{"product_id":"snowflake-1","title":"Snowflake Solo","description":"\u003cp\u003eA shimmering single snowflake with nineteen cool white LEDs that sparkle and fade to create beautiful wintery effects.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSnowflake Solo comes pre-assembled on a gorgeous, festive-looking PCB panel. It's pre-programmed, so all you have to do is pop it out, connect it to the small power board with the ribbon cable, and plug in power to bring it to life - a perfect stocking filler!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/learn.pimoroni.com\/tutorial\/sandyj\/assembling-snowflake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eCheck out our tutorial on how to get started with Snowflakes.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are programmed with eleven patterns; Ice Sparkle, Sky With Stars, Waves, Circles, Rain, Shift, Rotation, Diagonal, Flash, Particle, and Flicker. You can change between patterns and turn the snowflakes on and off using the button the power supply board. Check out \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/w-GqsQLUh2w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003ethis video\u003c\/a\u003e to see the patterns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eThis project was originally designed by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/luckyresistor.me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eLucky Resistor\u003c\/a\u003e as an assemble-yourself kit which took a lot of time and a very steady hand to complete! We've worked with them to make the kit accessible by pre-assembling the surface mount components and pre-programming the microcontrollers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf one snowflake is just not enough you can pick up a whole flurry \u003ca href=\"\/en-eu\/products\/snowflake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e! Solo Snowflakes work in exactly the same way as the ones that come in sets of 5, so you can add them on to an existing chain if you want.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eContents\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1x pre-assembled and pre-programmed snowflake PCB\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1x pre-assembled micro-B USB power supply PCB\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e1x 20cm flat flex cable (FFC)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAcrylic stand\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSnowflake dimensions: 79.5 x 79.5 x 3.15mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote\u003c\/strong\u003e that a micro-USB power supply \u003cem\u003eis not\u003c\/em\u003e included, but you can \u003ca href=\"\/en-eu\/products\/raspberry-pi-universal-power-supply\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003epick one up here\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want to experiment with reprogramming your snowflakes, you can solder a 5-pin 0.1\" vertical female SMT connector to the landing on the underside of the snowflakes. Here are a couple of options: from \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.toby.co.uk\/board-to-board-pcb-connectors\/254mm-sockets\/b27a-valcon-254mm-single-row-surface-mount-staggered-socket-strip-5mm-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eToby\u003c\/a\u003e, and from \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.digikey.co.uk\/product-detail\/en\/sullins-connector-solutions\/NPPC051KFXC-RC\/S5636-ND\/776095\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eDigikey\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFeatures\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach snowflake has: an \u003cstrong\u003eARM Cortex M0+\u003c\/strong\u003e microcontroller that runs the firmware to control patterns on the LEDs, \u003cstrong\u003enineteen cool white 0402 LEDs\u003c\/strong\u003e, input and output connectors (for the FFC cables), a landing for a debug\/programming header, and power regulator.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe snowflakes can communicate via a \u003cstrong\u003esingle bi-directional data line\u003c\/strong\u003e. During power up they determine their order in the chain so that effects can transition between them seamlessly. The first snowflake—the “master”—decides which effects will be displayed and \u003cstrong\u003esynchronises the other boards in the chain\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe key to the snow-like shimmering effect are the \u003cstrong\u003etiny 0402 LEDs \u003c\/strong\u003e(check the photo with the pencil tip to see just how small they are). The small but bright, point-like light source \u003cstrong\u003ecreates diffraction spikes\u003c\/strong\u003e in your eyes. It's the same effect you experience if you look at snow in bright sunlight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was important to ensure that the \u003cstrong\u003eLEDs' brightness changes linearly,\u003c\/strong\u003e since both LEDs and your eyes are non-linear in that respect. This was solved using a \u003cstrong\u003ecustom PWM control method\u003c\/strong\u003e. It is optimised to display a wide range of brightness levels and to work well at very low brightnesses (a common weakness of PWM brightness control).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis \u003cstrong\u003ekit includes a flat flex cable to connect the snowflake\u003c\/strong\u003e and power supply together easily. Alternatively, if you want to minimise the visibility of the cables, you can connect them by soldering super-thin enamelled wire using the exposed pads on the back of each snowflake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe entire project (including the firmware, schematics, bill of materials, and PCB layout) is \u003cstrong\u003eopen source under GPLv3\u003c\/strong\u003e. You can find all of the files in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/LuckyResistor\/SnowFlakeProject\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eGitHub repository\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the past few years I have designed a new decoration for my home each winter. This snowflake decoration started as one of these projects.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI asked a graphic designer friend, \u003cstrong\u003eFrancesco Mazzola\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mdmbunny.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003ehttps:\/\/mdmbunny.com\u003c\/a\u003e), to design the outline and detailing which I then converted into functional PCBs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInitially, I produced a small number of kits which were offered to members of the \u003cstrong\u003eBoldport Club\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/boldport.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003ehttps:\/\/boldport.com\/\u003c\/a\u003e). Due to the low volume, these kits were expensive to produce and the customer had to hand-solder all of the components—including the ninety-five individual 0402 LEDs—ouch!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePimoroni\u003c\/strong\u003e found out about the project and got in touch to see if they could create a more accessible version as a kit with all of the surface mount components pre-assembled. I said yes! :-)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey reached out to \u003cstrong\u003eMicrochip\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.microchip.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003ehttps:\/\/microchip.com\u003c\/a\u003e) to see if they could support the project to help reduce the cost. As the kit includes five ATSAMD20E16 they made up a large part of the overall cost!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI hope you enjoy this project as much as I enjoyed designing it!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- Lucky Resistor\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"Pimoroni","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32366702035027,"sku":"PIM539","price":8.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0174\/1800\/products\/solo-snowflake-square.jpg?v=1632396788","url":"https:\/\/shop.pimoroni.com\/en-eu\/products\/snowflake-1","provider":"Pimoroni Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}