Mote

by Pimoroni

Mote is the most stylish way to light your home (or ship)! Ideal for under-shelf or under-cabinet lighting, or even lighting the way to the emergency exits on your super-yacht (you have one right?)

Mote consists of a USB controller, with four channels, that connects via a USB A to micro B cable to your computer, and up to four APA102 RGB LED strips with 16 pixels on each (for a total of 64 pixels per USB controller, although the firmware can theoretically handle 128 pixels per channel).

The USB controller can be powered straight from your computer, but we've provided a power boost port to which you can connect a 2+A power supply, to boost the pixel brightness to retina-searing levels.

Of course, you can have several USB controllers running on the same computer, so your only real limitation is providing enough power.

We've designed Mote to work equally well with whatever flavour of computer you have, be it Linux (inc. Raspberry Pi 4, 3, 2 or B+), Mac, or Windows.

If you're looking for a more compact solution, ideal for the Pi Zero, then there's also Mote pHAT that lets you control your Mote sticks directly through your Pi's GPIO.

Features

  • 16 pixel APA102 RGB LED strips (18cm long, 4 strips included in Complete Kit)
  • USB controller with four micro USB channels
  • Connects to your computer with USB A to micro B cable (included in Complete Kit)
  • Micro USB power boost port for extra pixel brightness
  • Custom-designed cables (4x 1m Mote cables include in Complete Kit)
  • Ideal for mood lighting, under-shelf, or cabinet lighting
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi 4, 3, 2, B+, A+, Zero, Mac, and Windows
  • Python library

Software

Our Mote Python library has a bunch of examples showing you how to, for instance, display a rainbow animation, or link Mote up with the Cheerlights crowd-sourced light colours API.

We've put together a tutorial showing you how to control Mote with your iPhone and Siri voice control, and Richard Ruston (of Raspberry Jam Berlin) has written an Android app for controlling Mote with your Android phone.

Check out our getting started guide to get you up to speed with Mote.

Our software does not support Raspbian Wheezy.

Notes

The distance between the mounting hole centres is 167mm, and we'd recommend a 4g x 1/2" (2.9 x 13mm) round head screw for mounting.