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Life & fun · December 2, 2022

MC

Mini Christmas Trees with addressable LEDs and RP2040-based controller

Hello HN, these Mini Trees have a custom circuit board with WS2812 addressable LEDs on one side and a controller using an RP2040 microcontroller on the other, all inside a CNC'd Foamex PVC case. They stand around 23cm (9") tall. The firmware is written in MicroPython, which can be modified or replaced. Power is provided via USB-C, which is also used for programming. There is also a web-based animation sequencer to create lighting sequences in time to arbitrary audio, examples of which are on the linked page. This is similar to xLights (https://xlights.org/), but much less…

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In plain words

Mini Christmas Trees are 23cm-tall decorative devices featuring WS2812 addressable LEDs controlled by an RP2040 microcontroller running MicroPython firmware. Users can create custom lighting animations synchronized to audio using a web-based sequencer, similar to xLights but simpler. The trees are housed in CNC-machined cases, powered and programmed via USB-C, and designed for hobbyists and makers who want customizable LED light displays. The firmware is modifiable for advanced users.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hello HN, these Mini Trees have a custom circuit board with WS2812 addressable LEDs on one side and a controller using an RP2040 microcontroller on the other, all inside a CNC'd Foamex PVC case. They stand around 23cm (9") tall. The firmware is written in MicroPython, which can be modified or replaced. Power is provided via USB-C, which is also used for programming. There is also a web-based animation sequencer to create lighting sequences in time to arbitrary audio, examples of which are on the linked page. This is similar to xLights (https://xlights.org/), but much less powerful, and we hope to release firmware to interface directly with xLights soon. My colleague and I started kicking the idea for these around after making some custom circuit boards for another project, and thought we'd have a go at making smaller versions of some much larger exhibits we had made using 12 volt WS1812 bullet pixels. I hope you enjoy them, Merry Christmas!

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