Micropython Firmware for the AALeC¶

This is the micropython implementation of the informatik-aalen/AALeC-V3 Arduino library on GitHub.

The documentation of this library can be found at aalec-micropython on GitHub Pages.

The stubs for this library can be found at aalec-micropython-stubs on PyPi.

Installation¶

It is recommended to use uv to install the virtual python environment.

Please follow these five simple steps to install the micropython firmware for your AALeC.

1. Create a new project (`aalec-project`) with `uv`¶

uv init --lib aalec-project

2. Install the stub files for the AALeC library¶

cd aalec-project
uv add aalec-micropython-stubs

3. Download the micropython firmware¶

mkdir firmware
cd firmware
wget https://micropython.org/resources/firmware/ESP8266_GENERIC-20241129-v1.24.1.bin
cd ..

4. Flash micropython to the ESP8266 on the AALeC¶

Important

Make sure you remove the jumper J2 before you attempt to use the esptool. Otherwise you will get an error that says, the ESP8266 can't be connected via serial port.

Connect the ESP8266 on the AALeC with USB to your PC
Erase the Flash with:

uv run esptool.py --port /dev/ttyUSB0 erase_flash

Flash micropython with:

uv run esptool.py --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --baud 460800 \
          write_flash --flash_size=detect 0 \
          firmware/ESP8266_GENERIC-20241129-v1.24.1.bin

5. Finally, install the `aalec-micropython` library on the AALeC¶

uv run mpremote mip install github:informatik-aalen/aalec-micropython

✨ Now is your AALeC ready to be used! ✨

Your project should now have the following file structure:

/
├── firmware
│   └── ESP8266_GENERIC-20241129-v1.24.1.bin
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── src
│   └── aalec_project
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── py.typed
└── uv.lock

Write your first program for the AALeC¶

Open your project in Visual Studio Code by typing the following command in your terminal:

code .

Create a new file in src/aalec_project with the name first_program.py

import aalec

def hello_aalec():
    app = aalec.AALeC()

    app.print_line(3, "  Hello AALeC!")
    return app

Open a console in VSCode and upload the file to the AALeC:

uv run mpremote cp src/aalec_project/first_program.py :.

To start the program on the AALeC connect to the repl (read evaluate print loop)

uv run mpremote

# Now you are in the repl

import first_program

first_program.hello_aalec()

Now your AALeC will show the text Hello AALeC! in the middle of its display.

You can exit the repl by pressing <Strg> + <x>.

🎉 Happy coding! 🎉

3rd Party Libraries¶

The AALeC library contains the following third party libraries:

The Library sh1106.py came from https://github.com/robert-hh/SH1106.

The Library bmp280.py came from https://github.com/dafvid/micropython-bmp280.