Blinkt on Raspberry Pi Pico

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1

Hi, has anyone got the Pimoroni Blinkt to work with MicroPython on the Pico ?
I’ve asked this question in a couple of forums on other sites and some people say the Blinkt uses 5v logic and would damage the Pico others aren’t sure if the Blinkt is an ic2 or SPI device.

Thanks in advance

2

It uses 3.3v logic as that’s what a Pi uses. If it used 5v logic it would damage a Pi. It does use 5v for power though.
It doesn’t use i2c or SPI, you need a PICO library for APA-102 LEDs. Adafruit may have one that will work in Circuit Python.
Or find a PICO base etc that also uses those LED’s, and maybe use its library in Micro Python for the Blinkt.

Blinkt! at Raspberry Pi GPIO Pinout

3

Thanks for the quick response.
I thought that would be the case for the logic but as the Blinkt connects to the data & clock pins on the Pi I thought it might be SPI

4

A lot of the Pimoroni blinky things do use SPI, just not this one.
SPI at Raspberry Pi GPIO Pinout

5

Yes, there is a way to get it going with Micropython on a Pico over SPI.

Load the micropython-dotstar.py to the Pico.
The example script has one fault:
spi = SPI(0,sck=Pin(6), mosi=Pin(7), miso=Pin(4)) # Configure SPI - note: miso is unused
You have to add 0 or 1 after the bracket to specify the SPI Channel (0 or 1) you use.
The pin 23 on the Blinkt! Module goes to Pico SPIO TX (Mosi, GPIO 7= Pin 10), Pin 24 Blinkt Clock goes to Pico SPIO SC (SC, GPIO 6= Pin 9); Miso has to be defined correct, but is not used.
Alternatively you can use SPI 1 with the appropriate Pins.
Demo added:

import time
import random
import micropython_dotstar as dotstar
from machine import Pin, SPI
yellow = (255, 250, 0)
mustard = (255, 219, 88)
orange = (255, 50, 0)
green = (0, 255, 0)
sea = (46, 139, 87)
grass = (124, 252, 0)
blue = (0, 0, 255)
electric = (125, 249, 255)
cyan = (0,255,255)
red = (255, 0, 0)
red1 = (128,0,0)
cobalt = (0, 71, 171)
# On-board DotStar for the TinyPICO
spi = SPI(0,sck=Pin(6), mosi=Pin(7), miso=Pin(4)) # Configure SPI - note: miso is unused
dots = dotstar.DotStar(spi, 8, brightness=0.4)

# Using a DotStar Digital LED Strip with 30 LEDs connected to SPI
# dots = dotstar.DotStar(spi=SPI(sck=Pin(x), mosi=Pin(y)), 30, brightness=0.2)

# HELPERS
# a random color 0 -> 224
def random_color():
    return random.randrange(0, 7) * 32


# MAIN LOOP
n_dots =8
#len(dots)
while True:
    # Fill each dot with a random color
    for dot in range(n_dots):
        dots[0] = (red)
        dots[1] = (blue)
        dots[2] = (green)
        dots[3] = (cyan)
        dots[4] = (cobalt)
        dots[5] = (grass)
        dots[6] = (0x191970)
        #dots[2] = (random_color(), random_color(), random_color())
        #dots[3] = (random_color(), random_color(), random_color())
    time.sleep(.25)
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