# CircuitPython Weekly for August 17, 2020
* Welcome to the CircuitPython Weekly meeting notes! Feel free to add your Hug Reports and Status Updates early. During the meeting, we go through them as a round robin sorted by username. If you can’t make the meeting and would still like to participate, add your notes with a “(missing meeting)” after your username and we’ll read them off for you. 


Add any longer-form discussion topics or general questions you have to the “In the weeds” section. 


Thanks! We hope to see you in the meeting!


Video is available here [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/S61hrg54FFo).


Join here for the chat all week: http://adafru.it/discord


The CircuitPython Weekly happens normally at 2pm ET/11am PT on Mondays. Check the #circuitpython channel on Discord for notices of change in time and links to past meetings. Meeting times are also available in iCal format using the following link: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/master/meeting.ical for use with standard calendar applications or in your browser: https://open-web-calendar.herokuapp.com/calendar.html?url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/master/meeting.ical


CircuitPython development is sponsored by Adafruit. Please support them by purchasing hardware from https://adafruit.com.


Reminders: Podcast available on most services. Let us know if we’re missing some.
## 3:21 Community News


### CircuitPython Takes Flight in MS Flight Simulator
Creating a flight controller for Microsoft Flight Simulator using CircuitPython and custom circuits - Hackster.io and Twitter.
For many years, I have used and played in Microsoft Flight Simulator X. In anticipation of the upcoming release of the new version - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 - I wanted to ensure I had the best set up ready for flight! I knew that CircuitPython had a gamepad software library that makes your CircuitPython code appear like a Joystick. I had an idea that this could be hacked up (easily) and make to suit my purpose. CircuitPython also makes working with hardware easy.
### CircuitPython CLUE Cutebot
CircuitPython-CLUE-Cutebot is a higher-level library to allow Adafruit's CLUE and ElecFreak's micro:bit Smart Cutebot to communicate while maintaining all the functionality of the CLUE, except for touch features - GitHub and YouTube.
I am a teacher of young learns and as such the code was purposefully left simple so I can use it with them. There is also a comment on nearly every line to help explain to my students what each line is doing.
### CircuitPython Day is 9-9-2020
Adafruit has chosen September 9, 2020 (9/9/2020) as the snakiest day of this year for CircuitPython Day! Much more to come on events and happenings to include a CircuitPython team livestream, collaboration with hardware and software folks, and highlighting all things Python and Python on Hardware.
It was with great sadness that the community saw the devastation of Beirut several days ago. So many residences were heavily damaged. It was a great relief to hear from our 2019 CircuitPython Day partners Lamba Labs Makerspace:
Things have been quite tough these days, but so far all manageable. We did a roll call yesterday on all our maker communities. Aside from minor injuries and stitches, broken glass, broken window frames (aluminium and wood), and some broken cars, no real harm done. All the love from here in Beirut  heart 
Adafruit is dedicating CircuitPython Day 2020 to Labma Labs and supporting NGO fundraising for the city:
– Impact Lebanon fundraiser: their focus is rebuilding lost homes, houses, historic landmarks, and affected hospitals.
– Anera and Global Shapers fundraiser: an NGO which is coordinating with 12 NGOs including Red Cross Lebanon division and Caritas. Their main goal is collecting funds to sustain the affected families until they can financially recover from the explosion.
More information on CircuitPython Day is forthcoming. Ideas? Send them via email to circuitpythonday@adafruit.com.
### Even more stuff
Simulating firefly flashes with NeoPixel LEDs in CircuitPython - GitHub.
CircuitPython_CLUE_Menu - make your Adafruit CLUE multi-functional by adding a nifty startup menu to select the program you want to run. You no longer need to rename your files to code or main to run them. Simply drag and drop your files into your CIRCUITPY drive and this menu program does the rest - GitHub and YouTube.
Conway's Game of Life on an ESP32 with MicroPython and an LCD display - Twitter, YouTube and GitHub.
Python Tea #10: Special Guest Łukasz Langa on release management, typing in Python, asyncio, MIDI, Synths - Twitch.
Ocean Epoxy Resin Lightbox with RGB LED Matrix Image Scroller from Erin St. Blaine
### Contribute to the newsletter
The CircuitPython Weekly Newsletter is a CircuitPython community-run newsletter emailed every Tuesday. 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.
## 7:00 State of CircuitPython, Libraries and Blinka


### Overall


* 22 pull requests merged
  * 15 authors - Gadgetoid, wtuemura, jepler, xiongyihui, FoamyGuy, siddacious, weblate, nvtkaszpir, makermelissa, rhooper, ciscorn, kmatch98, linusg, dglaude, sommersoft
  * 8 reviewers - jepler, kattni, ladyada, caternuson, tannewt, makermelissa, rhooper, dhalbert
* 27 closed issues by 16 people, 12 opened by 9 people
Overall: We continue to have strong contributions to Core and Libraries.  Aside from the new libraries in the Adafruit bundle, I also want to highlight a new library in the Community bundle for the LTR-559 light and proximity sensor found on the Pimoroni Enviro Plus Featherwing.


Carried over from last week, we need to make a new alpha release of the core soon.  There are currently 269 commits in 23 pull requests that are on our main branch but not released yet, so we need to make it easier for the community to access these features and bug fixes.


In the core we also have a new Japanese translation by @ciscorn.  Thank you!  That makes the 15th language besides English that we’ve added.
### 9:12 Core
* 7 pull requests merged
  * 5 authors - wtuemura, jepler, xiongyihui, ciscorn, weblate
  * 3 reviewers - ladyada, jepler, dhalbert
* 21 open pull requests
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2966 (Open 81 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3044 (Open 61 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3144 (Open 37 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3192 (Open 24 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3224 (Open 18 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3231 (Open 17 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3237 (Open 15 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3238 (Open 14 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3245 (Open 12 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3251 (Open 10 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3260 (Open 6 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3275 (Open 4 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3280 (Open 2 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3279 (Open 2 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3277 (Open 2 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3286 (Open 1 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3284 (Open 1 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3281 (Open 1 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3290 (Open 0 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3289 (Open 0 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/3288 (Open 0 days)
* 5 closed issues by 4 people, 3 opened by 2 people
* 321 open issues
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues
* 7 active milestones
  * 6.0.0: 9 open issues
  * 6.x.0 - Features: 1 open issues
  * 6.x.x - Bug Fixes: 8 open issues
  * 7.0.0: 3 open issues
  * Libraries: 12 open issues
  * Long term: 283 open issues
  * Support: 1 open issues
  * 4 issues not assigned a milestone


* Core download stats available at https://circuitpython.org/stats


### 10:10 Libraries
* 15 pull requests merged
  * 10 authors - Gadgetoid, FoamyGuy, siddacious, nvtkaszpir, makermelissa, rhooper, kmatch98, linusg, dglaude, sommersoft
  * 7 reviewers - rhooper, makermelissa, jepler, kattni, ladyada, caternuson, tannewt
  * Merged pull requests:
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_BitmapSaver/pull/12 (Days open: 38)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PyBadger/pull/35 (Days open: 31)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_LSM6DS/pull/20 (Days open: 24)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PM25/pull/6 (Days open: 23)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MatrixPortal/pull/1 (Days open: 16)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Text/pull/81 (Days open: 3)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Button/pull/23 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_CCS811/pull/38 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_INA219/pull/23 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_INA219/pull/22 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bitmap_Font/pull/24 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_LED_Animation/pull/63 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/pull/259 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle/pull/40 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle/pull/39 (Days open: 1)
* 21 closed issues by 11 people, 8 opened by 6 people
* https://circuitpython.org/contributing
  * 185 open issues
  * 9 good first issues
  * 43 open pull requests (Oldest: 588, Newest: 1)
Library updates in the last seven days:
**New Libraries**
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_MatrixPortal](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MatrixPortal)
**Updated Libraries**
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_RSA](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_RSA)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_BitmapSaver](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_BitmapSaver)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Button](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Button)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_LED_Animation](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_LED_Animation)
 * [CircuitPython_Community_Bundle](https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle)


### 12:00 Blinka
* 0 pull requests merged
  * 0 authors - 
  * 0 reviewers - 
* 3 open pull requests
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/304 (Open 70 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/322 (Open 24 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/330 (Open 1 days)
* 1 closed issues by 1 people, 1 opened by 1 people
* 24 open issues
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/issues
* PyPI Downloads in the last week: 1443
Number of supported boards: 52


## 12:41 Hug reports
12:55 @jepler
* Group hug
* Helpers (Community, CircuitPython, and PCB) always need hugs so have another one
* @kattni for a couple of private chats
* @kmatch98 for stepping up when I reported a problem with labels and didn’t provide much info
* @danh for approving a PR on the weekend
* @ciscorn for contributing a Japanese translation of CircuitPython core
* @CarlFK for discussions about CANbus
* @v923z for cool but totally secret and absolutely not leaked progress on ulab


14:04 @jerryn
* @cater for the awesome Hurricane Tracker for the PyPortal
* @tannewt for giving the moderators a break from “server discovery” 

14:34 @kattni
* @jepler for running the meeting today
* @jepler for two lovely and much needed chats last week.
* @community moderators on Discord for hanging in there and sticking with us


15:15 @kmatch98
* @foamyguy for label bug fixes and bitmap_label testing and creating examples
* @tannewt for code review and git help 


15:47 @MakerMelissa
* @tannewt for turning off Server Discovery
* Group Hug


@Mark(Gamblor) [lurking]


@Mr. Certainly [lurking]


16:02 @stargirl (text only)
* Community helpers for being so helpful in the community. ;)


16:14 @tannewt
* Jepler for running the meeting.
* Unexpectedmaker for jumping into CP with their FeatherS2 support.
* Esden for the FPGA encouragement and gsteiert for all of the help.
* Askpatrickw for writing up esp32s2 info


17:24 @v923z
* Group hug
* @jepler for the friendly banter on Saturday night, and the totally useless, but outrageously clever C macro
@anecdata (lurking)


@Anne B (lurking)


18:05 @askpatrickw (text only, not in meeting)
* Thanks to @unexpectedmaker for the help with flashing both my Espressif Saola Wrover and my FeatherS2.
* Thanks to @tannewt for the Friday streams. I rarely can watch live, but I very much enjoy the shows and I pick up tips and tricks along the way!


18:27 @brentru
* Group hug
* @jerryn for RFM9x frozen build
* @tannewt for friday’s live-stream
* @jepler for m0 board firmware size reduction
* @gadgetoid for CircuitPython/Pimoroni drivers


@cater (lurking)


@charlesburnaford
* General hug report to everybody, haven’t done much with CircuitPython project lately
* Thankful that I can listen in to the Weekly and the DeepDives.


@danh
* @jepler for finding significant space savings in the math library, and for making the build logs less noisy
* @tannewt for “let’s drop server discovery _now_”


21:25 @Dave P (lurking)
* @danh for helping find and fix an issue with displayio on NRF boards
* The community as a whole. After dealing with some other online communities it is so
nice to come here - so welcoming and supportive 


21:48 @David.Glaude
* @tannewt for help on how to transform a package into a library and an excellent live streaming showing a git rebase (and maybe other things). 
* @kattni for the various Git[Hub] guide, I keep going back to them.
* @unfinishedstuff (on twitter) for FeatherCap for connecting Raspberry Pi HATs to Feathers MCU


22:49 @foamyguy
* @jepler for pointing out an issue in the display_text library
* @kmatch98 for doing some initial investigation into that issue and sharing findings


23:45 @hierophect
* @tannewt for helping me out with some technical issues
* @jepler for keeping up with the RGBMatrix PR while I was deep in ESP32
* @dahanzimin for sending me an F103RE development board to test with


24:30 @gadgetoid (Lurking)
* @David.Glaude for helping update Enviro+ to CircuitPython 5.x
* @tannewt for being so accommodating while I’m being onboarded into the ecosystem


25:00 @Jayguitar (text only)
* @jerryn and @Foamyguy for the help and testing on #helpwithcircuitpython
## 25:31 Status Updates
25:55 @jepler
* Last week:
   * Spent another 1.5 days on firmware size for M0 boards .. already .. but was for a good cause:
   * Helped get the new ja translation merged after doing some build squeezing
   * Sharp memory display PR merged, but at least one bug remains
   * Related guide updates are close to release
* This week:
   * Figuring out a pin allocation problem with sharp memory displays & getting a last few photos for the guide
   * Digging in to CANbus, first target for implementation is SAM E5x, specifically the SAM E54 Xplained devkit.
   * Will be learning from the micropython pyb.CAN implementation, but trying to make it fit CircuitPython better
   * If you know of CANbus “peripheral” cheap enough to pick up on a lark / for testing, let me know in #circuitpython or via DM
* Fun stuff:
   * Blogged a Python program I wrote for setting the registers of the Si5351 clock generator breakout https://emergent.unpythonic.net/01597601150


27:30 @jerryn
* Nothing significant to report
* Waiting for feather_m0_rfm69 board to arrive before trying to test build with “frozen” library.
   * Making a few updates to RFM69 lib to implement size reductions done for RFM9X -- minor changes.
* Got some furniture refinishing done this week ... 


28:18 @kattni
* Last week:
   * Figured out why a couple of moderators did not have moderator permissions.
   * Filed an issue on Adabot to add cookiecutter to the PR/Issue check
   * Added cookiecutter to Adabot for PR/Issue check.
   * Tagged Justin on an issue on the circuitpython-org repo offering to translate the website
   * Created 6 fritzing objects
   * Started the eInk Bonnet guide
* This week:
   * Finish up complicated in-progress fritzing object
   * A bunch of miscellaneous
   * Library PR sweep
   * Begin updating CoC across all the libraries
   * Begin adding descriptions to all Adafruit GitHub repos
   * Some unknown next project


31:30 @kmatch98
* Answered some PR review comments on displayio bitmap.blit
* Submitted PR to speed up label.py by loading font glyphs all at once
* Created some “evidence boards” to understand the links between the C and CircuitPython worlds
* This week: Check out label.py bug with line spacing


32:48 @MakerMelissa
* Last Week:
   * Worked on adding STM32MP1. However it’s on pause as I figure out some key issues, which often involve lots of waiting.
   * Got the MatrixPortal library finally published
   * Wrote a simple Clock demo for John Park
   * Converted the adafruit_fanservice install script from Shell to Python
   * Converted the i2smic install script to Python
   * Started working on the eInk Bonnet guide
* Next 2 Weeks:
   * This week is a short week for me and I won’t be in the CircuitPython meeting next week
   * Finish up the eInk Bonnet Guide
   * Write another MatrixPortal demo
   * Create a library to enclose shell installation functions
   * Convert more shell scripts to Python
   * Poke at the STM32MP1 some more to see if I can get PIP running on the default image
* Fun Stuff:
   * Learning the ins and outs of USB-C power management and dual-role ports


@Mr. Certainly [lurking]


34:14 @stargirl
* Still waiting on my stuff to arrive from Seattle 😭
* Working through the firmware for my module - got adcs, pulse out, and i2c all working in a bare metal SAMD21 project. 


34:48 @tannewt
* Got wifi working. Both HTTP and HTTPS.
* I need to rework it though to better convey errors from mbedtls
* Will get what I have in a PR and then follow up with improvements.
* Likely going to tackle some memory things this week like releasing sockets when we need more memory.
* Also going to add PSRAM support.
* Add `pwmio` and then release beta.0.


38:27 @v923z
* Past two weeks:
Made considerable progress on ulab
   * Implemented option for tensors of rank 4 (more is possible with minimal amount of work)
   * Brought in proper views
   * Implemented numpy-compatible broadcasting
* Plans for this week:
   * Upgrading the implementation of the remaining functions in the numerical sub-module
   * Heavy testing
   * Re-writing ulab manual:
      * Bringing in the circuitpython manual components
      * Writing a section on how to extend ulab with own functions


@anecdata (lurking)


@Anne B (lurking)


42:33 @brentru
* Nothing to report!
* Got the new SHARP display breakout in, want to adapt it to a Pi-Hole display


@cater (lurking)


@charlesburnaford (lurking)


43:12 @danh
* HCI _bleio for peripheral mode is now working. Works with BLE UART and with Adafruit Services library. PR soon.
* Fixed SPIM3 buffer location on nRF52840, which fixed several open issues.
* Other nRF fixes; some will be in the HCI PR.
* I will start working on getting the 6.0.0 release in shape: doing more test releases, and working on remaining bugs.


45:55 @David.Glaude
* EnviroPlus FeatherWing
   * Tested saving memory on Pimoroni_CircuitPython_LTR559 by moving constant to a separate file.
   * Transformed Adafruit_CircuitPython_PM25 library into a package, waiting for PR review (and someone to test the I2C version because I only have the UART hardware).
* Transformed Adafruit_CircuitPython_IS31FL3731 into a package, waiting for PR review (I don’t have all the hardware to test).
* Connected a CLUE on a Pi with "the CZH-Labs Micro:bit X Raspberry Pi Interconnection HAT, Microbit to RPi Adapter Board" I have accessed the 5 I2C sensor. Now investigating the screen/SPI and other hardware: button, LED, RGB LED.
* Soldered my FeatherCap and should be able to use once I find the right resistor for SDA/SCL PullUp (https://twitter.com/UnfinishedStuff/status/1292434742453960704)
* Non CP:
   * I have two weeks of “vacation” but will stay home due to Covid… wondering if this will be productive on the maker side.


49:22 @foamyguy
* Last week
   * Working on LinearLayout for the JSON Display Layouts library. Got it functioning pretty well. And uncovered a few potential tweaks to existing libraries in the process
   * Updated display_button library to use it’s extended Group instance like the other displayio components
   * Created a PR to propose a minor tweak to the progress_bar library to make it’s width and height properties public
   * Working on fixing an issue with display_text that can cause the label position to get shifted when the text is changed.
   * Created a few extra example scripts for the bitmap_font library and in the process created a slightly more advanced script that display rainbow colored text with custom fonts.
* Next week
   * Try to finish resolving the display_text position issue
   * Test and review a PR for the PN532
   * Keep working on Display Layout library. Perhaps implementing the Grid Layout. And then “kicking the tires” by trying to use the module to refactor a few existing UI heavy projects with to see if I run into issues and see how the code turns out once the UI stuff can be more separated from the rest of the logic.
* Fun / Outside Circuit Python:
   * Factorio 1.0 was released over the weekend! I spent some time playing the release version to celebrate. And am planning to mash these interests together by creating a Circuit Python based hardware “Rocket Launcher” button.


53:25 @hierophect
* Last week:
   * Finished my PR for PulseIn and PulseOut
   * Answered some community questions
   * Got my F1 in the mail for testing
* This week:
   * Make a big ol’ bug todo list
   * Read over RGBMatrix issues
   * Get started with F1
* Fun stuff:
   * Put a very rough draft of my language flashcard generator on Github.


@Jayguitar (lurking)




## 55:52 In The Weeds
55:52 @v923z a couple of comments on ulab integration into circuitpython
* Customisation options (dimensions, functions etc.)
* Fate of functions without any general appeal
* Numpy compatibility (sub-modules vs. top-level functions)
* Suggestions for functions in the image-processing module (proposed by the openmv community)
## 1:17:00  Wrap-Up
