Choosing a Board for CircuitPython A Few Important Considerations

[@goahnary]

Amazing Wealth of Knowledge in this video! Thank you for sharing I would love to Meet you at a maker space some day. Listing Chapters Here (for when I come back to this): Intro: 0:00 CircuitPython: 0:30 CPBlueFruit: 2:15 Pi Pico: 3:00 QT Py: 6:05 QT Py BFF: 7:33 Feather: 8:00 StemmaQT: 9:20 Raspberry Pi: 14:15 Header Pins: 16:35 Outro: 17:35

[@profgallaugher]

Thanks, friend. If you’re ever in Boston the Boston College campus tour will take you to our new maker space. Although I’m on sabbatical next semester and will be at University of Technology Sydney if you’re on the other side of the world. Cheers!

[@DevonsWorkshop]

One pro of a QT Py is definitely the small form factor for wearables. Other notable small form factor boards are the Trinket M0 and Gemma M0, both are circuit Python capable and each has its own unique strengths and weakness. Right tool for the right job. The trinket comes with the neopixel goggle kit and Gemma is great for single LED projects like lighting a pumpkin with realistic candle flicker, that way you’re not wasting all the GPIO. Figuring out how many and type of IO pins you need is really the first criteria in finding the right board for a project.

[@profgallaugher]

Thx for sharing, Dev. Great advice!

[@CraftyOldGit]

I wish this video was around a couple of years ago when I got started with microcontrollers. I bought several before finding the right one for my purposes -- waster ££ on Feathers with too little memory, Pico with no WiFi etc. I settled on ESP32 as they're cheap and powerful, having 2 cores. They're a little more fiddly to set up with add on hardware, but they run Circuit Python nicely. ESP32 also has ultra low power modes useful for IoT.

[@profgallaugher]

Thanks for your comments. I’ve also been playing with the esp32. The Adafruit QT Py boards are great tiny Wi-Fi boards for IoT and I’ve used them in a few projects when I’ve wanted to keep things small. I’m sure folks appreciate your comments and experience. Great advice!

[@mattyb955]

Great overview. I'm glad there's something out there that's focused on the circuitpython side of things. Do you know if the qt py esp32 s3 has circuitpython support to host a website like pico w? I'm considering it as an alternative because I like the stemma qt port. I know it has the wifi library, but didn't know if it has the server module

[@profgallaugher]

I’m pretty sure it does but I’ve never done it. I’d check Adafruit Discord to be sure. Glad you enjoy the channel. Hack on!

[@mattyb955]

@profgallaugher thank you! Prob worth getting one anyhow now that I think about it

[@mattyb955]

@profgallaugher I bought one of the qt py esp32 s3 boards and can now confirm it'll host a webpage like the pico w. Current adafruit_httpserver library is compatible with the board ✅️ I hooked up a temp/humid sensor and was able to make a little temp reading website with no differences to the pico w other than the added convenience of stemma qt