Notes document is available here: https://github.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/blob/main/2025/2025-01-21.md

The CircuitPython Weekly normally is held at 2pm US ET/11am us PT on Mondays. Check the #circuitpython-dev channel on Discord for notices of change in time and links to past meetings. Meeting times are also available in iCal format using the following link: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/master/meeting.ical or view it in your browser: https://open-web-calendar.herokuapp.com/calendar.html?url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/adafruit-circuitpython-weekly-meeting/master/meeting.ical

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.

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Little Robot Hand

By Patopato_Design

makerworld.com/en/models/850566

Bambu X1C

Purple PLA

46hr 21mins

X:89 Y:51 Z:17mm

.2mm layer / .4mm Nozzle

6% Infill / 1mm Retraction

200C / 60C

17g

230mm/s

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Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjF7R1fz_OOWD2dJNRIN46uhMCWvNOlbG

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

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Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

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Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjF7R1fz_OOVagy3CktXsAAs4b153xpp_

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe's Twitter / Instagram: @ecken

Pedro's Twitter / Instagram: @videopixil

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This morning, we woke up to a mechanical failure in a critical system here at the Adafruit household: our beloved dinosaur tissue holder fell off our bathroom wall and experienced a rapid, unplanned disassembly of one armature. We'll be able to fix the limb, but we want to make sure we can reattach without this happening again!

Thus, in today's quest to find an excellent double-sided foam tape—let's check out what DigiKey has in store.

See the chosen part on DigiKey https://www.digikey.com/short/pw3fwv20

Visit the Adafruit shop online - http://www.adafruit.com

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Visit the Adafruit shop online - http://www.adafruit.com

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

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Sparkle Motion Mini testers. The Mini came together fast, but classic testers had cascading issues. We used Claude for firmware and got cool samples, including filament letters and enclosures for Sparkle Motion Stick. And our dinosaur tissue holder fell, disassembling an arm! Time to find strong foam tape for reattachment.

Join Scott as he continues working on CircuitPython's Zephyr port. Hopefully he'll have WiFi working. He'll also answer any questions folks have.

Visit the Adafruit shop online - http://www.adafruit.com

0:00 Getting Started

1:19 hello everyone -

1:50 circuit python (CP) / python on microcontrollers

2:39 building CP on top of zephyr

3:18 circu.it for discord chat

3:47 CircuitPython2025 wrapup https://blog.adafruit.com/2025/01/15/thank-you-for-circuitpython2025/

8:46 Daisy Seed development board https://electro-smith.com/products/daisy-seed

9:37 NRF development board 5340 ( not supported yet), 7002 wifi processor

12:20 USB working ( tinyusb )

13:55 serial / unique id working

14:50 some elements of dir(board) come from device tree

16:40 time.sleep(1)

17:00 gc.mem_free(), interacts with zephyr heap

18:50 zephyr samples ( looking for wifi scanning )

23:00 zephyrproject.or doxygen Wi_Fi net manager

29:52 esp driver sources

35:20 cisco mouse?

46:33 looking for starting command for managment scan NET_REQUEST_WIFI_SCAN

51:00 checking out the Nordic 5 clause license ( only use with nordic chips )

1:04:30 sysbuild explanation https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/build/sysbuild/index.html

1:18:44 think about global network manager instance

1:19:13 cptools in cpbuild.py ( much smaller than CMake :-) )

1:30:00 sysbuild / Nordic and binary blobs

1:32:30 need to use west command to pull down blob

1:34:18 scanning workflow - get it compiling the load it into circuit python

1:37:30 menu config / decisions about mbed tls

1:45:35 with Zephyr - we support more stuff, and it works the same or better

1:46:33 dig into menuconfig

1:51:00 update/debug configuration CMake extensions.cmake

1:53:20 edit build.ninja / CMakelist.txt external project

1:57:00 wrapping up - planning to be here next week

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#circuitpythonparsec

Experiment with LED fade attenuation methods

code example: https://github.com/jedgarpark/parsec/blob/main/2025-01-16/code.py

Check out this guide https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neotrellis/tiling for info on building a tiled NeoTrellis board.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3954

Learn about CircuitPython: https://circuitpython.org

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JOHN PARK'S WORKSHOP LIVE 1/16/25

Espresso Water Tank Level Meter

CircuitPython Parsec

JPPPoW recap

Projects

and more!

Visit the Adafruit shop online - http://www.adafruit.com

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Raspberry Pi 5 - 16 GB RAM (0:10) https://www.adafruit.com/product/6125

Round Panel Mount USB Cable - USB-B Socket to USB-C Plug (0:41)

https://www.adafruit.com/product/6116

NeoPixel LED Outdoor Netting - 20 x 20 LEDs - 1x1 Meter Sizing (1:20)

https://www.adafruit.com/product/6159

Mini Sparkle Motion - WLED-friendly ESP32 NeoPixel LED Driver (6:41)

https://www.adafruit.com/product/6160

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This week's EYE ON NPI is spinning up to be a good one, it's the Texas Instruments DRV10974 BLDC Motor Driver (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/texas-instruments/DRV10974PWPR/9091905) a simple and powerful way to add BLDC motor control to any design, with a wide operating range and all-in-one functionality so you only need a few passives to have a full feedback-ready system for fan control.

We haven't used a lot of brushless DC motors - we'll call them BLDC motors - very often here at the 'fruit but that doesn't mean they aren't an essential motor you need to know about. They are the fourth of the most common DC motors people use: steppers / linear actuators, brushed DC, and servo are the others. (Technically, servos are a type of brushed or brushless DC but they're so integrated we separate them). Brushed DC motors are great for anything that has to spin fast, and if you need more torque or lower speeds just gear them down. Brushed DC motors can be driven with a low cost H-bridges (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-bridge) such as the DRV8833 (https://www.digikey.com/short/zj9p84wr). All you need is two PWM signals to set the direction and speed - you can even add an external encoder if you want to have precise speed calculations (https://www.adafruit.com/product/4416)

If you have a motor that's spinning continuously, you're better off going with a brushless motor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brushless_DC_electric_motor): these still spin around fast like a brushed DC but give up the commutation brushes. Instead, we have to toggle one of three windings in clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to move the stator around. This isn't too bad when the motor is already running, just keep toggling them and you can pretty much guarantee the speed because you're inching the stator around. However, it's harder to start the motor because you have to slowly pulse each coil and you don't know whether the fan is keeping up or falling behind. The easiest way to handle this issue is to have hall effect sensors built into or outside the motor which can detect the permanent magnet on the rotor. But this is expensive, and annoying! So instead we can take advantage of 'back EMF', (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-electromotive_force) the effect on each coil from the internal permanent rotor magnet as it goes around. We can use this as a method to determine the actual speed, but the techniques for doing so are way more complex than a DC or stepper motor. Instead of just applying DC voltage, you have to perform multiple steps to begin rotation from a stop: alignment, open loop acceleration, then closed loop speed control.

Which is why you want an easy-to-use chip that takes care of this logic for you, like the TI DRV10974 BLDC Motor Driver (https://www.digikey.com/short/j85mb52n)! This chip abstracts away all that complex management, and provides a direction plus speed PWM pin interface so you can use it from any microcontroller. It even has built in FETs for up to 1A continuous current draw. The DRV10974 will convert the direction / PWM pins into 3 clean sinusoids with 180 degree phases for smooth and quiet motion. It can drive delta or wye motors, with 5 to 18VDC peak to peak voltages, and from 1 to 20 ohm impedance per coil.

To allow the DRV10974 to drive a wide range of motors, there are three configuration resistors that let you tweak the performance in hardware. The first resistor will set the current limit from 200mA to 1.6A. The second lets you set the lead angle, a compensation for the back EMF readings (https://www.ti.com/video/6257299020001). The third will let you adjust the acceleration profile, basically letting you optimize the startup time from when we have the sensorless open-loop startup to closed-loop running. Once you've picked the motor you want to use with the DRV, follow TI's tuning guide (https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/slou505/slou505.pdf) to select the resistors for the best performance. There's also some lock-detection built in, since not having an external encoder makes it hard to know when the motor is not running anymore.

For engineers that need a brushless motor driver chip that's inexpensive, and easy to integrate, the Texas Instruments DRV10974 BLDC Motor Driver (https://www.digikey.com/short/j85mb52n) is an excellent pick with plenty of stock available at DigiKey. There's also a ready-assembled eval board, the TI DRV10974EVM (https://www.digikey.com/short/0w5qpd04) available if you want to quickly test. And of course, you can pick up a BLDC motor from DigiKey as well (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/filter/motors-ac-dc/178) Order today and your electronic items will fly faster than a rotating fan blade, from Thief River Falls to your office or home so you can start developing with the DRV10974 BLDC Motor Driver (https://www.digikey.com/short/j85mb52n) by tomorrow morning.

The hush-hush news from Adafruit in Industry City, Brooklyn, New York. Broadcast January 15, 2025

These are items or concept products that may/might/could be introduced into the Adafruit store in the future (or not)! It's not out yet, so please don't ask questions or ask when it'll be available....

Check out the Adafruit store for all the great products that are available and for coming soon products you can sign up to be notified when they are in stock. https://www.adafruit.com/new

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Also visit DigiKey for Adafruit products at http://www.digikey.com/

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