1. Description
kidsbits blocks coding I2C 8×8 Dot Matrix module is fully compatible with kidsbits control board and Lego building blocks.
You can easily connect it to kidsbits control board for communication using an RJ11 cable without worrying about wrong wiring and damage.
What’s better than a single LED? Lots of LEDs! A fun way to make a small display is to use an 8×8 matrix.
But if simply use a microcontroller to control an 8×8 matrix component, you may need to use 8 rows plus 8 columns in total 16 IO ports.
To save more port resources of microcontroller, this module uses HT16K33 chip to drive an 8×8 dot matrix. Just need to use the I2C communication port of microcontroller to control the dot matrix, pretty convenient.
2. Technical Parameters
- Supply voltage: DC 5V
- Drive chip: HT16K33 chip
- Support I2C protocol
- Default device address: 0x70
3. Hookup Guide
4. Import kidsbits Library
Begin with the Mixly blocks coding, you should first import the corresponding kidsbits library for those sensor modules.
Connect the control board to your computer using a USB cable.
Then open the Mixly blocks software 0.998, set the board to UNO R3, select your correct COM port. On the upper right corner you can switch the language.
After that, click Import, import the keyes-kidsbits library. Shown below.
If import custom library successfully, you should see the sensor module library.
Click on the display screen block of keyes_kidsbits, you can directly drag out the corresponding module to use.
5. Test Code
Open or directly drag the Mixly code of sensor to the Mixly window.
Click the Code to check it or click the right side bar:
6. Test Result
Hook it up and upload the code success, the 8*8 dot matrix module lights up. It will alternately show the images for 3 seconds then off for one second, repeatedly.
