Micropython – MicroPython IDE uPyCraft

After installing the firmware on the Nodemcu esp8266 DevKit board

MicroPython Firmware

let us now examine a development tool can be suitable for the development of Python code.

A tool that allows both to write code and upload it to the device is uPyCraft

uPyCraft

The tool currently works for Windows and from version 0.30 is also available for Linux; the source code is available at the link

uPyCraft Source

Here are the steps for Windows and Linux.

  • Windows

Once downloaded the package we must  run it as an administrator; the installation of the Monaco font is required

monaco-font

After the font installation,  we have the access to the IDE

upycraft-v0-29We set the Location in Tools->Preferences->Language Location

upycraftlocation

and the serial port paramenters in Tools->Preferences->Serial

upycraftserialsettingsWe plug the device into an USB port and set the serial port on uPyCraft

upycraftserialWe choose the device type; in this case it is ESP8266

upycraftdeviceBy clicking on the connection icon we access to the device and view the files on it

upycraftconnectionThe firmware installation expands on the device only the Python file boot.py

upycraftfilesystemThe tool allows to download examples of MicroPython code for the board, blink.py for example

examplesClicking the “Download and Run” button we load the code onto the device and run it

blinkIn this example the led of the Nodemcu DevKit blinks.

  • Linux

The tool is similar in the Linux version; once downloaded the package to which we have to assign  the execution right we run it. We must assign to the user the access to the serial port with the command, already seen above

In our case, on Debian 9, we have the following screens similar to what we saw on Windows.

In the uPyCraft IDE

upycraft-v0-30linuxWe set the Location in Tools->Preferences->Language Location

upycraftlocationlinux

and the serial port paramenters in Tools->Preferences->Serial

upycraftserialsettingslinuxWe plug the device into an USB port and set the serial port on uPyCraft

upycraftseriallinuxWe choose the device type; in this case it is ESP8266

upycraftdevicelinuxBy clicking on the connection icon we access to the device and view the files on it

upycraftconnectionlinuxThe firmware installation expands on the device only the Python file boot.py

upycraftfilesystemlinuxThe tool allows to download examples of MicroPython code for the board, blink.py for example

exampleslinuxClicking the “Download and Run” button we load the code onto the device and run it

blinklinuxAs in Windows the led of the Nodemcu DevKit blinks..

In version 0.30 for Windows we noticed some bugs, so for this operating system we continue to use the uPyCraft  version 0.29.

Further informations about uPyCraft can be found at the following site

uPyCraft Documentation

In the next article we will discuss another Python development tool

MicroPython – Development tools Ampy – Eric