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Halloween Party NeoPixel Patterns 🎃👻 - Power Limited Edition

Overview

This Halloween-themed NeoPixel pattern collection creates spooky lighting effects using orange and purple colors - perfect for your Halloween party!

Power Limited Design: This version limits the number of lit pixels to 1/3 of your strip (maximum 10 pixels for a 30-pixel strip), making it safe for USB power and preventing overdraw issues.

Power Safety Features

  • Maximum 1/3 pixels lit: Automatically calculates and enforces a limit based on your strip length
  • USB-safe: Can be safely powered from USB without external power supply
  • Optimized patterns: All effects redesigned to look great within power constraints
  • No brightness reduction needed: Pixels can run at full brightness without risk

Pattern Descriptions

Mode 0: Auto Cycle

Automatically cycles through all patterns every 5 seconds for a dynamic party atmosphere.

Mode 1: Pumpkin Pulse 🎃

A warm orange pulsing effect on every 3rd pixel, creating a flickering jack-o'-lantern effect with power efficiency.

Mode 2: Witch Chase 🧙‍♀️

Purple and orange comet tails (3 pixels each) chase each other around the strip in opposite directions.

Mode 3: Ghost Fade 👻

A sparse ghostly white-to-purple fade that sweeps across the strip with strategic pixel spacing.

Mode 4: Candy Corn Wave 🍬

Moving dots of orange, yellow, and white that create a candy corn pattern with efficient spacing.

Mode 5: Spooky Sparkle ✨

Random orange and purple sparkles limited to safe power levels - creates a magical firefly effect.

Mode 6: Monster Eyes 👀

Multiple pairs of glowing eyes that blink in orange and purple - automatically spaced for power limits.

Mode 7: Halloween Rainbow 🌈

A sparse rainbow effect using Halloween colors with strategic pixel selection for power efficiency.

Mode 8: Creeping Shadows 🌑

A moving window of shadows with bright orange and purple centers creating an eerie effect.

Mode 9: Potion Bubbles 🧪

Controlled bubbling effect with purple and green "bubbles" rising up the strip - limits active bubbles.

Installation

  1. Make sure your config.py file is properly configured with:
  2. NEOPIXEL_PIN = 0 (or your pin number)
  3. NUMBER_PIXELS = 30 (or your strip length)
  4. BUTTON_PIN_1 = 15

  5. BUTTON_PIN_2 = 14

  6. Upload halloween-party.py to your Raspberry Pi Pico

  7. Connect your NeoPixel strip to the configured pin

  8. Optional: Connect buttons to pins 14 and 15 for mode switching

Usage

  • Button 1 (Pin 15): Cycle forward through patterns
  • Button 2 (Pin 14): Cycle backward through patterns
  • No buttons: Starts in auto-cycle mode

Color Palette

The patterns use a Halloween-themed color palette: - Orange variations: Bright pumpkin orange, dim orange, dark orange - Purple variations: Bright purple, dim purple, dark purple - Accent colors: Spooky green, blood red, ghostly white

Customization Tips

You can easily customize the patterns by:

  1. Adjusting speeds: Change the sleep() values in each pattern function
  2. Modifying colors: Edit the color tuples at the top of the file
  3. Changing auto-cycle duration: Modify PATTERN_DURATION (currently 5000ms)
  4. Adding new patterns: Create a new function and add it to the mode list

Power Considerations

Power-Limited Design Benefits

  • Safe for USB power: No external power supply needed for strips up to 60 pixels
  • Automatic limiting: Code automatically calculates safe pixel count (1/3 of total)
  • No overheating: Prevents power regulator stress on Raspberry Pi Pico
  • Full brightness: Pixels that are lit can run at full brightness safely

Power Usage Examples

  • 30-pixel strip: Maximum 10 pixels lit (approx. 600mA at full white)
  • 60-pixel strip: Maximum 20 pixels lit (approx. 1.2A at full white)
  • 120-pixel strip: Maximum 40 pixels lit (approx. 2.4A at full white)

If You Need More Brightness

To increase the number of lit pixels: 1. Add an external 5V power supply rated for your needs 2. Modify the MAX_LIT_PIXELS calculation in the code 3. Consider using a level shifter for better signal integrity with longer strips

Party Setup Ideas

  • Entrance: Use "Ghost Fade" or "Creeping Shadows" for a spooky welcome
  • Dance floor: "Halloween Rainbow" or "Auto Cycle" for dynamic effects
  • Refreshment table: "Potion Bubbles" near the punch bowl
  • Dark corners: "Monster Eyes" for surprise scares
  • Jack-o'-lanterns: Place strips inside with "Pumpkin Pulse" mode

Enjoy your spooky Halloween party! 🎃👻🦇