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🌊 Slight dispatch delays possible as we catch up with sale orders, please bear with us 🐨

LED Dot Matrix Breakout

by Pimoroni

Get retro with this pair of 5x7 LED micro dot matrices - available in green or red!

We've always loved these old school LTP305 LED matrices (first developed in the 1970s!) and we thought it was high time we made a breakout with them. You get two 5x7 displays (plus a decimal point) and an LED driver, mounted on a Breakout Garden compatible I2C breakout. This breakout is preassembled, so there's no need for tiny soldering (unless you want to attach the breakout to a header).

This breakout is perfect for readouts that involve two numbers or letters - like countdown timers, percentage readouts, or country codes. You can also use the LEDs for graphical displays - a tiny graphic equaliser perhaps, or creepy light up eyes for a very small pumpkin! Their weird science vibe makes them great for cosplay and wearable projects too.

You can attach this breakout to your Pi's GPIO directly or via a breadboard with the included headers, but it's also compatible with our fancy solderless Breakout Garden, which makes it easy to use several different breakouts at the same time.

Features

  • IS31FL3730 LED matrix driver chip
  • 2x LTP-305 green or red LED matrices
  • 2x M2.5 mounting holes
  • I2C interface (default address: 0x61)
  • 3V to 5V compatible
  • Reverse polarity protection
  • Raspberry Pi-compatible pinout (pins 1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
  • Compatible with all models of Raspberry Pi (Python library)
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi Pico (C++/MicroPython libraries)

Kit includes

  • Microdot Breakout
  • 1x5 straight male header
  • 1x5 right angle female 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 with examples showing you how to control these LED displays. One of the examples is eyes 👀

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

Notes

  • The default I2C address is 0x61. You can change this to 0x63 by cutting the trace on the back of the breakout. If you cut the trace and solder the bridge the address will be 0x62 - so it's possible to use up to three of these breakouts at the same time.
  • Dimensions: approx 32.1mm x 20.8mm x 9.1mm (LxWxH)

32 customer reviews

a year ago
A really neat and easy to use sensor package. Shouldnt take more than an hour to familiarise yourself with it as the library for it is pretty robust and easy to use. Added it to a project of mine (circuit python) and it works just as expected. I really like it!
by Sony about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
A great little sensor that is almost 'plug and play'. Just plug it into a board like the Pico Breakout Garden and download the example program to get it going. You really don't need to do much yourself. That said, more accessible, improved documentation, detailing the methods used to set up the device and access data would help deepen understanding of the device and how to develop and modify applications using it.
by Robert about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
Useful sensor with a choice of connectors for soldering. Worked seamlessly with a Pico W. Found the literature and information on the Pimoroni website somewhat arcane and less than straightforward to access, but plenty of help available on YouTube
by Robert about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
Bought the BME280 breakout as a replacement for the BME280 sensor on an Enviro+ board that had gone awry. After checking with the excellent Pimoroni forum for help, I soldered the board to the GPIO header on the Enviro+ with the supplied header pins. I made use of the address selection trace on the back BME280 breakout board. All now works and is up and running the Luftdaten python script with a small change to the code to allow for the address change to 0x77. Great service from Pimoroni, ordered on Tuesday and arrived on Thursday.
by Mike about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io
3 years ago
Instructions on how to use it and set up are good. Got it all working without hassle and used it as a project to team my kids to solder, which went well. Readings seem to be accurate and correspond with other local weather stations in the year.
by John about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
These sensors work as they should, I couldn't find how to access specific addresses using the pimoroni python library examples but a search led me to install the RPi.bme280 libràry (sudo pip install RPi.bme280) and I was able to read from two dme280 sensors connected in parallel using addresses 0x76 and 0x77.
by Anonymous about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Handy little sensor.. I am using this to provide a data feed to the magic mirror smart dashboard I have at home to keep an eye on indoor conditions. Fantastic. Try to keep the unit few cms away from the pi..it is quite sensitive to any heat.
by Badrinath about BME280 Breakout - Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor via REVIEWS.io

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