Single LED test (#2)

Single LED test: color cycle update

Hey everyone, I finished the first tiny milestone with the sponsored kit and wanted to share how it went. I tested one 5050 breakout LED to make sure the board and the code talk to each other, and it worked way better than I expected. Feels nice to see a pixel light up after all the waiting.

Quick setup I used

I soldered one LED onto a breakout and wired it up to the Arduino Zero. For the test I powered the LED from 5 V, tied grounds together, and used a single data pin from the Zero. The LED cycled through red, green, and blue so I could confirm colors and timing.

Wiring summary: VDD to 5 V, VSS to GND, DIN to Arduino pin 6, DOUT left unconnected.

Code I used

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(1, 6, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

void setup() {
  strip.begin();
  strip.show();
}

void loop() {
  strip.setPixelColor(0, strip.Color(255,0,0));
  strip.show();
  delay(500);
  strip.setPixelColor(0, strip.Color(0,255,0));
  strip.show();
  delay(500);
  strip.setPixelColor(0, strip.Color(0,0,255));
  strip.show();
  delay(500);
}

What happened

The LED came alive exactly like in the code: red, then green, then blue, repeating. I recorded a short video so you can see the colors and the timing. There was a tiny flicker the first time I powered it because my wiring was loose, but reseating the jumper fixed it. Overall it was a quick win and a good confidence booster.

Video

Next steps and plans

Solder a column of 5 breakouts and test chaining DOUT to DIN.
Compare one clocked LED column against a non-clocked column to see timing differences and more stable updates.
Work out power distribution for the full 10x5 grid so I do not get brownouts.

I will post another update after the 5-LED chain test with pictures and another clip.