The Prototype

Published on 2021-02-05 in PewPew Slim.

It took longer than anticipated, but with checking after each diode, I finally managed to get all of them properly soldered without any shorts. Then I made a branch of CircuitPython with the right code, and here it is:

I must say I’m not entirely happy about it. Due to changes in CircuitPython 5.x, the interrupts are not as stable as they used to be, and you can see the LEDs flickering a little, which is annoying. Lack of a diffuser also makes it look worse than the very first version of PewPew FeatherWing with the bi-color matrix.

The touch pads are tricky. The direction pads are a bit too close together and it’s hard to use them — it’s expected, but there simply isn’t more space on the PCB for it. At the same time, despite my efforts to route the traces for the touch pads out of the way, it’s easy to accidentally touch them on them back of the PCB.

Generally, considering the huge amount of work needed to get this working, and the rather mediocre end result, I think I will stop with this prototype and not pursue this more. It was a good experiment, but I think the end result is not great.