“So I'm not sure if it was supposed to be preinstalled or if I was supposed to download it somewhere (though I've looked everywhere and could not find it), but my unit was missing the "plasma" python module, and therefore it's basically just a raspberry pi pico with fewer pins, a reset and two built-in buttons. Which is fine, I can work with that, but it's pretty disappointing.”
Ahoy Eli!
The plasma module to work with LEDs is baked into our custom MicroPython build. It's not pre-installed but there are instructions how to install it in the tutorial here: https://learn.pimoroni.com/article/plasma-2040
Please drop us a line at support@pimoroni.com if you need more help!
“I love the Plasma 2040 so much that I bought 6 of them. This allowed me to decorate my Christmas tree (2x100 LEDs), several windows (50 to 150 LEDs each), and two waterproof strings outside (100 LEDs each). I tested several LED strings from Pimoroni (5m Flexible RGB LED Wire / 50 LEDs / WS2812) and from other vendors (10m / 100 LEDs, copper wire or transparent PVC IP67 waterproof / WS212B or SK6812) and they all work great.
With a bit of programming and a camera, I was able to get the 3D position of each light on my Christmas tree and windows, and then play unique 3D animations that could not have been done with off-the-shelf LED controllers.”
“I was so pleased to find this product, because I wanted to drive an LED strip for some festive lights to go around my window, but was feeling hopeless about how to power it safely with lots of conflicting advice and sketchy, cheap power supplies.
So this little thing is amazing, it's USB-C powered and comes with a 2040 microcontroller, all built-in. All you need to do is plug the wires from your LED strip into the terminals and you're ready to go. I used the official Raspberry Pi USB-C power supply to provide the power to the USB port.
Programming the thing was super easy, I didn't follow most of the tutorial on the Pimoroni site because it wanted you to install this "Thonny" software which I couldn't get working on my Mac so I just used the normal Raspberry Pi Pico tutorials, using rshell and micropython to upload my code. This worked great and I was up and running with my "festive" Christmas light display on my window in no time.
Once you've loaded your program onto the device it will just run it every time you power it on. So I can turn it off at night and then the next evening turn it on again and it just works instantly.
So yeah if you are planning on making an LED strip project but intimidated by the myriad of Ardunio tutorials and questionable products from a site named after a rainforest - this is the perfect product for you. No soldering required or expensive tools, just a small flathead screwdriver to screw the terminals on the wires.”
“A great product from the Pimoronit team. I am having a lot of fun creating light routines with this and my 50 LED strand. It would be great if there were a few more demos in the Pimoroni Micropython repo, I might submit a pull request to add some of mine.”
“A great application of the RP2040 chip - already have this controlling a string of neopixels. Programming it in C is just as simple as for the Pico and other RP2040 based devices.”
“Very easy to use, great information on the site to get up and running! Just be a little wary the apps suggested work fine on an Intel based Mac but not an M1 at this time.”
