We need to tell set_pixel() which LEDs we want to light up, using x and y variables to correlate to the axes of the Sense HAT’s 8×8 grid of LEDs – see Figure 1.

We do this with the set_pixel() function. We are going to get the Sense HAT to light up a rainbow and display a heart. Sense.show_message('Hello Rosie') Choose your colours sense_hello.py from sense_hat import SenseHat If you get an error in the Shell at the bottom of the Thonny window, check your code carefully against the sense_hello.py listing. Click Run and the letters should scroll across the LED display. Add this line of code to line 4 in Thonny: Let’s get the Sense HAT to say hello to us. Say somethingįrom now on, Thonny will know to use the Sense HAT whenever you type ‘sense.’ followed by a ‘.’ and a command. To do this, type these two lines of code into the Thonny window:Ĭlick the Save icon and name your file rainbow.py. We need to get our program to recognise the Sense HAT module. Click the New icon to open a new, untitled window. When Raspbian loads, select Programming from the top-left raspberry menu, then choose Thonny Python IDE. We’re going to use a program called Thonny to instruct our Sense HAT and tell it what to do. Gently push the Sense HAT onto Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins and then screw the two boards together with standoffs. The white LED matrix should be at the opposite end of your Raspberry Pi from the USB ports. Hold the Sense HAT above your Raspberry Pi and line up the yellow holes at each corner with the corresponding ones on Raspberry Pi make sure the header on Sense HAT lines up with the GPIO pins on Raspberry Pi. Shut down your Raspberry Pi (if it isn’t already) before attaching the Sense HAT to it. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Sense HAT as you can use the Sense HAT Emulator and try out the code in Raspbian.

In this tutorial we’ll look at how to control the LED matrix. The Sense HAT’s visual display can also be programmed to show specific details including simple images. The Sense HAT can show readings on an 8×8 LED matrix, but first needs to be instructed, using Python code, what sort of data it should look for. It can measure noise, temperature, humidity, and pressure, for example. The Sense HAT sits on top of your Raspberry Pi and adds the ability to sense and report details about the world around it. If you don’t have a Sense HAT, you can still try out the code using the Sense HAT Emulator in Raspbian.Ĭlick here to download the code used in this project Why use a Sense HAT? By following our step-by-step guide, you will discover how to light up rainbow and heart images on the Sense HAT’s LED matrix, as well as showing a custom scrolling message.

Sense hat emulator for mac