This is a library to drive MAX7219 LED matrices. This library has been designed to be both simple to use for beginners, while leaving a lot to play around with for advanced users. While the library tries to focus on simplicity and ease-of-use, performance was a major priority while developing this library (to allow for fast scrolling text for example).
To get started, you will need both an Arduino (any kind should work), and a MAX7219 LED Matrix. Both parts can be bought from many places, including Amazon, Ebay, Aliexpress, Adafruit, etc.
For more documentation, see my website!
To wire the LED Matrix to the Arduino, connect the following pins together.
| LED Matrix Pins | Arduino Pins |
|---|---|
| VCC | VCC |
| GND | GND |
| DIN | D11 (Fixed) |
| CLK | D13 (Fixed) |
| CS | D4 (Adjustable by software) |
The restriction for pins D11 and D13 on the Arduino is due to the microcontroller's SPI periferal, which this library utilizes.
You could still hook up other SPI devices to D11->D13, just ensure thru the other devices's and the matrix's CS pins that only one is activated at a time.
Install this library by using Arduino's Library Manager, and looking up simple led matrix should be sufficient to find it.
You could also download this library directly as a ZIP file and install it in your Arduino. See here for a guide from Arduino's website. You could either download a release candidate (thru Github's release/tag manager) or the development/unstable branch directly from this repo's Develop branch.
All releases will be tagged and released, which such version will be available thru Arduino's Library Manager.
If you want to experiment with the lastest and greatest (and the buggiest), you should download the latest Develop branch release.
See the LICENSE file for details
There is one more documentation (other than the library docs as per above) available, which describes how to generate documentation, test the examples, and generate the LED Matrix GIFs that are found with the library's docs page.
For that, see extra/README.md for details