Shield Hero Cosplay Ring Light

[JERMS3633]

So I have a Shield Hero Cosplay shield, and I want to made the inner "gem" light up. Using a NeoPixel Ring like like this:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1643?srsltid=AfmBOoo2hpLfvnib267QWR7VT3N7--FJKEzeNyEP-uguXl_NqNqYhIar
I want to make the leds spin around in a circle once, then stop on one at random. Also I want to be able to cause them all to "flare" up. with a simple push of a buttons. Natually it has to be small... but I am not sure how to program or make something like this... Probably a lot of people are going to laugh... anyone know how to make something like this or what I would need to have/know to do this ?

[gfwilliams]

This sounds like a great project!

There's a bit of info on how to do this with Espruino on https://www.espruino.com/WS2811

But basically you do something like this:

var arr = new Uint24Array(12); // 12 = number of LEDs
var pos = 0;

function getPattern() {
  pos++;
  if (pos>11) pos = 0;
  arr.fill(0); // all off
  arr[pos] = E.HSBtoRGB(0/*hue*/,1,1); // the one LED that is lit
  // or you can do arr.fill(E.HSBtoRGB(0/*hue*/,1,1)); to set them all to the same colour
}

function onTimer() {
  getPattern();
  require("neopixel").write(B15, arr.buffer); // B15 = pin the neopixels are connected to 
}

setInterval(onTimer, 100);

(That'll do a spinning light. If you want it to stop and random places and do other stuff and can't figure it out it's actually pretty easy to just paste it into an AI and ask it to help you)

In terms of hardware, you then just need something that runs Espruino. IMO Bluetooth is easier as you can then program it without having to make a physical connection to your shield. I'd probably suggest a Jolt.js as that has a battery connection and can recharge the battery (and can also automatically turn all the LEDs off to save power).

But the MDBT42 breakout is pretty small and tidy - while it can't charge the battery, it can run off a LiPo or 3xAA easily enough.

Or if you don't want to buy an Espruino board you could use something like an ESP32C3 which are cheap and readily available, but then you have some extra work of loading Espruino onto it first (although it's not that hard: https://www.espruino.com/Espressif+Flash) - and they will chew through batteries!

[JERMS3633]

Thank you very much... I am really news at this so I am not sure how to do this. But this would work with the NeoPixel light I mentioned ? I don't intend to make it wireless... simple 2 buttons, on/off and one that runs the program to spin the lights then stop on one random one, and the second button push to flare them all on full strength. Not sure if that makes sense to you. I have a tendancy to say things that make sense to me but others need me to explain more. Either way thank you for your help. I will have to look into this.

Key thing is to make this as small and "flat" as possible because it needs to fit behind a shield.

[gfwilliams]

Yes, that should work fine with the lights you linked. And probably if you need it thin then https://shop.espruino.com/mdbt42q-breakout?search=mdbt42q is best though.

I'm not talking about making the control wireless (but it could be) - just that the Espruino boards with Bluetooth can be easier to write code on and develop with, since you can make changes even when you have fully assembled your shield