pimoroni-pico/libraries/galactic_unicorn/README.md

Galactic Unicorn

Galactic Unicorn offers 53x11 7x17 bright RGB LEDs driven by Pico W's PIO in addition to a 1W amplifier and speaker.

Galactic Unicorn uses SM0 of PIO0.

TODO: Update documentation

We've included helper functions to handle every aspect of drawing to the display and interfacing with the buttons. See the function reference for details.

• Example Program
• Reference
  • Constants
    • Buttons
    • WIDTH / HEIGHT
  • Functions
    • init
    • set_pixel
    • is_pressed
• Examples

Example Program

The following example sets up Pico Unicorn, displays some basic demo text and graphics and will illuminate the RGB LED green if the A button is presse

Reference

Constants

Buttons

The four buttons, A, B, X and Y have correponding constants set to their respective GPIO pins. For example:

bool a_is_pressed = pico_unicorn.is_pressed(pico_unicorn.A);

WIDTH / HEIGHT

The width and height of Pico Unicorn are available in constants WIDTH and HEIGHT.

For example:

int num_pixels = pico_unicorn.WIDTH * pico_unicorn.HEIGHT;

Functions

init

Sets up Pico Unicorn. init must be called before any other functions since it configures the PIO and require GPIO inputs. Just call init() like so:

PicoUnicorn pico_unicorn;
pico_unicorn.init();

set_pixel

void set_pixel(uint8_t x, uint8_t y, uint8_t r, uint8_t g, uint8_t b);
void set_pixel(uint8_t x, uint8_t y, uint8_t v);

Sets an RGB LED on Pico Unicorn with an RGB triplet:

pico_unicorn.set_pixel(x, y, r, g, b);

Uses hardware PWM to drive the LED. Values are automatically gamma-corrected to provide smooth brightness transitions and low values may map as "off."

Alternatively you can use:

pico_unicorn.set_pixel(x, y, v);

Which sets the R, G and B elements of the pixel to the same value- lighting it up white at your chosen intensity.

is_pressed

bool is_pressed(uint8_t button);

Reads the GPIO pin connected to one of Pico Unicorn's buttons, returning a bool - true if it's pressed and false if it is released.

pico_unicorn.is_pressed(button);

The button vaule should be a uint8_t denoting a pin, and constants A, B, X and Y are supplied to make it easier. e:

bool is_a_button_pressed = pico_unicorn.is_pressed(PicoUnicorn::A)

Examples

Game of Life

Retro Super-computer

Random LEDs blink on and off mimicing the look of a movie super computer doing it's work in the eighties.

Nostalgia Terminal

A collection of copies of classic terminal styles including C64, MS-DOS, Spectrum, and more.