K16

The K16 is a cape for the PocketBeagle 2 that is designed to drive ws281x LED pixels. It has 16 local ports that can each drive 800 pixels (with power injection) at 40FPS. It also has 4 RJ45 differential ports that can output an additional 16 strings via differential receivers. Finally, it has a RS485 output for DMX, PixelNet, Renard, LOR.

The K16 has a Real Time Clock (RTC) to maintain time, a temperature sensor, input voltage sensors, an OLED display with navigation push buttons, one powered USB port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port (wired via USB2 so roughly 300Mb/s speed).

The cape provides:

• 16 pixel connectors in banks for four.
  • Each bank of four can use any voltage from 5V – 24V
  • Each string can provide up to 5A of power
• 4 RJ45 connections for 16 more strings via differential receivers
• 1 RJ45 connection for DMX/LOR
• 1 USB-A connector for WIFIi adapters or other USB devices
• Gigabit Ethernet Connector
• Expansion header pins providing 8 gpio outputs and access to I2C bus, 3.3v power, and ground
• Temperature sensor.
• Real Time Clock
• 5v 4-Pin PWM Cooling Fan Connector
• 8 GPIO pins exposed to the user to allow adding additional buttons, proximity sensors, etc… to invoke various effects and functionality.

You will need:

• PocketBeagle 2 – the K16 will NOT work with a PocketBeagle 1
• A good quality SD card with the latest FPP image installed on it. The K16 requires at least FPP 9.0 to be fully functional. The latest FPP images can always be found at https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/releases/
• Power supply
• ws281x compatible pixels

Mounting Information:

• https://kulplights.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/K16.pdf