As you may have heard, our new Express line of boards, starting with the Feather M0 Express, ship with a new UF2 capable, open source bootloader created by Microsoft. As Ladyada showed on her stream, this bootloader makes it faster and easier to load new code onto a microcontroller.
A bootloader is responsible making it easy to load new software onto a microcontroller. A good bootloader can make or break a project. For example, Arduino’s original bootloader was one reason for its success because it allowed for loading new software without expensive external hardware. The UF2 Bootloader goes one step further and removes the need for any additional software. Instead of needing to install software like Arduino or bossac, one simply plugs in the board, double taps reset and then drags a uf2 file onto the BOOT drive that appears. No extra software needed!
The bootloader works by emulating a removable disk in addition to the standard Arduino bootloader. Since all major operating systems support removable USB drives, support is built-in. At the same time, the UF2 bootloader still works as expected with Arduino.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Select Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: PyCon AU 2024 Talks, New Raspberry Pi Gear Available and More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
