July 2026 Meetup
Matt delivers the news roundup
News Round-up
Headlines
MicroPython v1.29 nears release
The MicroPython v1.29 milestone suggests that the release will arrive early August.
Some of the highlights:
- Add RTC.memory() backed by hardware registers
- MIMXRT: Implement
machine.CANsupport - Add support for ESP32-H2
- Improve Unicode support in MicroPython
But that’s just a glimpse of the 40 PRs already merged and there are 20+ more hoping to land. Of those still open, I’m especially hoping for PSOC Edge (Just merged!) and USB NCM to make it across the line.
Infineon PSOC Edge micrcontrollers
(Next Month!)
Matts New Hardware
As part of my day job I’m working with CAN devices, can you tell?
Waveshare ESP32-S3-RS485-CAN
The ESP32-S3-RS485-CAN is a DIN-rail board that gives you CAN and RS485 from an ESP32-S3 in a neat little package.
US$20
Waveshare RP2350-CAN
The RP2350-CAN is, well, what the name suggests: Smoosh together an RP2350 and a CAN transceiver.
US$10
Xteink X4
I couldn’t help but pick up one of these Xteink X4’s, they’re a cute little e-ink mini-Kindle. But they’re powered by an ESP32-C3, so…
Specs:
- ESP32-C3
- 4.3” 480x800 (220PPI) e-ink display (no touch)
- 74g
- 650mAh battery
- USB-C
- Magnetic back
- microSD (comes with 32GB card)
Buy it direct! There are some challenges flashing firmware on the units sold elsewhere.
I’ve raised a PR for an MicroPython X4 board definition and have a driver for the e-ink display.
AU$100
Note that the X4 Pro just landed! Similar, but adds a front-light and touchscreen, costs AU$50 more. It does drop the USB-C port though so it’s not yet clear if firmware updates will be possible.
Other news
Reverse Engineered Repairs with Micropython and Claude
Our very own Andrew Leech has been experimenting with local LLMs powered by graphics cards. That is, he was, until that familiar scent of magic smoke started emanating from one of the said graphics cards!
His excellent write-up of identifying the problem (yep, a fan controller) and then replacing it with some Claude-crafted MicroPython will have you amazed.
MicroPython Is This Summer’s Hottest Title For The SNES, Thanks To Claude Fable
Fabian Kübler decided he needed MicroPython running on a SNES. So he had Claude Fable make it so! It’s a little slow on the 3.58MHz (emulated) system, taking about 20 seconds to get to the REPL…but it works.
Hackaday has a good article covering the effort.
light-nmea-micropython
Roman announced a new MicroPython library to parse NMEA messages from GPS/GNSS devices. light-nmea-micropython has been written with a focus on performance and reduced memory allocations.
If you’re looking to detect your location with a GNSS device, this library looks fantastic!
PNGdec
Larry Bank has released a handful of microcontroller-ready well-written C libraries that perform focussed tasks, particularly around codecs - eg JPEG, TIFF and PNG. I’ve wanted to wrap them up for MicroPython for a long while; so I started!
Take a look at micropython-pngdec.
Thanks to Larry, read more about his work: Meet Larry Bank: the performance whisperer.
Surfer
Brian Whitman, of Tulip and AMYboard fame, was frustrated with the performance of LVGL on the ESP32-P4. So he’s started developing a GUI library himself! Surfer is aiming for 60fps iOS-style low-latency rendering. Given it’s still early days, it’s looking very promising!
Quick bytes
I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
This Hacker News headline was catnip to my ears. Buy an abandoned 8-lane bowling alley and, instead of replacing the systems with a $100K+ commercial system, hack your own for less than $2K - and open-source it. Currently not using MicroPython, but they really should be.
ESP32 Comparison Chart
The ESP32 range has become large and it’s difficult to keep track of the features present in each model. This ESP32 Comparison Chart helps by consolidating all that information and presenting it in an easily-digestible way.
I created a micro database
Not a small database, a database of my microcontrollers! It’s very handy for, say, asking Claude which devices have a particular kind of feature for testing.
OpenMV document update
OpenMV have always had excellent hardware. But now they have excellent documentation too!
SiFli SF32 port
I’ve been hacking away at making a port for the SF32, specifically the SF32LB52-DevKit-LCD. This is the same microcontroller that the new Pebble watches are using and it’s a grunty little beast! BLE, tons of memory and a very open SDK. I have a REPL running but nothing else yet; if you’re interested, reach out!
Midjourney fun
A micro python on a bowling alley…
