It’s no secret that we’re fans of theRaspberry Pihere at Tom’s Hardware but ever since the company decided to release the microprocessors along with the Pico and Pico 2, we’ve seen an amazing plethora of custom boards created by the community. Today we’ve got a really cool example to share of such a creation, this one put together by Vcc Labs and shared to Kickstarter. Vcc Labs has created a super tiny Raspberry Pi RP2040-powered RGB LED matrix known asNova.
So far, the Kickstarter has been posted but is not open for purchases so pricing information and tiers have yet to be made available. If you decide to follow this Kickstarter, it’s important to note that supporting campaigns should be viewed more like an investment, and is not a guarantee that you will receive the product listed. So be cautious and discriminatory in what you decide to support.
When we say the Nova is tiny, we mean it. It’s so small it can fit on your thumb but manages to pack a 7 x 10 matrix full of RGB LEDs. This board is similar toPimoroni’s Pico Unicorn Packbut is much smaller and more compact. If you want to know more about the Pico Unicorn Pack, you can check out ourreviewposted by Les back in 2021.
According to Vcc Labs, the Nova is built using a 4-layer PCB. The RGB LEDs are WS2812 which are fully addressable and extremely small, measuring in at 1 x 1mm each. The board is powered by an RP2040 microcontroller and is both programmed and powered by a USB Type-C interface.
Programming details are a little bit scarce but Vcc Labs confirmed that compatibility is one of the main goals of the project. According to the Kickstarter campaign page, you should be able to program Nova using a variety of options like MicroPython and evenArduinoIDE so it can be accessible to both beginners and more experienced makers.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
