Controlling LED strips
In this section, we will interface a NeoPixel LED strip with the Pico. NeoPixels are serially connected LEDs that are individually addressable. The NeoPixels come in a variety of form factors, namely, horizontal bars, flexible strips, and circular rings. We will be discussing this example with a NeoPixel ring (link: https://bit.ly/3cn5pxj). We are discussing the LED strip interface because they could make a great holiday lighting project or an ambient light controller. Our favorite project using Pico and the NeoPixel LED is this table lamp (link: https://bit.ly/3r6iIdJ).
The examples discussed in this section make use of helper functions from Adafruit.
The NeoPixel ring requires three connections, namely, Data IN or DIN, Power, and Ground (connections shown in Figure 3.23). While the Power pin is connected to the 3.3V pin of the Pico, the Data IN pin is connected to GP10 of the Pico.