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.

19 customer reviews

3 years ago
Motes are awesome! Python interface is very easy to use (although it's a bit odd to have the channels start at 1 and the pixels at zero) and the LEDs are bright to the point of being painful. A few minor nits-- the online tutorial for connecting to HomeBridge is several years out of date and relies on code that is several generations newer and an app that's no longer in the iOs app store. The changes in the HomeBridge software mean you have to tweak your own code before things will run (I'm going to document what I did and send that in). My other nit is that the color representation is a bit off; I've had a hard time finding a "warm white", for example, that actually looks warm and not cold.
by Benn about Mote via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Was going to make up a circuit board and build my own led lighting for a 3D printer but saw this and saved myself a lot of work. Also I can just unplug the led strips when I remove the plexiglass top to access the printer. Very happy with the whole kit.
by Anonymous about Mote via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
This kit gives a great opportunity to experiment with something easy to see if it works. And if you get bored with it, you can always build it under a kitchen cupboard for countertop illumination, which is of course an overkill for these great RGB LEDs. The Python library provided online is easy to use. The only disadvantage is that C library and API description has not been provided.
by Tibor about Mote via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Great fun to play with. Managed to create Python code to connect multiple Mote hosts controllers to my Windows PC. Ready to experiment and create "low resolution" display.
by John about Mote via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
My neice (13) was very excited to receive this as a gift and plans to use it in her bedroom, I haven't yet heard how she has got on with it in practice but she was very confident that using online resources she would be able to suss it out. For my part I am tempted to pick one up myself as I can think of a few different projects this would be cool for.
by Keir about Mote via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
This kit is so very quick and easy to get up and running with. I'm working on some ambient lighting around my desk, and it's
by Mark about Mote via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
A lot of fun working on this. Perfect to illuminate your desk
by Karim about Mote via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Best thing ever for a DIY ambient TV/monitor
by Calin about Mote via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Good fun so far, it’s even interested my kids who are now bickering about whose room they want mood lighted
by Steven about Mote via REVIEWS.io
7 years ago
Fantastic kit. Ordered at gone 3pm on a friday and it arrived before 11am the following day. All plugged in and up and running in a matter of minutes. Will definitely be buying more of these in the future.
by Ian about Mote via REVIEWS.io
7 years ago
Very easy setup, and the python sdk was easy to use!
by Andrew about Mote via REVIEWS.io
8 years ago
Bought the complete kit, to create a internet connected notification lamp. The postage was quick, and they are super easy to use. The LED's are bright even without the extra USB power, and so you can use them without any extra cable. Within 30 minutes i had a full fledged rainbow show going on in the living room, so its easy to say these didn't dissapoint, and i will definitely be buying more.
by Simon about Mote via REVIEWS.io
8 years ago
Ordered 4 motes, and the host module. Arrived very quickly and I was up and running within about half an hour. I'm running this through a pi zero with a USB hub attached. I have the motes attached behind a cabinet using sticky hooks, and they look great and are very bright! Using the python libraries and homebridge, I'm able to completely control this through Siri on my iPhone and Apple Watch. All works flawlessly! Thank you for a great product.
by Pete about Mote via REVIEWS.io
8 years ago
I picked up one of these kits from Pimoni and the Derby Mini Maker Faire, and when I finally got a chance to play with them, was most impressed. Really easy to run, either from my Mac, Pi 3, or Pi zero. VERY bright!
by Emma about Mote via REVIEWS.io
8 years ago
I got this to spur me towards learning a bit of python, plugged them into my computer, installed python, installed pip, installed mote and then pyserial and away I went with the sample code! Found I didn't need the additional power cable as these are bright enough although if I was using them under furniture it might make more sense. Am currently installing them in a new computer case to experiment a bit further but so far am loving these and learning python coding along the way, might take up Tom's challenge of a cpu meter or heat meter(or both!) .
by pierce about Mote via REVIEWS.io
9 years ago
Colourful LEDs made very easy. No need for a Raspberry Pi or an Arduino, no need for electronic knowledge and minimum Python programming if you want to go beyond the provided examples provided. Just plug the USB cable to your computer, especially easy on Mac where Python is pre-installed. Ported a curses TIX clock in no time: https://twitter.com/DavidGlaude/status/764214446822678528?s=09
by David about Mote via REVIEWS.io
9 years ago
I ordered these just to have a play with them to see what I could do with them. Very impressed with the design and simplicity of connecting it all together. Windows users might need to play with the drivers as I couldn't get Windows 8.1 x64 to see it. However works fine on Windows 10 x64. Having to learn Python to use this device is a bit of a challenge if you've never used it before. I might have a go at converting the library to .NET. Anyone should be able to write a library in other languages for this device as it shows up as a USB serial device. Anyway here are a few examples I've had a go at writing in Python: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4kowrzv5y3v2qa7/AADR0ugUT8cn_iSKs7eXtkNIa?dl=0 Have a go and see what you can come up with? Maybe a nice led VU meter for CPU utilization? Tom.
by Tom about Mote via REVIEWS.io