5x5 RGB Matrix Breakout

by Pimoroni

This super-cute 5x5 RGB LED matrix breakout is a neat way to visualise sensor data or for simple animations or notifications, and it's Raspberry Pi and Arduino-compatible.

These little matrices are ideal for visualising data from other Pimoroni breakouts in a Breakout Garden HAT, like graphing environmental data from our BMP280 or BME680 breakouts. Or why not use two together as headlights or brake lights for your Pi-powered vehicle?

Like our other breakouts, this one just pops straight onto your Pi's pins once you've soldered on the included right-angle female header, and we included a trace that can be cut to change the I2C address from 0x74 to 0x77, if you want to use two matrices at once!

It's compatible with our fancy Breakout Garden HAT, where using breakouts is as easy just popping it into one of the six slots and starting to grow your project, create, and code.

Features

  • 5x5 (25 total) RGB LEDs
  • Uses the IS31FL3731 driver chip
  • 15x15mm active area
  • 3.5mm LED pitch
  • I2C interface (address 0x74/0x77 (cut trace))
  • 3.3V or 5V compatible
  • Reverse polarity protection
  • Compatible with Arduino
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi (Python library)
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi Pico (C++/MicroPython libraries)

Kit includes

  • 5x5 RGB Matrix Breakout
  • 1x5 male header
  • 1x5 female right-angle header

We've designed this breakout board so that you can solder on the piece of right-angle female header and pop it straight onto the bottom left 5 pins on your Raspberry Pi's GPIO header (pins 1, 3, 5, 7, 9).

Software

We've put together a Python library to make it really easy to drive the 5x5 RGB Matrix Breakout, along with a handful of examples to show what it can do. 

You can also use this breakout with Raspberry Pi Pico and other RP2040 boards, using C++ or Pirate brand MicroPython.

Notes

Dimensions: 19x29x3.5mm.