ICYMI: Latest Newsletter – CircuitPython is the KEY…boards, and more! :) @adafruit @circuitpython @micropython @thepsf #ICYMI
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Arduino to CircuitPython
By popular demand – Arduino to CircuitPython. There are several ways to program microcontrollers. Some methods are more difficult than others and this can often depend on how much familiarity someone has with programming basics.
This guide is primarily for Arduino developers to learn the ins and outs of using CircuitPython by demonstrating use of program code in both languages. This may be a reference for people as they get comfortable in their CircuitPython skills.
Just as valid could be the Python or CircuitPython programmer who has never used Arduino before. Showing the code that Arduino uses for various things may help to become more comfortable with the Arduino environment.
We’ll be updating the guide and adding more – check it out!
CircuitPython powered keyboards
The MiniKbd is a USB device based on the Adafruit Trinket M0 development board by Andy Clymer, available on Tindie.
The MiniKbd is programmable with CircuitPython – each key can be easily customized to perform any combination of keystrokes or mouse movement. When plugging it in over USB, your computer will recognize it as a “USB HID” (Human Interface Device), as if a keyboard or mouse had been plugged in. The keystrokes that are output by the MiniKbd can then be configured by editing the CircuitPython code running on the device.
The KernTroller is a customizable keyboard controller with pressure sensitive capacitive touch pads, based on the Adafruit Trinket M0 board, and is programmable with CircuitPython.
Andy also has some CircuitPython helper libs.
From Blitz City DIY – Building a Macro Keyboard for the Opposable Thumbs Podcast. LEDs, macros, CircuitPython & a lot of frenetic impending deadline energy, video.
AtMakers KeySwitch Housing – The KeySwitch is a low-cost AT Switch Interface allowing a user to send keystrokes and mouse movements by activating external switches – video & Thingiverse.
Welcome a BOARD 
Say hi to Meow Meow, the latest board that supports CircuitPython. Meow Meow has a UF2 bootloader now, GitHub & pick up a cat.
Coming soon – Gizmo, Prop Maker Wings’
Do not get wet, do not feed after midnight, keep out of bright lights.
Should be shipping these in the next week or so, make sabers’ to any prop you can imagine.
News from around the web!
Kids show off some CircuitPlayground projects to Carlos Alvarado Quesada,
President of Costa Rica – Teletica.
Update to the PewPew FeatherWing – a shield for Adafruit Feather boards with buttons and a LED matrix display, for simple games by ꝺeshipu – hackaday.io
And one more, An Electronic Barrette Hub – A base station of all your blinking lights by ꝺeshipu – hackaday.io
CircuitPython powered drummachine / buddahmachine by dr_speed – Instagram.
Looks like the updates to EduBlocks with CircuitPython support is coming along nicely.
Badge preview for hackaday supercon – video.
caitlinsdad made an XTRA-LARGE hallowing – Twitter.
@pyconau lightning talks – @micropython on FPGAs by @mithro – video.
Web Bluetooth is now available in Windows 10 in Chrome 70 – Adafruit Bluetooth REPL, here we come.
DrawBot is a powerful, free application for MacOSX for making simple Python scripts to generate two-dimensional graphics. The built-in graphics primitives support rectangles, ovals, (bezier) paths, polygons, text objects and transparency – drawbot.com. There’s dailydrawbot.tumblr too.
Timothy Garcia has made his own Adafruit Feather M4 clone with a Sparkfun qwiic connector on the end.
Richard “Shred” Körber writes about his ghost decoration which uses an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and CircuitPython, featuring lighting and sound effects.
Python 3.7.1 and 3.6.7 are now available. Python 3.7.1 is the first maintenance release of the newest feature release of the Python language – Change log.
Python in 90 minutes by Joe James – YouTube & GitHub.
PyCon 2019’s Call for Proposals has officially opened for talks, tutorials, posters, education summit presentations, as well as the hatchery program PyCon Charlas – PyCon.
Juno is a self-contained app for running Jupyter Notebooks. Juno is a desktop app (currently only macOS) that opens Jupyter Notebooks (.ipynb files) as a standalone app. No need to install Python, Conda, or Jupyter. – GitHub.
Some updates to GitHub: actions looks interesting – GitHub.
PyDev of the Week: Philip Guo from Mouse vs Python.
Adafruit CircuitPyton Weekly recording for October 22nd, 2018 on YouTube diode.zone
Made with Mu
Turn a plastic chainsaw, which is a simple plastic hollow prop with no electronics, into a roaring sound effect chainsaw! Press the trigger and listen to the sound of a real chainsaw but remain perfectly safe as there is no moving chainsaw blade – video & madewithmu & bigl.es.
Great overview – The Mu Editor by Tim Golden.
New Learn Guides!
learn.adafruit.com has a refresh and more! We got rid of the random, unorganized landing page and its masonry design. We now offer a much more curated experience which should help you discover new guides.
Our catalog of guides has grown to almost 2000 guides, so naturally some of the older guides have gotten buried. With this new design we hope to bring some of these great old guides back in the spotlight with guide groups. These are hand curated groups of guides based on a theme like 3d printing, robots, no soldering required, beginner, etc.
There is also a new hero system that will bring attention to a constantly changing set of our favorite guides. So check back often!
We have even more great new features for the Adafruit Learning System under development, and can’t wait to share them with you.
Tiny Museum Tour Device from John Park.
Feather Waveform Generator in CircuitPython from Dave Astels.
Updated Learn Guides!
NeoPixel Cyber Falls Wig from Michael Sklar.
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!
Using MCP23008 & MCP23017 with CircuitPython
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 Digital Ocean to track your progress towards a shirt, and jump onto our Discord chat to join others who contribute!
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 104!
New Libraries!
Here’s this week’s new CircuitPython libraries:
Updated Libraries!
Here’s this week’s updated CircuitPython libraries:
- Adafruit CircuitPython NeoPixel
- Adafruit CircuitPython Trellis
- Adafruit CircuitPython MCP230xx
- Adafruit CircuitPython EPD
- Adafruit CircuitPython MCP3xxx
- Adafruit CircuitPython MPR121
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.2. New to CircuitPython? Start with our Welcome to CircuitPython Guide.
20181019 is the latest CircuitPython library bundle.
v1.9.4 is the latest MicroPython release. Documentation for it is here.
3.7.1 is the latest Python release.
jobs.adafruit.com is back
jobs.adafruit.com has returned and folks are posting their skills (including CircuitPython) and companies are looking for talented makers to join their companies – from Digi-Key, to hackaday, Microcenter and more!
8,000 thanks!
The Adafruit Discord community where we do all our CircuitPython development in the open reached over 8,000 humans, thank you! Join today! https://adafru.it/discord
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.