The CircuitPython Show

Latest Episodes:

Cooper Dalrymple May 05, 2025

Show notes

Cooper Dalrymple, who recently was a guest on the Audio Effects Panel Discussion, joins the show. He shares how he got started with electronics, his music background, what’s next for CircuitPython’s audio effects, and more.

00:00 Welcome

00:26 Cooper’s start with computers and electronics

1:31 Discovering CircuitPython

5:57 Cooper’s music background

8:18 Designing hardware

13:26 Advantages between CircuitPython and Arduino

19:03 What’s next in audio effects?

21:41 Learn more about Cooper

23:02 Which board?

24:04 Wrap-up

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Designing Games for CircuitPython with Tim "foamyguy" Cocks Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

Tim Cocks, better known as foamyguy in the Adafruit community, shares his experiences in designing games for CircuitPython. Tim and Paul also discuss some recent games Tim has worked on.

00:00 Intro

00:16 Tim’s start with computers

1:48 Discovering CircuitPython

8:16 Challenges designing games for microcontrollers

13:16 1D Chomper

15:44 Blinka Says

18:58 Karel the Robot

23:24 Which microcontroller?

25:42 Wrap-up

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Audio Effects Panel Discussion Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

Cooper Dalrymple, Jeff Epler, Mark Komus, and Tod Kurt join the show to discuss the new audio effects available in CircuitPython.

00:00 Welcome

00:19 Mark’s inspiration for adding audio effects

1:46 Mark’s drum gist

4:23 The new audio effects available in CircuitPython

8:02 LFOs

10:30 Synthio vs Audio Effects

11:36 MP3 Bass and Treble Control

12:48 The RP2350

17:34 RP2350 vs RP2040

18:11 Audio on Espressif

19:50 Guitar pedals

26:59 Future projects

29:59 CircuitPython Karaoke

30:42 CircuitPython Audio Effects Tricks

32:38 Wrap-up

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Project Collaboration with Liz Clark and Noe Ruiz Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

Liz Clark and Noe Ruiz join the show and share how they collaborate on projects, where they get inspiration, and share some of their favorite projects.

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Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:21 Project inspirations

4:17 Iterating on a project

6:09 Working together to improve a project

8:01 Noe’s favorite project - Adabot

9:41 Liz’s favorite project - the Midi Fighter

11:00 The MX Guitarr

15:12 The The CircuitPython Motorized Camera Slider

17:09 The Jack-o-lantern PropMaker

19:24 The NFC Rapsberry Pi Media Player

24:02 The RP2350 Audio Reactive Video Synth

29:18 Wrap-up

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Writing a CircuitPython Library for the Community Bundle Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

Jan Goolsbey and Tod Kurt return to the show and share their experience in writing libraries and drivers for the CircuitPython Community Bundle.

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Guests:

Jan Goolsbey - Jan’s GitHub repositories
Tod Kurt Tod’s GitHub repositories

00:00 Welcome

00:18 The CircuitPython Community Bundle

2:01 When is your code is ready for the bundle?

2:50 Creating a library using cookiecutter

Creating and sharing a CircuitPython library Learn Guide

9:01 Documentation requirements

11:15 Submitting a library to the Community Bundle

14:22 Circup

15:37 Advice for someone sharing their first library

19:03 Can a library move to the Adafruit CircuitPython Bundle?

22:46 Licensing

24:10 Libraries Jan and Tod have written

29:22 Hidden gems in the Community Bundle

Atari Punk Console

34:17 Wrap-up

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

Building CircuitPython with Dan Halbert Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

CircuitPython core developer Dan Halbert joins the show and shares how to build CircuitPython from source.

Dan was previously a guest on episode 28.

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00:00 Intro

00:24 When would someone want to build CircuitPython?

2:23 The pre-requisites for building CircuitPython and the Building CircuitPython Learn Guide

5:15 Building for different hardware ports using git submodules

6:46 Usage of Python in the build process and virtual environments

9:11 Asking for help in the Adafruit Discord

9:34 Adding a new board to CircuitPython and How to Add a Board Learn Guide

13:58 Obtaining a vendor ID and product ID

16:49 Adding the board to circuitpython.org and its Learn Guide

18:13 Advice for building CircuitPython (XKCD)

21:10 Wrap-up

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

Designing a PCB with Bradán Lane Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to a new episode of The CircuitPython Show! Bradán Lane joins the show for a second time and shares his process, tips, and tricks for designing a PCB that uses CircuitPython.

We’re now on Bluesky!

00:00 Welcome

00:24 Recommended tools

2:54 Where to start when designing a board?

4:24 Finding open source hardware examples and schematics

7:02 Designing a board to support CircuitPython

9:00 The board layout and its constraints

12:28 Creating a feature board aka the kitchen sink

14:12 Picking out parts and components

17:14 Placing parts on the board

19:19 Advice for new board designers

20:37 The DC NextGen Graffiti Badge

25:28 Getting CircuitPython to run on a board

29:39 Wrap-up

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

Building a weather system with Jan Goolsbey Jan 27, 2025

Show notes

Jan Goolsbey joins the show for his second visit. He shares how he built a weather monitoring system using sensors, weather APIs, display devices, CircuitPython, and Adafruit IO.

Jan was previously a guest on episode 33.

The CircuitPython Show is now on Bluesky!

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:16 Welcome Jan

00:28 The start of the weather system

2:09 How to solve the corrosion problem

4:50 Internet connected sensors with a PyPortal and Adafruit IO

7:43 Adding external weather conditions from an API to Adafruit IO

9:47 Evolving into a combined weather system

12:40 Discovering Apple WeatherKit integration in Adafruit IO+

14:00 Version 1 of the weather system architecture

14:52 What were the challenges in the new architecture?

17:20 Multiple display devices and Adafruit IO throttling

20:55 Version 2 architecture: Remix

22:34 The user interfaces

27:09 What’s next?

29:09 Wrap-up

Correction: Jan referred to Jerry Needell as working at Apple instead of Adafruit.

Follow Jan on Bluesky.

View Jan’s projects on the Adafruit Playground.

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

Aaron Pendley Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

The CircuitPython Show returns! To kick off season five, Paul welcomes Aaron Pendley, who is known by squid.jpg in the Adafruit community. They discuss how Aaron got started with computers, how he discovered CircuitPython, and a number of his projects.

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Show Notes

00:25 Welcome Aaron and his start with computers

4:23 squid.jpg

5:18 Discovering CircuitPython

8:03 The Top-Secret Lunchbox

12:11 The Zapper lights / sound mod

16:24 The Wii Nunchuk USB Adapter

17:22 The WiFi Matrix Keypad Remote

20:02 Sparkle Specs firmware for Adafruit LED Glasses

22:44 Which microcontroller?

23:33 Wrap-up

Follow Aaron on Bluesky

Visit Aaron’s Adafruit Playground page

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

Paul Cutler Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

It’s the final episode! Tod Kurt returns and serves as guest host and interviews Paul. Paul shares how he started with open source, his favorite project, exciting things coming to CircuitPython, and more.

00:00 Welcome

00:40 How Paul first got started with computers

1:45 Paul’s start with open source

5:10 Learning Python