This project is based on personal experience. I wanted to create a sort of "pride" object that could mainly show the pride you have out, but have a second, hidden pride you could show to those you trust. For me, I choose the bi and ace flags because I'm mainly out as bi (romantic) but my parents don't know I'm asexual. They don't know because they don't believe it's a real sexuality, and I feel as though they would call me crazy or force me to seek mental help. This project could help other people, such as those who are out in a romantic sense but are hiding the desire to transition (for example, being out as pansexual but still a closeted non-binary person). This would help LGBT people stay safe but also relate to others in the community. In theory, the board could also be programmed to show non-LGBT visuals and have a hidden message for those who haven't come out at all.
In the simplest of terms, the neopixel matrix will show the bisexual flag forever, unless pin A6 is touched, in which a pixel heart with asexual colors will appear. This project was difficult due to the use of extra materials and code I figured out without the use of tutorials. The neopixel matrix itself is nice but seems to short-circuit my circuitboard if it runs for too long. I used a soldering iron to re-secure wires to the matrix, and a heat gun was used on the wires to connect them using heat shrink wrap. The matrix itself hard to code, seeing as I couldn't use any sort of pre-made pixel shapes. I had to manually count out each pixel for the heart, and trial and error my way through until the heart shape was perfect.
1 / 4 • The working neopixel matrix showing a full bisexual flag.
The code essentially will always display the bisexual flag but, when A6 or anything connected is pressed, it will display an asexual flag in the shape of a heart.
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