PiGlow

by Pimoroni

PiGlow is a spiral nebula of 18 coloured, individually-controllable LEDs for your Raspberry Pi. Use it for all sorts of things. And, of course, it fits inside a Pibow case!

This diminutive board is compatible with all 40-pin Raspberry Pi models, and can be controlled really simply with our PiGlow Python library.

Use PiGlow for mood lighting / ambience, monitoring the status of your system, scripts, or daemons, Twitter mentions or emails, VESA-mounted behind your monitor or TV, or a zillion other things!

Features

  • 18 coloured LEDs (3x each red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white)
  • Driven by the SN3218 8-bit, 18-channel PWM LED driver
  • Uses I2C (address 0x54)
  • PiGlow pinout
  • Compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models
  • Python library
  • Comes fully assembled

Software

Our PiGlow Python library makes controlling PiGlow a piece of cake. You can control the brightness of the different colour groups of LEDs, the arms of the nebula, or individual LEDs - flexible! There's also a handful of examples to show you what can be done.

Community software

A bunch of awesome folk have contributed code for PiGlow. Here's just some of it:

Gordon Henderson has added a PiGlow driver for wiringPi that you can find here: http://wiringpi.com/dev-lib/piglow/

Simon Walters has added PiGlow support for Scratch: http://cymplecy.wordpress.com/

Jason Barnett has put together a great Python class and a load of samples: https://github.com/Boeeerb/PiGlow

Ben Lebherz has forked Jason's project and tidied up the code a bit while adding gamma correction: https://github.com/benleb/PyGlow

Manuel Ernst has created a Node.js library: https://github.com/zaphod1984/node-piglow

Falldeaf has put together a nice XBMC hack to use the PiGlow as a status indicator: http://falldeaf.com/2013/11/the-xbmc-piglow-information-display-addon/

Jonathan Stowe has created a module for the Perl divers among you: https://metacpan.org/release/JSTOWE/Device-PiGlow-1.0

Toon Schoenmakers has gone as far as making a library for Golang: https://github.com/schoentoon/piglow

Bruce Beisel has created a Java package (with GUI simulator and example applications): https://github.com/brucebeisel/PiGlow4J

Robert Peake has made a simple, mobile-friendly, web-based interface, the PiGlow Web Controller : https://github.com/cyberscribe/piglowweb

Joris Vervuurt has created a lightweight Node.js module: https://github.com/jorisvervuurt/jvspiglow

Notes

  • Photo-sensitivity warning: flashing, strobing, and patterns of lights may cause epileptic seizures. Always take care and immediately stop using if you feel unwell (dizziness, nausea, affected vision, eye twitching, disorientation).

15 customer reviews

2 years ago
I bought this for my son. It was perfect little gift. He loves it. It was easy to set up and is now flashing away on his RaspberryPi. Arrived quickly and was well packaged.
by Hannah about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
3 years ago
cute little addon with flashing lights, easy to control and comes with nice instructions and examples. I was disappointed that each LED is only a single colour, though - I thought I could make each one flash any colour
by William about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
yay, more glow and colours! :o)
by Ciprian about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
To be honest wouldn’t even have looked at this if it wasn’t for building an ISS Above, but what a cool piece of kit - bright, easy to use and looks really cool. Great for an indicator style display like I’m using it for.
by Mr. about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Awesome addition to my first Raspberry Pi project. Easy to set up even for a novice and plenty of light combinations. Fits great in the PiBow case
by Sean about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Super easy to install (no soldering!) and set up! Put a frosted glass plate on top of it, and it looks awesome.
by Anonymous about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Really love my piglow ❤❤❤ my pi look amazing with him
by Bartolomeo about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
8 years ago
I purchased the PiGlow a couple of months ago and instantly fell in love with it. It fits perefectly with my PiBow (also from Pimoroni) and for Christmas I programmed a light display with Scratch for the PiGlow. Super easy install, great Python support and compatibility for Scratch GPIO. The PiGlow is a perfect gift for any Raspberry Pi enthusiast. 5/5 easily.
by Jeremy about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
9 years ago
I have this on my pi rev.1.0 (oldie but goodie). I have been running a binary clock on it since I bought it after some playing around. its hilarious, and keeps the apartment with a little light at night.
by vidar about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
9 years ago
The pictures depict the item slightly wrong, the stock seems to actually have a Black Soldermask which looks even cooler and technically is more expensive, grab a bargain that looks cool for anything! Use it for notifications, backglows, or as I do, as a FFT Display, to respond via glowing to music. Great little thing and only uses two of your GPIO (ignoring Power), and as its I2C, it can be used in conjunction with other I2C devices.
by Michael about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io
9 years ago
PiGlow is lovely. It's really well made, fun and easy to play with. So far, we've used it as a nightlight, had it entertaining us on the Christmas Tree, and linked it to Minecraft so it could light the appropriate colour when Steve stands on coloured blocks - a brilliant demonstration of how something going on inside the computer can affect the outside world. Did I mention how pretty the colours are?
by Dan about PiGlow via REVIEWS.io