You can help fund this adorable RP2040 board with an LED matrix

What I love the most about the Raspberry Pi community is that they find ways to make all kinds of projects, big and small. If you like things to be on the minuscule side, you may be interested in this tiny RP2040 board that just appeared on Kickstarter. It features an equally cute array of LEDs for you to toy with, and might make for some interesting projects if you like building stuff that fits into the palm of your hand.

The Nova is an RP2040 board you can dwarf with your thumb

As spotted by Tom’s Hardware, this amazing little board is called the Nova, and its designer is seeking interested crowdfunders to get the project off of the ground. Here’s how the makers describe it:

Nova is a tiny RP2040-powered board with a 7×10 addressable LED matrix, designed for creative lighting and microcontroller projects. Compact yet powerful, it’s perfect for makers and DIY enthusiasts.

The maker didn’t go into a lot of detail as to what this little guy can do, but they did confirm that it works with both MicroPython and Arduino IDE. It may seem a bit restrictive to have so few LEDs, but you may be surprised as to what you can do with such a small bank of lights. For instance, when we covered the coin-sized handheld gaming console, it managed to squeeze both Pong and Snake onto a 7×10 matrix, so the Nova could also be a hit for those who really want to shrink down their hardware.

If you’d like to get on board, be sure to visit its Kickstarter page. The campaign isn’t live yet, but you can still register your interest and get an email sent to you when it’s open for pledges. Let’s just hope it comes in at a good price point for this lovely little unit.