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From the Editor:
Welcome to the latest Python on Microcontrollers newsletter and happy US Labor Day for those who celebrate. It’s often the last weekend hurrah before the Fall and schools get into their terms in ernest. This also affects the news and publishing cycle.
So this issue focuses on two areas. First, I have headlines related to “big” Python. Which is something many folks also use, and the fact that: As mainline Python goes, MicroPython and CircuitPython will look to follow, at some point. Second, a focus on the many projects folks have been building this summer. There has been so much creativity, it’s a pleasure to highlight folks’ hard work. I hope everyone has had a good Summer and that Fall brings many more good things. – Anne Barela, Editor
We’re on Discord, Twitter/X, BlueSky and for past newsletters – view them all here. If you’re reading this on the web, please subscribe here. Here’s the news this week:
Python: The Documentary | An Origin Story Documentary
This newly released documentary is the story of the world’s most beloved programming language: Python. What began as a side project in Amsterdam during the 1990s became the software powering artificial intelligence, data science and some of the world’s biggest companies. But Python’s future wasn’t certain; at one point it almost disappeared.
This 90-minute film features Guido van Rossum, Travis Oliphant, Barry Warsaw, and many more, and they tell the story of Python’s rise, its community-driven evolution, the conflicts that almost tore it apart, and the language’s impact – YouTube and The New Stack.
Happy Birthday Linux
On August 25th 1991 (34 years ago), Linus Torvalds announced “I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since April, and is starting to get ready” – X.
CircuitPython 10.0.0-beta.3 Released
CircuitPython 10.0.0-beta.3 beta has been released. It has known bugs that will be fixed before the final release. If working with the new Fruit Jam, please consider using this beta as there are some significant improvements in video and the circuitpython_fruitjam module (update your libraries as well). Release notes – GitHub.
Highlights
- Convert mono audio to stereo when going through a stereo
audiomixer.Mixer.
- Add
audiomixer.MixerVoice.panning, with synthio.BlockInput support.
- Add
synthio.MidiTrack.tempo.
- Restore missing
audioio module on ESP32 and ESP32-S2.
- RP2xxx DVI now works on more monitors and has fewer glitches.
Reverse Engineering the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5
Eric Schlaepfer reverse engineered the schematic and layout for a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 – GitHub.
Raspberry Pi RP2350 Memory Map
Shawn Hymel compiles a memory map for the Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller. It appears to help, as the datasheet page 132 seems sparse – X.
The Integration of Python Programming in Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Experiments
Programming is a key transferable skill within the chemical sciences with applications supporting data acquisition, as a tool for chemical and spectroscopic analysis and as an environment for theoretical modeling. Of the many available programming languages, Python stands out due to its broad functionality and open-source structure – ACS Publications.
Outdated Python Versions Cost Companies Millions
Running older Python versions goes beyond being a technical debt problem; it’s a financial hemorrhage bleeding out organizations’ cloud bills – The New Stack.
This Week’s Python Streams
Python on Hardware is all about building a cooperative ecosphere which allows contributions to be valued and to grow knowledge. Below are the streams within the last week focusing on the community.
CircuitPython Deep Dive Stream
Last Friday, Tim streamed work on a CircuitPython driver for BMP58xx sensors.
You can see the latest video and past videos on the Adafruit YouTube channel under the Deep Dive playlist – YouTube.
CircuitPython Parsec
John Park’s CircuitPython Parsec this week is on Single Projectile – Adafruit Blog and YouTube.
Catch all the episodes in the YouTube playlist.
CircuitPython Weekly Meeting
CircuitPython Weekly Meeting for August 25, 2025 (notes) on YouTube.
Project of the Week: Camera v2
Camera v2 is a Raspberry Pi connected to buttons, a screen, a high quality camera, and a thermal printer in a rugged blue case. It’s all written in Python using Pygame for the touchscreen UI – BlueSky.
Popular Last Week
What was the most popular, most clicked link, in last week’s newsletter? Free book: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (via MIT) (PDF).
Did you know you can read past issues of this newsletter in the Adafruit Daily Archive? Check it out.
Adafruit Playground
Adafruit Playground is a new place for the community to post their projects and other making tips/tricks/techniques. Ad-free, it’s an easy way to publish your work in a safe space for free.
News From Around the Web
Trying out the official CircuitPython browser-based development environment “CircuitPython Code Editor”, a review – Qiita (Japanese) and YouTube.
Review: Adafruit Fruit Jam – A RP2350 mini computer running classic Macintosh – CNX Software.
Microsoft’s Python Environment tool tackles developers’ biggest headache. The new VS Code extension promises to end the chaos of managing multiple Python setups – ADTmag and Visual Studio Marketplace.
The Apple II game Robot War ported to the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 in MicroPython – YouTube.
pypistats.org is now operated by the Python Software Foundation – PSF Blog.
7 reasons Raspberry Pi still beats every alternative in 2025 – Raspberry Tips.
Reddit user u/Strong-Mud199 needed to make a MIDI keyboard with knobs, switches and wheels for a custom Radio project. The radio software: piHPSDR allows for a MIDI controller to control the receiver. “I knew nothing about MIDI, but a simple search showed that Adafruit had a already done library for MIDI controllers” – Reddit.
The MonoPad prototype by Cosmin Dolha, a more calming screen for AI tasks, uses a XIAO nrf52840 for BLE connection, XIAO rp2350 for driving the Adafruit Sharp Memory Display and CircuitPython – X.
Why I’m Switching to CircuitPython for My Drone Telemetry – YouTube.
Dominique shows graphic designs on a GC9A01 display made with MicroPython – Dominique (Czech) and GitHub.
A display test for the circular display using Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W and MicroPython – X.
Add a NeoPixel light strip to a Circuit Playground Express or Bluefruit – YouTube.
Sensor data processing for scientific applications with MicroPython (EuroSciPy 2025) – YouTube and GitHub.
Making an MP3 player with RFID, programmed in MicroPython – hackster.io.
Micropycelium is a prototype routable mesh network for ESP32 using MicroPython – hackster.io.
A prototype intruder detection system capable of identifying human presence and initiating preemptive measures with Arduino Portenta H7, Raspberry Pi Pico and CircuitPython – hackster.io.
New
The Pi Zero-sized Radxa Cubie A7Z SBC features an Allwinner A733 Cortex-A76/A55 SoC, up to 16GB RAM, WiFi 6 – CNX Software.
The New Furitek MicroPython Pro OLED ESC for brushed or brushless motors – YouTube.
New Boards Supported by CircuitPython
The number of supported microcontrollers and Single Board Computers (SBC) grows every week. This section outlines which boards have been included in CircuitPython or added to CircuitPython.org.
There are no new boards this week, but there were over 50 added last week.
Note: For non-Adafruit boards, please use the support forums of the board manufacturer for assistance, as Adafruit does not have the hardware to assist in troubleshooting.
Looking to add a new board to CircuitPython? It’s highly encouraged! Adafruit has four guides to help you do so:
New Learn Guides
The Adafruit Learning System has over 3,200 free guides for learning skills and building projects including using Python.
CircuitPython Libraries
The CircuitPython library numbers are continually increasing, while existing ones continue to be updated. Here we provide library numbers and updates!
To get the latest Adafruit libraries, download the Adafruit CircuitPython Library Bundle. To get the latest community contributed libraries, download the CircuitPython Community Bundle.
If you’d like to contribute to the CircuitPython project on the Python side of things, the libraries are a great place to start. Check out the CircuitPython.org Contributing page. If you’re interested in reviewing, check out Open Pull Requests. If you’d like to contribute code or documentation, check out Open Issues. We have a guide on contributing to CircuitPython with Git and GitHub, and you can find us in the #help-with-circuitpython and #circuitpython-dev channels on the Adafruit Discord.
You can check out this list of all the Adafruit CircuitPython libraries and drivers available.
The current number of CircuitPython libraries is 538!
What’s the CircuitPython team up to this week?
What is the team up to this week? Let’s check in:
Dan
This past week I continued to work on issues that need to be addressed before CircuitPython 10.0.0 final is released. I also updated CircuitPython to use the latest version of the Raspberry Pi pico-sdk and the CYW43 WiFi chip driver.
Tim
This week I finished up and published the Fruit Jam OS guide. I’ve been continuing to review PRs for Fruit Jam library and OS. One this week was some fixes to volume handling in the TLV320 DAC driver library. I’m working on a “Say & Spell” app that is inspired by the vintage electronic kids toy. My version runs on the Fruit Jam and uses the Amazon Polly TTS service to allow it to speak. The app lets a player type in a word which then gets read aloud along with its spelling.
Scott
This has been a short week for me because I was out camping last week. I’ve been trying to get the C5 going but having startup issues. I finally gave up on that only to find that ESP32 and ESP32-C6 also have the same issues with IDF 5.5! So, I’m trying to figure out what the issue is. The code compiles so it’s some trickier problem with linking likely.
Upcoming Events
PyCon AU will be held from Friday the 12th to Tuesday the 16th of September at Pullman Melbourne On The Park in Narrm/Melbourne, Australia – pycon.org.au.
KiCad conferences (KiCon) to be held this year include 19 – 20 Sept 2024 in Bochum, Germany, and 14 – 15 November, 2025 in Shenzhen, China – KiCad.
PyCon UK will be at CONTACT in Manchester from Friday 19th September to Monday 22nd September 2025 – PyCon UK 2025.
The next MicroPython Meetup in Melbourne hasn’t been announced as of publication deadline, but perhaps it’ll be September 24th as that would fit previous meeting scheduling – Meetup. You can see recordings of previous meetings on YouTube.
Maker Faire Bay Area 2025 will be Sep 26 – 28, 2025 in Vallejo, California, US – Maker Faire.
The Hackaday Superconference is back! Join this global conference of hardware hackers, makers, and tech enthusiasts this Oct 31st – Nov 2nd in Pasadena, California – Eventbrite.
PyLadiesCon returns December 5–7, 2025. 100% online conference designed for our global community. Talks, workshops, panels, and community fun – PyLadies.
Send Your Events In
If you know of virtual events or upcoming events, please let us know via email to cpnews(at)adafruit(dot)com.
Latest Releases
CircuitPython’s stable release is 9.2.8 and its unstable release is 10.0.0-beta.3. New to CircuitPython? Start with our Welcome to CircuitPython Guide.
20250829 is the latest Adafruit CircuitPython library bundle.
20250829 is the latest CircuitPython Community library bundle.
v1.26.0 is the latest MicroPython release. Documentation for it is here.
3.13.7 is the latest Python release. The latest pre-release version is 3.14.0rc2.
4,325 Stars Like CircuitPython? Star it on GitHub!
Call for Help – Translating CircuitPython is now easier than ever
One important feature of CircuitPython is translated control and error messages. With the help of fellow open source project Weblate, we’re making it even easier to add or improve translations.
Sign in with an existing account such as GitHub, Google or Facebook and start contributing through a simple web interface. No forks or pull requests needed! As always, if you run into trouble join us on Discord, we’re here to help.
39,040 Thanks
The Adafruit Discord community, where we do all our CircuitPython development in the open, reached over 39,040 humans – thank you! Adafruit believes Discord offers a unique way for Python on hardware folks to connect. Join today at https://adafru.it/discord.
ICYMI – In case you missed it
Python on hardware is the Adafruit Python video-newsletter-podcast! The news comes from the Python community, Discord, Adafruit communities and more and is broadcast on ASK an ENGINEER Wednesdays. The complete Python on Hardware weekly videocast playlist is here. The video podcast is on iTunes, YouTube, Instagram), and XML.
The weekly community chat on Adafruit Discord server CircuitPython channel – Audio / Podcast edition – Audio from the Discord chat space for CircuitPython, meetings are usually Mondays at 2pm ET, this is the audio version on iTunes, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and XML feed.
Contribute
The CircuitPython Weekly Newsletter is a CircuitPython community-run newsletter emailed every Monday. The complete archives are here. 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. You may also tag your information on Twitter with #CircuitPython.
Join the Adafruit Discord or post to the forum if you have questions.
