 18 additional lab pages walk students through the build step by step.
  • Classroom friendly: built on a solderless breadboard or no-solder connectors.
  • Budget: $19.50.

Parts

  • Raspberry Pi Pico ($4) — Microcontroller
  • LIS3DH — Sensor
  • Momentary Push Buttons — Input button / switch
  • WS2812B NeoPixels — LEDs
  • ADXL345 — Sensor
  • 830-Point Breadboard ($1.10) — Breadboard
  • Micro-USB Data Cable ($2.50) — Power and programming cable