The Adafruit 15 NeoPixel Quarter Ring lets you address every single one of the 15 LEDs and set its 24-bit RGB value. The result is 158mm (6.2in.) in diameter and is the height of bling. These seemingly simple gadgets have triggered an amazing array of creative projects, from watches and compasses to steampunk goggles and more. Each ring has solder pads for 5V DC and Gnd, plus data in and data out. Simply feed the data out from one into the data in of another to control them both from the same microcontroller (MCU). The quadrants have been carefully designed so that the Din and Dout pins line up when they're placed end to end for ease of soldering. 4 x quadrants build into a full 60 x NeoPixel ring.
Since the data protocol has strict timing requirements, the ring is best controlled by a real-time microcontroller such as the Arduino rather than a Linux board like the Raspberry Pi. Use an MCU with a clock speed of 8MHz or greater (Arduino is 16MHz). Adafruit have published a driver library to save you the trouble and let you get on with designing eye catching displays.
Adafruit have a reputation for the quality of their supporting documentation. You will find their Uberguide to NeoPixels and their Best Practices guide invaluable. In particular the Best Practices guide will help you prolong the life of your NeoPixels and help you avoid common mistakes.
15 NeoPixels
24-bits of RGB for each
4 x quadrants build one 60 x NeoPixel ring
~18mA per NeoPixel
Can be daisy-chained
*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.
