We looked at using the displayio (library) to drive graphics on CircuitPython back in issue 22. However, in the past year, the library has seen a lot of development – so let’s take another look at how to draw graphics with this microcontroller. Back then, we looked at drawing bitmap graphics on the screen, so now let’s take a look at what it’s like drawing with primitives like triangles.
We’re going to take a look at a simple gauge that displays data a bit like a car speedometer. We’ve created a library to make this easy – so the basic
way of using it is just to copy the gauge.py file from hsmag.cc/1fH3ZZ to the lib folder of your CircuitPython device. You’ll need a screen to make this work. We’ve tested this out on both an Adafruit CLUE and a Pimoroni Enviro+ FeatherWing. The code we’ll look at here takes the accelerometer data from an Adafruit CLUE and displays it as gauges.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
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.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: CircuitPython 8.1.0 and 8.2.0-beta0 out and so much more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
