CircuitPython creates new assistive tech opportunities
Bill from ATmakers.org has a fantastic article “CircuitPython creates new assistive tech opportunities” – which describes the features and benefits of using CircuitPython for assistive tech including: Lots of board options, Circuit Playground Express, Adafruit’s Feather Line, Itsy Bitsy and Trinket boards, and Simple Programming and Customization.
“Perhaps the biggest benefit to using CircuitPython instead of other options like Arduino is that there is no IDE or programmer you need to purchase or install. In fact, when you plug in one of these devices, they show up as normal USB Mass Storage devices–that is, they look like thumb drives!
They have a text file named “main.py” on them that you can edit with any text editor (notepad, Emacs, etc.) or use an editor like Mu that has built-in Python syntax support, but is still just a text editor.
Why is this important? It means that you can let your end-user modify the system! Our new KeySwitch device will have a “Settings.ini” file that end-users can edit to change how each switch should behave.” – Read more and thank you Bill!
Coming soon CircuitPython powered props!
We are wrapping up the Adafruit Prop-Maker Wing. CircuitPython is great for making interactive projects that light up, make sound, and react to movement. We’ve seen some great lightsaber builds and came up with a Wing just for prop makers! It has a class D amplifier for sound effects, can drive an 3 Watt RGB LED for bright lighting effects, has a built in accelerometer and a plug-n-play neopixel driver. We even made it easy to keep your prop running during all-day con’s with a power down pin to minimize current draw – video.
News from around the web!
Embedded Python: Cranking Performance Knob up to Eleven! by Uri Shaked at Google, using the nRF52840 with CircuitPython 4.0.0-alpha for some bleeding edge Badge Life – Video “Streaming MP3 to CircuitPython over Bluetooth Low Energy.”
An eInk nRF52840 Watch Running CircuitPython from CircuitPython contributor arturo182.
PortaMu – Making Mu Portable – madewith.mu & downloads for running mu from a USB drive.
PyConUK Talk From Faker to Maker – My journey in learning to code Python by CircuitPython contributor Les Pounder.
Mini SAM M4 Board by Benjamin Shockley is based on an Aadafruit ItsyBitsy M4. It runs CircuitPython on boards from Oshpark and uses a Microchip SAMD51 controller with 2 MiB Flash.
CircuitPython and Fedora – shred.zone.
glitter positioning system – A CircuitPython project to push GPS coordinates over LoRa and display rough directional info for members of a group using a NeoPixel ring – GitHub.
micro:mag issue two was released – 96 pages of content & more – PDF.
The Future of Python – PyCon India.
Flashing MicroPython on Kano Pixel Kit – Instructables.
Flying Circus is an open source/free software you can download or use on your browser to connect, execute and save code to a board running MicroPython (REPL) – MicroPython IDE.
MicroPython’s WebREPL Client – GitHub.
Consistent Python code with Black – Matt Layman.
How to write X in both Python 3 and JavaScript (ES2015) – sayazamurai.github.io.
Fonts generated from original bitmaps from Atari 8bit computers – GitHub.
Sending data using LoRa with ESP32 and MicroPython – LeMaRiva tech.
“Zig is aggressively pursuing its goal of overthrowing C as the de facto language for system programming. Zig intends to be so practical that people find themselves using it even if they dislike it.” – Zig.
Two new ways to get the book Getting Started with Adafruit Circuit Playground Express: Bundled with a CPX and parts via Adafruit and the PDF version of the book is in the new Make: Electronics Humble Bundle.
Adafruit CircuitPython Weekly for October 8th, 2018 on YouTube
PyDev of the Week: K Lars Lohn from Mouse vs Python
New Learn Guides!
Glitter Positioning System from Brennen Bearnes
AM2315 – Encased I2C Temperature/Humidity Sensor from Kattni
Last-Minute Halloween Accoutrements with HalloWing from Phillip Burgess
Princess Peach LED Crown from Noe and Pedro
Adafruit VEML6075 UVA / UVB / UV Index Sensor from Ladyada
Adafruit MPRLS Ported Pressure Sensor Breakout from Ladyada
Hacktoberfest!
Digital Ocean is once again encouraging open source contributions with limited edition T-Shirts. Even if you don’t want one, now is a great time to start contributing to open source projects like CircuitPython, its libraries, MicroPython or Python. Check this list for good first issues to start with on Adafruit repos, join on Digital Ocean to track your progress towards a shirt, and jump onto our Discord chat to join others who contribute!
Updated Guides – Now With More Python!
You can use CircuitPython on Raspberry Pi! We’re updating all of our CircuitPython guides to show how to wire up sensors to your Raspberry Pi, and load the necessary CircuitPython libraries to get going using them with Python. We’ll be including the updates here so you can easily keep track of which sensors are ready to go. Check it out!
Adafruit AM2320 Sensor
Adafruit Ultimate GPS
Adafruit HTU21D-F Temperature & Humidity Sensor
CircuitPython Libraries!
CircuitPython support for hardware continues to grow. We are adding support for new sensors and breakouts all the time, as well as improving on the drivers we already have. As we add more libraries and update current ones, you can keep up with all the changes right here!
For the latest drivers, download the Adafruit CircuitPython Library Bundle.
If you’d like to contribute, CircuitPython libraries are a great place to start. Have an idea for a new driver? File an issue on CircuitPython! Interested in helping with current libraries? Check out this GitHub issue on CircuitPython for an overview of the State of the CircuitPython Libraries, updated each week. We’ve included open issues from the library issue lists, and details about repo-level issues that need to be addressed. We have a guide on contributing to CircuitPython with Git and Github if you need help getting started. You can also find us in the #circuitpython channel on the Adafruit Discord. Feel free to contact Kattni (@kattni) with any questions.
The current number of CircuitPython libraries is 101!
New Libraries!
Here’s this week’s new CircuitPython libraries:
Updated Libraries!
Here’s this week’s updated CircuitPython libraries:
Upcoming events!
October 27, 2018. As part of PyCon DE 18 PyLadies and MicroPython will be running a beginner friendly full day hands-on workshop on MicroPython and the Internet of Things – Meetup.
Latest releases
CircuitPython’s stable release is 3.0.3 and its unstable release is 4.0.0-alpha.1. New to CircuitPython? Start with our Welcome to CircuitPython Guide.
20181005 is the latest CircuitPython library bundle.
v1.9.4 is the latest MicroPython release. Documentation for it is here.
3.7.0 is the latest Python release. The latest pre-release version is 3.7.1rc1.
CircuitPython jobs 🙂
We’ll be posting some things we’re looking for on jobs.adafruit.com – but why wait?? Post your skills and/or post jobs & gigs you’re after. It’s all free, all ya need is an adafruit.com account! – jobs.adafruit.com
Contribute!
The CircuitPython Weekly Newsletter is a CircuitPython community-run newsletter emailed every Tuesday. It highlights the latest CircuitPython related news from around the web including Python and MicroPython developments. To contribute, edit next week’s draft on GitHub and submit a pull request with the changes. Join our Discord or post to the forum for any further questions.
