# CircuitPython Weekly Meeting for November 7, 2022




Video is available [on YouTube](https://youtu.be/yiNU2opVq2w).


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](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/master/meeting.ical) for use with standard calendar applications and can also be viewed [in your browser](https://open-web-calendar.herokuapp.com/calendar.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fraw.githubusercontent.com%2Fadafruit%2Fadafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting%2Fmain%2Fmeeting.ical&title=CircuitPython%20Meeting%20Schedule&tab=agenda&tabs=month&tabs=agenda).


If you want to be able to participate in the meeting by speaking, you will need to be added to the @circuitpythonistas role on Discord. Please ask any one of the moderators or admins to add you if you’d like to join.


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.
## Community News
Project of the Week
 Meter 

Brian Welsby used a Pimoroni Tufty with a SCD41 sensor breakout and MicroPython to make this carbon dioxide and humidity monitor with analog meter aesthetics. He converted some C code to MicroPytho for the build - Twitter Thread.
Pimoroni Galactic Unicorn Released
 Galactic Unicorn 

Galactic Unicorn is a massive sparkly 53 x 11 (583) RGB LED matrix with amplifier & speaker, powered by a Raspberry Pi Pico W running Pimoroni's fork of MicroPython. The LEDs can be strobed at 300 fps at 14-bit precision - Pimoroni.


 AI robots 

AI robots: they can tell jokes and the weather. Python for the AI, speech synthesis and voice recognition. The flashy eyes and eye movements are done using MicroPython on the Plasma 2040 and Servo 2040 by Pimoroni - Twitter and Tutorial.


### Newsletter Details
The CircuitPython Weekly Newsletter is a CircuitPython community-run newsletter emailed every Tuesday. The complete [archives are here](https://www.adafruitdaily.com/category/circuitpython/). It highlights the latest Python on hardware related news from around the web including CircuitPython, Python and MicroPython developments. 
To contribute your own news or project, edit next week's draft [on GitHub](https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython-weekly-newsletter/tree/gh-pages/_drafts) and [submit a pull request](https://help.github.com/articles/editing-files-in-your-repository/) with the changes. You may also tag a tweet with #CircuitPython on Twitter, or email cpnews@adafruit.com.
## 4:40 State of CircuitPython, Libraries and Blinka
### 4:43 Overall
* 18 pull requests merged
  * 12 authors - wtuemura, bablokb, tcfranks, piit79, tekktrik, BiffoBear, bergdahl, weblate, CedarGroveStudios, SquirtleSquadLeader, jepler, furbrain
  * 7 reviewers - kattni, jepler, FoamyGuy, ladyada, MicroDev1, tekktrik, TheKitty
* 25 closed issues by 11 people, 12 opened by 9 people
* Removed Hacktoberfest label from 120 issues.


### 5:14 Core
* 5 pull requests merged
  * 5 authors - wtuemura, jepler, weblate, piit79, bergdahl
  * 3 reviewers - MicroDev1, jepler, ladyada
* 27 open pull requests
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/5999 (Open 270 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6037 (Open 264 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6119 (Open 246 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6217 (Open 219 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6555 (Open 125 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6594 (Open 116 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6819 (Open 73 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6913 (Open 51 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6927 (Open 47 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/6979 (Open 36 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7069 (Open 21 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7101 (Open 15 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7115 (Open 13 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7114 (Open 13 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7110 (Open 13 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7135 (Open 11 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7132 (Open 11 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7141 (Open 10 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7147 (Open 9 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7153 (Open 8 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7151 (Open 8 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7162 (Open 6 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7161 (Open 6 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7160 (Open 6 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7169 (Open 2 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7166 (Open 2 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/pull/7173 (Open 1 days)
* 5 closed issues by 5 people, 4 opened by 3 people
* Removed Hacktoberfest label from 18 issues.
* 564 open issues
  * https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues
* 7 active milestones
 * 7.3.x: 0 open issues
 * 8.0.0: 27 open issues
 * 8.x.x: 13 open issues
 * Libraries: 20 open issues
 * Long term: 497 open issues
 * Support: 2 open issues
 * Third-party: 1 open issues
 * 4 issues not assigned a milestone


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


### 7:10 Libraries
* 13 pull requests merged
  * 7 authors - bablokb, tcfranks, CedarGroveStudios, SquirtleSquadLeader, tekktrik, BiffoBear, furbrain
  * 5 reviewers - kattni, jepler, FoamyGuy, tekktrik, TheKitty
  * Merged pull requests:
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MLX90614/pull/22 (Days open: 6)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP_ATcontrol/pull/66 (Days open: 6)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_asyncio/pull/33 (Days open: 3)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MPU6050/pull/29 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/pull/409 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle/pull/120 (Days open: 2)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Wiznet5k/pull/72 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_DisplayIO_Layout/pull/77 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_NeoPixel/pull/141 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP_ATcontrol/pull/67 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/pull/411 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle/pull/119 (Days open: 1)
    * https://github.com/adafruit/cookiecutter-adafruit-circuitpython/pull/211 (Days open: 1)
  * 41 open pull requests (Oldest: 769, Newest: 1)
* 18 closed issues by 6 people, 7 opened by 5 people
* Removed Hacktoberfest label from 102 issues.
  * 569 open issues
  * 102 good first issues
* https://circuitpython.org/contributing


#### Library PyPI Weekly Download Stats
* **Total Library Stats**
  * 206300 PyPI downloads over 322 libraries
* **Top 10 Libraries by PyPI Downloads**
  * adafruit-circuitpython-busdevice: 23001
  * adafruit-circuitpython-requests: 21765
  * adafruit-circuitpython-typing: 21613
  * adafruit-circuitpython-register: 2866
  * adafruit-circuitpython-bitbangio: 1155
  * adafruit-circuitpython-motor: 1123
  * adafruit-circuitpython-display-text: 1046
  * adafruit-circuitpython-ble: 1045
  * adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel: 993
  * adafruit-circuitpython-esp32spi: 919


#### Library updates in the last seven days:
* **Updated Libraries**
  * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_MLX90614](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MLX90614)
  * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_Wiznet5k](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Wiznet5k)
  * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP_ATcontrol](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP_ATcontrol)
  * [Adafruit_CircuitPython_MPU6050](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_MPU6050)
  * [CircuitPython_Community_Bundle](https://github.com/adafruit/CircuitPython_Community_Bundle)


### 11:22 Blinka
* 0 pull requests merged
  * 0 authors - 
  * 0 reviewers - 
* 7 open pull requests
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/417 (Open 635 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/496 (Open 469 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka_bleio/pull/40 (Open 395 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_PlatformDetect/pull/201 (Open 335 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka_Displayio/pull/97 (Open 67 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka_Displayio/pull/98 (Open 30 days)
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/pull/624 (Open 11 days)
* 2 closed issues by 1 people, 1 opened by 1 people
* Removed Hacktoberfest label from 0 issues.
* 83 open issues
  * https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Blinka/issues
* PyPI downloads in the last week: 28339
* Piwheels Downloads in the last month: 11367
Number of supported boards: 98






## 12:21 Hug reports


@Paul Cutler
* Group hug


@CGrover (text only)
* @foamyguy for streaming the setup of a new desktop environment. Too many takeaways to list here.
* @tekktrik for the enlightening conversation during the recent Community Help Desk.
* Group hug to the team and community.


@danh 12:59 
* @jepler and @MicroDev for doing extra reviews and the like while i was away last week


@DJDevon3
* @Deshipu for answering a question about MCP2317 use with the keypad library.
* @FoamyGuy for the great livestream on Saturday. It kept me company while desoldering & resoldering 16 through-hole resistors.
* @PaulCutler & @Todbot for another great episode of the Bootloader. I enjoy watching the collaborative format and being exposed to new stuff out there.
* @LadyAda for the Great Search videos every week, as a newbie PCB designer seeing how components are selected and learning best practices is extremely valuable. The resistor pack episode alone was a revelation.


@foamyguy
* Paul Cutler for a fascinating look into the playground trolls powered by circuit python in recent podcast episode
* Jeff for reaching out to Github about a very peculiar issue with a few actions run conflicting with each other and PRing the fix once they looked into it and shared the root cause
* Kattni for going over RTD setup and subproject configuration with me
* Group hug


@jepler
* @danh for taking some time off when he needed to
* @kattni I have a feeling I’m about to ask for your help with a guide, so thanks in advance
* @noe for being excited about an idea for a 3d print
* @paul for running the meeting
* @nick koumaris for asking a good question that I could answer
* @philb (paintyourdragon) looking forward to working together on this guide
* @pt, @ladyada for giving me some collaborative projects in the near future
* @ladyada for entrusting me with some prototype PCBs to add CircuitPython support for
* Group hug


@kattni
* @PaulCutler for swapping hosting the meeting today with me, I was right that I wouldn’t be prepared to do so after a busy weekend and I greatly appreciate that you agreed to take this on for me.
* @tekktrik for a few wonderful chats over the last week, and for picking up the updates discussed in those conversations!
* @tekktrik for sorting out getting PyPI download stats for libraries and Blinka for the first time since PyPI stopped providing that data directly.
* @KeiththeEE for helping out with figuring out how to assemble something for a guide when I completely misread it and would have asked a very stupid question. Thanks for making me look smart again!
* @PhilB for checking in with me regarding a Fritzing object issue he was having - I appreciate being able to help!
* Group hug because I didn’t have time to add everyone!


@KeithTheEE (text only)
* @Kattni for helping outline a bill of materials and a great discussion about what should go into a text scrolling, LED hat project


@MakerMelissa
* @kattni for reviewing a PR I made to circuitpython.org
* All the great presenters at Hackaday SuperCon this weekend
* Group Hug


@Mark(Gamblor) [ probably missing ]
* @Paul for having me on the CP Show podcast (still to be released)
* Group hug


@tekktrik (text only / not present)
* @kattni for the great conversations over the last week
* @eva for helping me sort out remaining issues this week resulting from a pylint upgrade
* @CGrover for hanging out for a bit during the Community Help Desk
* @jelper and @makermelissa for helping me identify and work through failures resulting from the new upgrade the CI made to Python 3.11
* @foamyguy for the interesting streams, and for tagging issues with hacktoberfest-accepted last week so people could get credit for their contributions
* Everyone who participated in Hacktoberfest, both as a contributor or as a reviewer
* To the Hacktoberfest organizers for helping to make the contribution process effective, manageable, and enjoyable on all sides of the event
* Group hug!


## 18:55 Status Updates 
@Paul Cutler
* New episode of The Bootloader with todbot out today
* Recorded a new episode of The CircuitPython Show with Mark (Gamblor) - look for it at the end of the month


@CGrover (text only)
* Wrapped up the current round of Community Bundle drivers and helpers submissions. The bundle is a hidden gem containing an amazing collection of resources, examples, and inspiration.
* Refactored the Improved Thermal Camera project code and learning guide to get it ready for 8.0.0. Was able to squeeze a +20% frame rate performance improvement by applying ulab in places that weren’t obvious the first time around. Projects like this clearly demonstrate the power of this community’s nurturing support for burgeoning, non-expert programmers like me.
* A friend’s vintage Ibanez FL-9 Flanger guitar pedal showed up in the workshop needing some capacitor therapy. DigiKey had all the caps in stock! Nice to get back to some through-hole soldering. Won’t need the magnifier for this project. 
* Getting back to the Retro KaTV (pronounced kat-tv) based on @foamyguy’s Neko Kitty project. Coding is done, but the two hand-built cabinets need to be finished before the year-end holidays if they are to count as gifts for our cat collector friends. 


@danh
* Away from work last week
* Working on LC709203F issue on ESP32-S3. May be solvable by the library.
* Will work on various Espressif network problems, and on other sleep issues.


@DJDevon3
Last Week
* Went on Show & Tell with the Dragon Skull mask. Had a lot of fun. It wasn’t a particularly hard project, what increased the difficulty was the short deadline to Halloween. I really wanted to mention that Circuit Python’s fast iteration process made it possible. I mean the scepter alone was added to the costume 1 hour before trick or treaters started showing up. Because I would have to wait minutes between iterations with Arduino’s compile times I don’t think I wouldn’t have gotten it done in time using Arduino. Circuit Python in particular made my Halloween a success. Had a blast, totally worth all the effort.
        This Week
* One of the coolest things that happened to me this week was Make magazine following me on Twitter after seeing the Dragon Skull mask on Show & Tell. The Dragon Skull mask might appear in the next episode of Digikey’s maker update. 
* Soldered up my first 1.2 revision board of the TR-Cowbell sequencer during @FoamyGuy’s live stream Saturday morning. Confirmed all the LED’s and Switches are working. Everything works without any bodge wire this time. I’m very happy with the updated design. Now it’s just a matter of writing the software in Circuit Python.. As far as I know I can’t use the keypad or debouncer library because they’re incompatible with MCP2307 chips. Tried @Neradoc’s MCP23017 scanner library but couldn’t get that to work, most likely my fault. This is my main project right now and I’m very excited to get back at it.
*   * Completely slacked on working on PR’s this week. Have some PR’s in limbo waiting to be fixed. I apologize to the reviewers who might be waiting on those pre-commit checks.. 


@foamyguy
   * Modified the project screenshot generator to include .csv files
   * Worked through a few CI issues on the screenshoter repo to get things passing
   * Went over the RTD setup process and subproject URL configuration.
   * Outside of Circuitpython stuff keeping me busier than normal the last few days and through this week:
   * Voted (early) last week
   * New computer arrived, have been working on getting everything installed and configured to my liking. I set up my CircuitPython dev environment on stream saturday for folks interested in the tools I use and how to set them up.
   * Unseasonably warm weather in my area has been wonderful, spent some time on pre-winter yard work while it’s a bit nicer out
   * Out the latter part of this week for birthday activities


@jepler
   * Last week:
   * Fixing more asyncio bugs that I created
   * Doing some testing on pre-release adafruit boards to make sure they work with CP & Arduino
   * This week:
   * Working on a guide for the “scorpio” board that was announced round about a year ago
   * Adding a new library “neopxl8” that will support “scorpio” and other rp2040-based boards that drive lots of LED strands


@kattni
   * Last week:
   * PCF8575 guide was published.
   * Continued working through the PiCowbell guide:
   * a little less than ⅗ of the way through the assembly images, but I finally figured out a system that took the overwhelming part of the situation out of it, and was finally able to get into a groove with that.
   * Met with Alec about getting the PyPI download stats going
   * Met with Tim about the final steps to getting documentation going on a new library
   * This week:
   * Continue PiCowbell guide
   * Finish up assembly images
   * Overview, Pinouts, CircuitPython, Arduino and Downloads pages left beyond that.
   * Blog up the PCF8575 guide being published
   * Add update to CoC regarding unnecessary tagging of individuals or roles being prohibited. Will PR for suggestions and contributions from the community.
   * Next up and also very eventually on my list:
   * CH9102F addition to existing driver installation guides
   * EYESPI breakout guide
   * STEMMA hub guide
   * A bunch of misc (guide page updates, template additions, etc)
   * Add using external wifi antenna to WiFi Mailbox guide
   * Adding Metro Mini V2 to Metro Mini guide
   * Review the guide on getting API keys from Twitter to make sure it still works the same (because I recently went through it)
   * Project using CircuitPython to parse an RSS feed to send parsed data to Twitter and Mastodon
   * Holiday countdown project with: QT quad alphanumeric display with QT Py ESP32-S2 and Adafruit IO


@MakerMelissa
   * Last Week:
   * CLUE Robot was published this past week
   * Updated Google Assistant learn guide and code
   * Blogged about both of those guides
   * Added Wiring diagram to 1.3” TFT learn guide
   * Added some updates to circuitpython.org
   * Fixed an issue with PiTFTs not rotating correctly in console mode
   * Unarchived WebSerial ESPTool and updated with code from Nabucasa fork
   * Added GitHub actions to compile typescript into release
   * Submitted some Blinka and PlatformDetect fixes
   * This Week:
   * Continue working on GitHub issues and Learn Guide updates


@Mark(Gamblor) [ missing ]
   * Items coming up in life and some burnout post halloween projects have had me not really doing much. Hope to get back into it soon. As usual if something I worked on or may know about comes up feel free to ping me on Discord.


@tekktrik (text only / not present)
   * Last week:
   * Hosted a spooky Community Help Desk, glad we were able to identify and work through many of the remaining PRs and at least give initial review feedback
   * Upgraded the CI for all the libraries to use composite actions, as well as work with Python 3.11 which is now the “default” Python version used.
   * Managed to get statistics about PyPI downloads using Google BigQuery, which are then inserted into the daily report
   * This week
   * Clean up issues newly revealed by the upgraded pylint for about ~50 libraries
   * Fix an issue where circuitpython.org isn’t updating contribution information
   * Finalize a new page in the Adafruit CircuitPython Bundle that will update daily with weekly PyPI download information from BigQuery
   * Start preparing the test library repo that will help test changes to the new CI
   * Keeping an eye out for issues resulting from the new Python version or the upgrade CI - please don’t hesitate to reach out if something in the CI isn’t working!




## 33:47 In The Weeds




## Wrap-Up
