SparkFun
BlinkM - I2C Controlled RGB LED
BlinkM is a “Smart LED”, a networkable and programmable full-color RGB LED for hobbyists, industrial designers, prototypers, and experimenters. It is desi...
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BlinkM is a “Smart LED”, a networkable and programmable full-color RGB LED for hobbyists, industrial designers, prototypers, and experimenters. It is designed to allow the easy addition of dynamic indicators, displays, and lighting to existing or new projects. If you’ve used up all your microcontroller PWM channels controlling RGB LEDs and still want more, BlinkM is for you. BlinkM uses a high quality, high power RGB LED and a small AVR microcontroller to allow a user to digitally control an RGB LED over a simple I2C interface. Multiple BlinkMs can be stranded together on an I2C bus allowing for some amazing light displays.
BlinkMs are also programmable! With ThingMs sequencer software, you can create a mix of colors with different time slices, upload that sequence to the Blink, and then let it rip.
Features:
- 8000mcd 140º full-color RGB LED with 24-bit color control
- Specify colors by 24-bit RGB or HSB
- Fade between colors with variable timing and fade speeds
- Randomized color selection, with ranges and based on previous color
- 18 built-in light scripts (sequences)
- Create and save light scripts of up to 49 commands long
- Stand-alone operation: No microcontroller needed for light script playback
- Can plug directly into Arduino, no wiring or other components needed!
- Two-wire (aka “I2C”) interface
- Up to 127 BlinkMs on a single two-wire network
- Responds to “general call” broadcast for simultaneous commanding
- Reconfigurable network address
- Firmware upgradable
- 5-volt standard TTL inputs
- Low power consumption
Documents:
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- AVR
- AVR is a family of 8-bit microcontrollers (made by Microchip, formerly Atmel) used in many classic Arduino-style boards such as the Uno and Nano. They are widely supported but older, which can be a limit for memory- or speed-intensive tasks.
- I2C
- I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.
- LED
- A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip that runs a stored program and controls connected inputs and outputs such as buttons, sensors, displays and communication interfaces. In a device built around one, it is the part that executes the code and coordinates the device's behaviour.
- PWM
- Pulse Width Modulation is a way for a digital pin to simulate variable output power by switching on and off very quickly. It matters for controlling things like LED brightness, motor speed, or servo-style signals from a microcontroller pin.
- RGB
- Short for red, green and blue, the three primary colours of light that are mixed in varying amounts to make a wide range of colours. In electronics RGB can refer to an LED or pixel that blends these three colours, or to a colour signal or interface that carries separate red, green and blue channels.
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Supplier page — sparkfun.com
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BlinkM Datasheet
Datasheet · 6.8 MB · Click any page to view full size
Resources & Downloads
Guides, code examples, and more
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
