How to Use WS2812B RGB LEDs with Raspberry Pi Pico (using MicroPython)

To follow along you'll need:
• A Raspberry Pi Pico
• WS2812B LEDs (we recommend GlowBit™ rainbow because the version 5 LEDs work reliably with the Pico's 3.3V logic level).
• A way to connect your Pico to your LEDs. I'm using some test clips

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[pskouson]

Thank you! Three years later and this still works!

[alrichmond]

I have 2x96 month-old believed-humanoids that I need to get into programming, and this is a great place to start. Thanks.

[BABALOOEY]

Good, always enjoy watching your short tutorials on a mini break... 👍🏻

[AndersJackson]

A bit short, but on the spot and and on target.
Like you way of connecting the Pi nano. I will use that for prototyping, thanks.

[pratiklondhe]

Where I can buy those cute clips you used to connect led to pico, ?

[StitchesLovesRats]

can you have button input to cycle between a few diff programmed settings so you could just hit a button and get white to see or colour patterns for aesthetics?
I want to just be able to power on and cycle and not have to srat up my pi. wanna encase my pi in a lightbox.

I just googled Coulr Hex and orange was the default colour.

[victorldunn]

Thank you - Another clearly presented tutorial, that stays on-topic :-)

[vaughnmonkey]

Are these significantly different than the WS2811?

[warandv]

is there a way to change colors using a potentiometer or touchscreen display ?

[daveflatters]

Are these Glowbit Rainbows available in the UK ?

[shortymcsteve]

I really want to purchase a glowbit rainbow but shipping to the UK just for one just doesn’t make sense. Do you guys have a partnership with other companies in Europe where I can purchase one? Seems like an amazing little board to play with.

[brendanfarthing]

Got any Picos in stock right now? They are hard to get.

[cx]

So the Pico is the new competitor for the Ardunio or ESP?

[crckdns]

Cool, thanks for showing how simple it is with python!
Can you do the same in C?

[alheeley]

Nice video. Are there any other tutorials to show code for sweeping through colours, hue and brightness using analog inputs, for example?

[IanSMoyes]

If you're using 4 colour LEDS, e.g. rgbw or grbw then you'll need to change the code to say:
# Example using PIO to drive a set of WS2812 LEDs.

import array, time
from machine import Pin
import rp2

# Configure the number of WS2812 LEDs.
NUM_LEDS = 13
PIN_NUM = 22
brightness = 0.2

@rp2.asm_pio(sideset_init=rp2.PIO.OUT_LOW, out_shiftdir=rp2.PIO.SHIFT_LEFT, autopull=True, pull_thresh=32)
then add a fourth colour to all the data frames and the appropriate bit shifts.

[dans-designs]

Thanks for the great video, I have a RP2040-Zero from Waveshare that has a built-in WS2812 RGB LED on GP16 but I cannot for the life of me get it working! (using micropython) Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[rodrigoramirez]

My ws2812b LED strip is only showing red color and very low brightness. I'm using 15 LEDs only. Any help?

[KaradevNetLtd]

nice work, but can you give a some working code in C/C++ for using with or without arduino ide for RPI PICO ??? i have no understand how to translate this from python to c and set pio and ws2812b. some help about it ???

[MrEdwardhartmann]

I think there is a minor bug in the code you used (but I am not sure). In the "Def pixels_show():" function, there is a line: "sm.put(dimmer_ar, 8)". This is a direct copy of the code in the pico manual. But, they were using 8 leds instead of twelve like you are using. But, that "8" might mean something else to the PIO function that I can't figure out since it seems that only 8 leds would have been loaded with this code, and I can see that all twelve of your leds are lit - I am so confused.