Make Review: Adafruit Metro ESP32-S2 #Metro @Make @Adafruit
The Make Boards Guide reviewed the Adafruit Metro ESP32-S2 microcontroller board.
The Adafruit Metro ESP32-S2 packages the best features of Adafruit’s recent microcontroller boards in a traditional Arduino Uno form factor. The heart of the board, the Espressif ESP32-S2, improves on the ESP line of Wi-Fi-enabled microcontrollers by adding native USB support. The addition of USB mass storage to the platform allows drag-and-drop deployment of Adafruit’s CircuitPython, making the board very easy to program. It also allows the board to act as a USB input device (HID).
Installing CircuitPython is a little more work than using the Arduino IDE, but Adafruit provides you with a helpful guide. To start with, you need to install esptool (as an Administrator) so you can upload the UF2 bootloader to the board. The UF2 bootloader will allow you to mount the ESP32-S2 as a USB drive so you can drag and drop firmware onto it. In particular, you can drag and drop CircuitPython (.uf2) and then your code.py files onto it to run them. At the time of writing, Adafruit has put “Welcome to CircuitPython” ahead of “Install CircuitPython” in their step-by-step guide;to avoid a long detour, click ahead and install CircuitPython before learning about it. The installation guide contains code for a test of the Wi-Fi connectivity that is worth running to make sure everything is working as expected.
I expect this board and the other ESP32-S2 boards are going to be very popular (and well supported) for a while. They are easy to use, flexible in their applications, and remarkably inexpensive.
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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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