# CircuitPython Weekly for 30 March 2020
Video is available here [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/hT2vLvtNICs).


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.


CircuitPython development is sponsored by Adafruit. Please support them by purchasing hardware from https://adafruit.com and from Digi-Key at digikey.com.


Reminders: Podcast available on most services. Let us know if we’re missing some.
## 5:15 Community News
Phil sends his regards!


5:41 CircuitPython 5.1.0-rc.0 released! #CircuitPython #Python @adafruit @circuitpython
https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/03/26/circuitpython-5-1-0-rc-0-released-adafruit-circuitpython/
* ulab, a numpy-like fast vector module (#2583 and others).
* Support for “f-strings”, a more convenient way to build strings dynamically.


6:43 HackSpace Magazine Issue 29 – Make a frogger-style game with CircuitPython and Circuit Playground Express #CircuitPython #CircuitPlaygroundExpress #Gaming @HackSpaceMag
https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/03/24/hackspace-magazine-issue-29-make-a-frogger-style-game-with-circuitpython-and-circuit-playground-express-circuitpython-circuitplaygroundexpress-gaming-hackspacemag/


7:34 EduBlocks 3.1.0
https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/03/26/updates-for-edublocks-python-education-programming-edu_blocks/


7:55 Bryan from the Adafruit team (@siddacious) has created an apps menu for the Open Hardware Summit wrist badge. - Twitter


8:22 CircUp, a tool to manage and update libraries (modules) on a CircuitPython device, has been updated to 0.0.8 with community contributed features - GitHub


9:29 Photos from 3/27/2020 #adafruitchronicles
https://blog.adafruit.com/2020/03/27/photos-from-3-27-2020-adafruitchronicles/


10:44 Know of more cool CircuitPython stuff this week? Help us highlight it by making a PR to the newsletter here: https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython-weekly-newsletter/blob/gh-pages/_drafts/2020-03-31-draft.md


## 11:28 State of CircuitPython, Libraries and Blinka
### 11:45 Overall
* 21 pull requests merged
  * 13 authors - sethkaz, kattni, arturo182, jgillick, dherrada, tannewt, billmoser, hhk7734, theacodes, waspinator, burtyb, siddacious, bd34n
  * 7 reviewers - theacodes, kattni, ladyada, jepler, tannewt, makermelissa, hierophect
* 8 closed issues by 6 people, 8 opened by 6 people


Summary: 5.1.0 RC 0 is going well, libs keep going. Exciting work on hardware side. Jeff’s been doing a great job with 5.1.0 - expect to see that soon. Generally, CircuitPython online community has been well built, is resilient, and thriving in this new climate. Stay well!
### 14:10 Core
* 9 pull requests merged
  * 8 authors - arturo182, jgillick, tannewt, billmoser, theacodes, burtyb, siddacious, bd34n
  * 4 reviewers - theacodes, jepler, tannewt, hierophect
* 9 open pull requests
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2366 (Open 111 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2598 (Open 52 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2675 (Open 27 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2685 (Open 23 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2706 (Open 15 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2717 (Open 11 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2726 (Open 6 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2735 (Open 3 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/2739 (Open 0 days)
* 2 closed issues by 2 people, 2 opened by 2 people
* 269 open issues
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues
* 6 active milestones
  * 5.x.0 - Features: 7 open issues
  * 5.x.x - Bug Fixes: 22 open issues
  * 6.0.0: 26 open issues
  * Libraries: 11 open issues
  * Long term: 196 open issues
  * Support: 4 open issues
  * 3 issues not assigned a milestone


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


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FdapBL3wIJf5T_LqwEcglIMMMRelu_9UjnY62IaQBFA/edit?usp=sharing
### 15:55 Libraries
* 11 pull requests merged
  * 5 authors - sethkaz, kattni, waspinator, dherrada, tannewt
  * 5 reviewers - theacodes, kattni, ladyada, jepler, tannewt
  * Merged pull requests:
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_APDS9960/pull/21 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Button/pull/18 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Shapes/pull/12 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_HCSR04/pull/18 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_L3GD20/pull/17 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_RockBlock/pull/6 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_BLE_BroadcastNet/pull/6 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MLX90640/pull/12 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PCT2075/pull/9 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/pull/238 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_BLE_MIDI/pull/1 (Days open: 1)
* 5 closed issues by 4 people, 6 opened by 5 people
* https://circuitpython.org/contributing
  * 172 open issues
  * 27 open pull requests (Oldest: 448, Newest: 2)
Library updates in the last seven days:
**Updated Libraries**
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_IL91874](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_IL91874)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_SSD1675](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_SSD1675)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Touchscreen](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Touchscreen)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_TestRepo](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_TestRepo)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_SHT31D](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_SHT31D)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Thermal_Printer](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Thermal_Printer)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_HT16K33](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_HT16K33)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_LED_Animation](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_LED_Animation)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_CPython](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_CPython)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_BoardTest](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_BoardTest)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_MAX31865](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MAX31865)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_APDS9960](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_APDS9960)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Button](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Button)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Shapes](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Display_Shapes)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_HCSR04](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_HCSR04)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_L3GD20](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_L3GD20)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_RockBlock](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_RockBlock)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_BLE_BroadcastNet](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_BLE_BroadcastNet)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_MLX90640](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MLX90640)
 * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_PCT2075](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_PCT2075)
 * [Adafruit_Blinka](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka)
### 17:46 Blinka
* 1 pull requests merged
  * 1 authors - hhk7734
  * 1 reviewers - makermelissa
* 0 open pull requests
* 1 closed issues by 1 people, 0 opened by 0 people
* 36 open issues
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/issues
* PyPI Downloads in the last week: 1664
Number of supported boards: 43


## 18:43 Hug reports

19:23 @tannewt
* @xobs for the Fomu/LiteX port.
* @tnt for diving into UF2 for FPGAs
* @esden for IceBreaker and CircuitPython plans
* @hierophect for the really nice rework in the stm32 f7/h7 PR


21:00 @TG-Techie
* Retroactive hugs:  @tannewt and @makermelissa.  I’ve been digging into displayio and thank you very much for the library and core implementation
* Community hug for such awesome work and always being willing to help


@tonyofthehills (lurking)

@anecdata (lurking)


@anneb (lurking)


@cater (lurking)


22:09 @CGrover (text only)
* To PT and Limor for instantly transforming Adafruit into an agile and responsive contributor for supporting first responders and medical staff. It’s inspiring to see how quickly they morphed into a different focus while fully supporting all the company’s staff and associates, setting an example and placing the bar high for others to aspire to reach. They are the best of us.
* And to the maker community at large for their inventive dedication and demonstrating the maker creed to learn, adapt, collaborate, and respect each other. I’m amazed at the diversity of talent both as directly applied to technology for the pandemic response, but also to foundational social needs for education, art, music, entertainment, and creating a sense of belonging for all. I am overwhelmingly humbled by the diverse scope of the community’s contributions.


@charlesburnaford (lurking)


23:10 @danh
* @Hierophect for doing STM32F7/H7 support (PR in progress).
* @jepler for a valiant effort to get new GitHub actions checkout in, but it doesn’t work well at the moment, through no fault of Jeff’s.
* @jerryn for RFM reliable datagram work.
* @dherrada, @kattni, @siddacious et al for massive reformatting using black of Python libraries.
* All the folks doing Show & Tell during our newly expanded one hour show.


@davep (lurking)


24:43 @DavidGlaude (lurking)
* Group hug to the community.


24:48 @duewester (lurking)
* Group hug to all for providing normalcy to the world.


24:58 @foamyguy
* @stevenabadie for great suggestions and developing some new features for the circup tool.
* @ntoll for reviewing / merging the circup changes. Plus Mu and all of the other great work for the community
* @jerryn for the recent work on more reliable data packets via RFM radios. Also for adding details, tips and hints in the #help-with-circuitpython channel.
* Group hug for all. Participating in this community has provided much needed small breaks from the craziness of the world.


26:42 @geekguy (Text Only, Not well)
* @tannewt for working with me to find out why my Feather M4 boards will freeze up or get send timeouts with the adafruit_rfm69 library and for always seeming to be in more than one place at the same time.
* @jerryn for his hard work on the new RadioHead compatible RFM69 stuff
* @danh for his always ready to jump in and help where needed attitude
* Adafruit for being the most awesome maker and DIY electronics company and for making technology available that many of us would not have access to otherwise. For setting an example that ALL companies should strive to duplicate.


27:28 @hierophect
* @tannewt and @danh for reviews on the H7 port
* To PT and Limor for their continued efforts on having everyone work remotely
* Non-circuitpython shoutout to my friend Rory for his work creating the Maker Mask, a 3D printable respirator for Coronavirus health workers. Hoping to do some personal hacking on that soon.


@JacobT (lurking)


28:38 @jeff e
* @anne b for the newsletter
* @danh for helping me through each step of making a release
* @tannewt for helping me learn displayio and memory allocation, even when I was feeling impatient.


29:28 @jerryn
* @tannewt for reviewing my rfm69 PR
* Group hug


29:49 @kattni
* @JohnPark for an amazing crash course in Adobe Premiere - thank you for taking the time and enabling me to do more to help Phil and Adafruit
* @JawBreaker (@kwalseth on GitHub) for submitting their current WIP project for the newsletter - the firetruck light and siren are looking great so far!
* @ntoll for releasing circup version 0.0.8
* @s-light for hanging in there with a long-running PR
* @foamyguy for putting so much effort into providing support on Discord, and testing/reviewing etc on GitHub
* Community Moderators, Community Helpers, and CircuitPython Helpers on Discord - thank you for everything you’re doing, keep it up!
* @EdKeyes for joining Community Helpers on the Adafruit Discord!


@kjw (lurking)


33:03 @MakerMelissa
* @theacodes/@stargirl for quickly reviewing my circuitpython.org PRs
* @ntoll for quickly taking care of the CircUp requirements.txt PR before I could even take a look at it
* @tannewt for the good chat on Friday. I needed it.


@mr certainly (lurking)


33:39 @stargirl (lurking)
* Hug to @tannewt for helping me out with flash chip selection.


## 33:53 Status Updates

34:42 @tannewt
* Nearly wrapped up BLE MIDI. Works in both directions and with the regular MIDI library.
* Wrapping up the basic lower power/sleep PR today and will get it passing CI.
* Will continue with low power to add alarms and also nearly full shutdown after a script finishes.
* Hobbies!
   * Animal Crossing!
   * Age of Empires 2!
   * PixelJunk Eden https://twitch.tv/tannewt
   * Studying for HAM license.


37:37 @TG-Techie
* Last week:
   * UI toolkit: A lot of tweaking
   * Was on show & tell last week
   * Dug into displayio to speed up blitting
   * Finally glued the screen for the 3d printed watch in
   * Currently sitting in the park with the ducks 

@anecdata (lurking)


@anneb (lurking)


@cater (lurking)


39:45 @CGrover (text only)
* Wrapped up the first phase of the Clock_Builder library with support for the PyBadge, two segmented LED displays (with a Feather M4 base platform), as well as a clock functions for the REPL. The library has a common UI and uses Python structured time so that it works with a variety of time sources (internet, RTCs, etc.). Automatic Daylight Savings adjustments are supported by a Unit_Converter library). The PyBadge integral buttons and speaker provide time setting and sound effects. A piezo speaker and rotary encoder are used on the Feather M4.
* Built and tested three simple RTC-based clocks using the Clock_Builder library, including a large version for a sight-impared friend’s workshop. The clocks were inspired by @JohnPark’s MetroMinimalist Clock project. I’ve been calling my adaptation “Clock MiniM4” (Clock Minima). 
   * PyBadge and 14x4LED demo: https://youtu.be/5wBRmIr8cD4
   * MiniM4 repo: https://github.com/CedarGroveStudios/Clock_MiniM4
   * Clock Builder lib repo: https://github.com/CedarGroveStudios/Clock_Builder
   * Unit Converter lib repo: https://github.com/CedarGroveStudios/Unit_Converter
* Still working on the “secret” heirloom project. Ran into an issue where servo power needs to be enabled for very short periods, less than 10 seconds per hour. Planning on using ½ of an available Crickit DC motor control output to provide +5v when active; hi-z when not. Testing and burn-in this week then final project assembly next week if all goes as planned.


@charlesburnaford (lurking)


41:32 @danh
* Got a BLE-enabled pulse oximeter talking to CircuitPython. Tried two different ones: one works great, one is miserable to use.
* Solved spurious flash write problem on SAMD51 power cycles, with good hints from commenters in the issue. In the bootloader, we now wait until voltage is up to 2.7V, and then set the brownout detector. Doing a lot of cleanup in the bootloader as well; fixed the broken M0 Arduino sketch uploader.
* To do:
   * Create a library for BLE pulse oximeter service.
   * Finish bootloader work.
   * Finish initial simple BLE library.
   * Continue working on Adafruit sensors services library and server program.
   * Start looking at moving SD card support to C from Python (`adafruit_sd`).
   * Look at brownout recovery use cases for solar-powered projects and similar.


@davep (lurking)


46:02 @DavidGlaude (lurking)
* Stuck, self isolating myself in a room from my house since Wednesday, mostly sleeping.
* Temperature sensor DS18B20 + resistor + PyGamer: https://twitter.com/DavidGlaude/status/1242967350124720133?s=20 (that was supposed to be useful continuous monitoring… but I decided to stick with traditional medical equipment)
* LED SHIM from Pimoroni demo: https://twitter.com/DavidGlaude/status/1244019763795365891?s=20 


@duewester (lurking)


46:50 @foamyguy
* Last week
   * Got first drafts out for two pages in my game guide: Basic Rendering and Movement, and Indexed bmp graphics with GIMP
   * Learned lots about and played with circup
* Next week
   * Continue game guide work
   * A few other misc library things to test
   * Testing Jerry’s reliable datagram PR for the RFM radio devices
* Hobby / Game shout out: Factorio


49:33 @geekguy (Text only)
* Self isolated in my room, and not feeling well.
* Working on RFM69 radio stuff and working with @tannewt to track down where my Feather M4 freezes or gets timeout errors on send with the adafruit_rfm69 library. We are not done yet, but I have isolated the section of code where I think the trouble is.
* I hope to do some work with directional audio detection using electret mics.


50:10 @hierophect
* Last week:
   * Working Nucleo H743 build with circuitpython, with digitalIO
   * Rework of the internal flash system across all STM32 chips, which should result in a 10x+ speedup for boards without external flash. 
   * More table autogeneration python scripts
* This week
   * Revision of internal RAM management on the H7
   * Lots of linker changes and simplifications
   * Add the F757 Nucleo to the port, expanding to F7
   * Lots of documentation build changes so the PR can be merged
   * Import the OpenMV? Maybe? We’ll see.
* Hobby section:
   * Does anyone have recommendations for a 3D printer that does Ninjaflex filament really well? 
   * Multi-tester board
   * Half duplex uart for the Dynamixel servo.  




@JacobT (lurking)


54:17 @jeff e
* Last week
   * Protomatter LED matrix interface
   * Tried to update github actions/checkout but couldn’t get it to work
   * 5.1.0-rc.0 release
* This week
   * Protomatter LED matrix interface
   * 5.1.0 release?  I haven’t heard feedback yet.  In the weeds?
* Hobbies
   * Cooking
   * skyrim
   * 3 key lego keyboard needs something to do


55:57 @jerryn
* Last week
   * Updated RFM69 PR per comments received.
* This week
   * Update RFM9x and submit PR
* Hobbies -- now that I am retired, life is my hobby!
   * Got dragged (kicking and screaming) back to work for a hopefully short project
   * Definitely getting in the way of my hobby!


57:42 @kattni
* Last week:
   * Updated APDS9960 and VL6180X guides with the STEMMA revisions
   * Spun up Dylan on beginning to submit certifications to OSHWA for Adafruit boards
      * The plan is to certify everything
      * Have submitted most circuitpython microcontrollers already
      * Keep an eye on the blog for updates
   * Finished up the last of the Pylint PRs
   * Added a lib to the bundle
   * Beginning to go through library PRs and issues
   * Fought with OBS crashing my GPU and entire computer - still don’t know whether to thank OBS or Catalina for this fun new feature. I say both.
   * Got a crash course on Adobe Premiere
   * Created a video recap of Python on Hardware Newsletter #75
* This week:
   * Video recap of Python on Hardware newsletter #76 by Wednesday
   * Update the default files for Gemma on GitHub
   * Continue going through library PRs and issues
   * Start going through Library Infrastructure Issues and resolving them.
   * Basically… it’s time to clean Library House (and possibly Core).
* On a personal note:
   * Turns out multiple apps crash on Catalina when CircuitPython devices are connected.
   * Played some games over the weekend.
   * Considering dualbooting my MBP depending on the status of my Windows license - my gaming box is not with me so I’m limited to Mac games at the moment.
   * Keeping up with eating leftovers.


@kjw (lurking)


1:02:18 @MakerMelissa
* Last Week:
   * Finished writing Blinka Guide which is now in moderation
   * Finished the Dashboard Reskin and it should be up soon
   * Added some missing boards for blinka to Circuitpython.org.
* This Week:
   * Finish up some suggested changes to Blinka guide
   * Get re-skinned Dashboard in place and update guide photos/description.
   * Start on my next guide or project - not sure which yet.
* Hobbies:
   * Filming more progress on a Prusa Bear 3D printer build for my YouTube channel. It’s now close to being done.
   * Getting some Home Automation set up
   * Playing around with VR using the HTC Vive that I got a few weeks ago
   * Getting some other projects done around the house


@mr certainly (lurking)


@stargirl (lurking)

## 1:03:46 In The Weeds
@jepler - 5.1.0 ? 
* Ble midi
* Tannewt’s script to track downloads
* Release it this week.


## 1:06:20 Wrap-Up
