Unicorn HAT - Compact RGB Pixel Matrix

by Pimoroni

What's going to protect your beloved Raspberry Pi from an onslaught of rainbow-coloured fusion? That's right, it's Unicorn HAT.

Sporting a matrix of 64 (8 x 8) RGB LEDs and powered directly from the Pi, this is the most compact pocket aurora available.

Unicorn HAT provides a wash of controllable colour that is ideal for mood-lighting, 8x8 pixel art, persistence of vision effects, status indications, or just blasting colour into your surroundings.

The MagPi said that Unicorn HAT was "one of the coolest HATs around"

Features

  • 64 RGB LEDs (WS2812B)
  • LED data driven via DMA over PWM
  • Unicorn HAT pinout
  • Compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models
  • Python library
  • Comes fully assembled

Software

We've put together a Unicorn HAT Python library to make it a breeze to use, including lots of beautiful examples of what it can do.

Notes

    • Warning: WS2812 LEDs are bright enough to cause eye pain, do not look at them directly when brightly lit. We recommend the use of a diffuser.
    • Photo-sensitivity warning: flashing, strobing, and patterns of lights may cause epileptic seizures. Always take care and immediately stop using if you feel unwell (dizziness, nausea, affected vision, eye twitching, disorientation).
    • Power: Unicorn HAT requires a >2A microUSB power supply for your Pi. We recommend the official Raspberry Pi power supply.
    • Compatibility (audio): as Unicorn HAT uses PWM and GPIO18, it will interfere with analogue audio playback (random colour patterns and flickering). HDMI should work just fine! :D

           

    24 customer reviews

    5 years ago
    Great for blinky flashy fun! This was great for my first time using a raspberry pi. It is very easy to use and the documentation was helpful... once I figured out I should be quite firm when attaching it to the pi.
    by Chris about Unicorn HAT - Compact RGB Pixel Matrix via REVIEWS.io
    7 years ago
    One question to the pimoroni people or someone, who knows: Is it possible to connect 2 or 3 of the Unicorn HATs to one Raspberry and control them independently? If so, how would i do this? I suppose using PWM1 on BCM 13 and PWM0 on BCM 12 additionally could be a solution, am i right?
    by Andreas about Unicorn HAT - Compact RGB Pixel Matrix via REVIEWS.io
    8 years ago
    Really really bright. Insanely bright. As in - I'm working on an alarm clock using it because it really is that bright. Make sure to use a beefy PSU and thick USB cable (24/28 AWG works really well) because it can cause a substantial voltage drop over the USB cable at high brightness! Python library is good as always.
    by Sean about Unicorn HAT - Compact RGB Pixel Matrix via REVIEWS.io
    8 years ago
    Purchased the Unicorn Hat after having fun with the Unicorn pHat I received as a gift. I can't get enough of it, it's great learning the code with a bright, colourful and interesting output for your work so you can see fruits of your labours. Buy the Unicorn Hat, it's awesome
    by Casper about Unicorn HAT - Compact RGB Pixel Matrix via REVIEWS.io
    9 years ago
    There's nothing more fun to program than a bunch of cool blinkies, and this is perfect for that. I had some tech questions and the Pimoroni guys were quick to respond with some helpful answers, thanks!
    by Chris about Unicorn HAT - Compact RGB Pixel Matrix via REVIEWS.io