Book Image

MicroPython Cookbook

By : Marwan Alsabbagh
Book Image

MicroPython Cookbook

By: Marwan Alsabbagh

Overview of this book

MicroPython is an open source implementation of Python 3 that runs in embedded environments. With MicroPython, you can write clean and simple Python code to control hardware instead of using complex low-level languages such as C and C++. This book guides you through all the major applications of the MicroPython platform to build and program projects that use microcontrollers. This MicroPython book covers recipes that will help you experiment with the programming environment and hardware programmed in MicroPython. You'll find tips and techniques for building a variety of objects and prototypes that can sense and respond to touch, sound, position, heat, and light. This book will take you through the uses of MicroPython with a variety of popular input devices and sensors. You'll learn techniques to handle time delays and sensor readings, and apply advanced coding techniques to create complex projects. As you advance, you'll deal with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and integration with other online web services. In addition to this, you'll use MicroPython to make music with bananas and create portable multiplayer video games that incorporate sound and light animations into the gameplay. By the end of this book, you'll have mastered the tips and tricks to troubleshoot your development problems and take your MicroPython project to the next level.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)

Getting started with MicroPython

It's an exciting time to work with technologies such as MicroPython. They make tiny and inexpensive hardware devices more accessible, as you can use a high-level language such as Python to code on them. Tasks such as retrieving data from web services can easily be done in a few lines of code, compared to other microcontroller languages that would require many more steps, because they operate at such a low level compared to Python. This is very empowering, as you will get results faster and be able to iterate through different designs and prototypes in a shorter amount of time.

In this chapter, we will provide you with the essential skills to get started and be productive with the software and hardware needed to run MicroPython. You'll learn how to update the firmware and libraries on the device. Recipes to load your first program on the board and use advanced features, such as auto-reloading your code, will also be covered. Finally, a number of recipes will cover the usage of the REPL that is a powerful way to quickly interact and experiment with the available components on MicroPython devices.

In this chapter, we will be covering the following recipes:

  • Flashing the microcontroller firmware
  • Executing your first program
  • Using screen to access the REPL
  • Using Mu to access the REPL
  • Executing commands in the REPL
  • Using the auto-reload feature
  • Updating the CircuitPython Library