Little Bird
Scroll Bot - Pi Zero W Project Kit
Scroll Bot is a desk-friendly robot kit built around the Raspberry Pi Zero W and the Scroll pHAT HD LED matrix. Once assembled, it scrolls messages, news, we...
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Scroll Bot is a desk-friendly robot kit built around the Raspberry Pi Zero W and the Scroll pHAT HD LED matrix. Once assembled, it scrolls messages, news, weather, or social media feeds through its 17×7 bright white LED "mouth" — all powered by the Pi Zero W's built-in Wi-Fi.
The kit includes everything needed to build the robot (just add a micro-SD card). Assembly takes around 30 minutes and requires soldering the headers, though no-solder hammer headers can be used as an alternative.
Key Features
- Scroll pHAT HD – 17×7 matrix (119 pixels) of individually dimmable white LEDs, driven by the IS31FL3731 chip
- Raspberry Pi Zero W – Single-core CPU with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
- Orange Robot Stand – 3-layer acrylic stand with frosted diffuser
- Internet Connected – Display news, weather, Twitter mentions, and more via Wi-Fi
- Python Library – Full software support with examples
Specifications
- LED Matrix – 17×7 (119 pixels), individual PWM brightness control
- Assembled Size – 125 × 85 × 67 mm (W × H × D)
Ideal For
- Desk-top information displays and notification scrollers
- Learning Raspberry Pi, Python, and soldering
- Simple LED animations and pixel art
- A fun weekend electronics project
Kit Contents
- 1× Raspberry Pi Zero W
- 1× Scroll pHAT HD board
- 1× Male and female 2×20 pin headers
- 1× Orange robot stand and diffuser (acrylic)
- 1× 50 cm USB-A to Micro-B cable
- 1× USB-A (female) to Micro-B (male) adaptor
- 1× Mini HDMI to full-size HDMI adaptor
- 1× Sticker sheet
- Reusable kit box
scrollphathd.rotate(180) near the top of your code to correct this.
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- HDMI
- HDMI is a common digital video and audio connection used by computers, media players, and many displays. If a display kit has HDMI input, it is usually much easier to test with a single-board computer because it can act like a normal monitor.
- Headers
- Rows of connector contacts on a fixed pitch (commonly 2.54 mm) used to link a board to a breadboard, jumper wires, or another board. They come as male pin headers and female socket headers; when a module ships with pre-soldered headers it can be used straight away, whereas bare pads require soldering the pins yourself.
- 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.
- pHAT
- A smaller add-on board format for Raspberry Pi, similar in idea to a HAT but usually not full-sized. It matters because pHAT compatibility can affect how neatly a board stacks or fits into a Raspberry Pi project.
- 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.
Find this product in
Raspberry Pi
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
