Maniacal Labs

Friend of Maniacal Labs and contributor to BiblioPixel, Maksim, has created an awesome full RGB 7-segment display module based on the WS2812B (NeoPixel) LED. These awesome little modules simply snap together and provide full RGB control over each segment of each digit, allowing for some pretty awesome effects.

While we’d love for everyone who uses our code or hardware to send us an email and show off their projects, not everyone does. So we keep an eye on the internet for cool projects that use our products. Last night we were happy to find the project shown in the video above. The video description confirms they use BiblioPixel and we’re pretty sure they mentioned the AllPixel as well.

BiblioPixel supports a wide array of hardware through its driver system but one of the biggest annoyances was always having to actually have that hardware in order to test your code. That’s why, very early on, we added the visualizer to the library which worked well for small displays, but was never great with high pixel counts or fast framerates. For over two years we’ve wanted to replace it with something better but could never settle on something that would have high performance and run on every operating system that BiblioPixel already does.

It’s amazing to think that nearly 5 years ago, before Maniacal Labs even, I released RPi-LPD8806, which would eventually become BiblioPixel, our pure Python pixel animation framework. Back then it was only for the Raspberry Pi and only for LPD8806 LEDs… and I barely knew Python at the time!

The recent questioning of if Arduino was fully complying with open source standards reminded us of something… in all the excitement of releasing the new and improved AllPixelMini we forgot to release the new designs! Oops. Well, fear not as the KiCAD design files for the AllPixelMini are available for your viewing pleasure over on GitHub.

The new AllPixelMini has arrived and now in stock on Tindie! Get yours now! https://www.tindie.com/products/ManiacalLabs/allpixelmini-universal-led-controller/

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a strong fascination with renewable energy sources. Not just out of a sense of eco-responsibility (though I did watch a ton of Captain Planet as a child) but also because of the dichotomy between the advanced technology involved and simple elegance of wind, hydro, and solar power. So, my plan has always been to gain grid independence and carbon neutrality and, on March 29th of this year, I’ve finally taken the first step by having solar panels installed on my house.

We are proud to announce the crowd funding campaign for our joint project with our friends at WyoLum, the ULTiM8x8! ULTIM8x8 is an LED panel that does it all. From small wearable projects to huge displays, ULTiM8x8 has you covered. We’ve designed a super-bright, extendable LED panel system that you can assemble without soldering or special skills. ULTiM8x8 is a flexible, reconfigurable display that perfectly suits your changing needs.

Ultimate, Modular, No Solder, RGB LED Panel System. Coming Soon. Get pumped. crowdsupply.com/maniacal-labs-wyolum/ultim8x8 https://youtu.be/QYNyK__wYmM

Back when we launched the AllPixel, we also created a small device called the PowerTap that eases the task of splicing power at various points along a strip of LEDs. We sold many during the Kickstarter but they never really sold well after the fact. We’ve actually never made more after the original batch from the Kickstarter! As of last night we sold the last of that batch. It’s not really worth our time or money to produce more but, if you want some, have no fear… they are open source and you can still get your own!