MicroPython 1.20 Update Part 1

08 May 2023

MicroPython 1.20 Part 1

Welcome back! I’m happy to say that I have been able to make space in my busy schedule to write another Micro This Micro That for Full Circle Magazine. I really hated to put that series of articles on the shelf last September, but I really had not choice.

Anyway, the article is in Full Circle Magazine #193 which will come out on May 26, 2023. If you haven’t seen any of the articles, the first one appeared in FCM #167 in March 2021. What got me started on the series was the release of the Raspberry Pi Pico, a small microcontroller that only costs about $4.00 USD.

The new article is about the release of MicroPython 1.20. A fairly exciting thing in the MicroPython world, but like any new major release of software (especially with Operating Systems), I wanted to cover it. Unfortunately, like many new software releases, there were some problems.

I submitted the new article yesterday (Sunday May 7) and had finished making a large pot of (not) refried beans (1.7+ litres) and was relaxing with a large glass of cold water for a few minutes and I remembered that I had promised to update the readers of changes to MicroPython 1.20 and the status of the problems, and it struck me, that any updates I might have for the MTMT readers would not be seen until late June!

So, I did a quick edit to tell the readers to check here for any updates.

Then I realized, if I didn’t make a quick blog post NOW, I would get busy and not remember to. The readers might not have any thing to see! HORRORS!

Anyway, for anyone reading this, I actually DO have an update. Due to the horribly dumbed down NeoPixel driver built into MicroPython 1.20, I have started working on a helper module that will make it easier for programmers to make use of all the NeoPixel rings, strips and all the other goodies they have programmed for. With any luck, I will have a beta release version in a few weeks, hopefully before the article comes out the end of this month.

Finally, a new nightly build for MP 1.20 and is available at MicroPython - Python for microcontrollers .

I hope to have another Tkinter TNotebook Trick post for you folks soon.

Until then, please stay safe, healthy, positive and creative!

Greg