WEEKLY Update - IMPORTANT
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Dear All,
I hope you are having a good start to the week! As promised (and requested), here is the update to bring you all up-to speed:
1. OpenSource: Still working on releasing source code W/C 7th November. We have a call set with the licensing experts Wednesday and its 2 working days thereafter but cannot guarantee when they get us the license hence latest 11th Nov.
2. Pin-Out diagram: Daniel is working on releasing that later today as planned.
3. Firmware updates completed: On Friday 28th October we released the following updates: I2C, LoRa improvements and fixed the bug that was causing firmware update issues. This is an important fix which requires you to download the App (OS X, Windows and Linux) we created [https://www.pycom.io/support/supportdownloads/](link url). You will find it under the firmware update section. This update must be completed by all users. Subsequent firmware updates will be done via the Pymakr IDE.
4. Firmware updates up-coming: We have some good news to share. Espressif are busy rectifying many of the issues we highlighted and will send us (7th November) a beta version of the IDF with Bluetooth and WiFi coexistency together with a complete Bluetooth Low energy API.
This will allow us to deliver on the 11th of November a new software version with BLE support and a Python API to allow the creation of custom profiles and services. Scanning for the presence of nearby BLE devices will also be possible.
On the 30th of November we will receive the first official non-beta release of the ESP32 IDF. Bluetooth and WiFi coexistency will be optimized here and most of the peripheral drivers along with the ULP co-processor features will be included..
With the 30th November delivery we will be able to provide, 2 weeks later, our first non-beta release of the LoPy and WiPy 2.0 firmware. Besides having support for all the features covered by the IDF, the firmware will benefit from several memory and performance optimizations.
So far the current release plan is as follows:
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Friday 4th of November will have multi-threading support, ADC, SD card, and Timers with PWM. We will also release the Pymate IOS app on App store. The Pymate is already completed however we have delayed launch to ensure the Timers functionality was released.
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Friday 11th of November will bring the much awaited BLE support and memory improvements. We will also launch at that point the Pymate Android version of the app.
After that we will continue releasing new software every friday with improvements and bug fixes. New features will be added dependent on what the IDF brings.
- Friday 9th of December will have the first stable release of the LoPy/WiPy 2.0 firmware. No more API changes will be introduced after that.
5. Pymakr: New release of the IDE is scheduled later today which will see some bug fixes reported namely:
- Fixed the sync feature in combination with latest lopy and wipy2.0 firmware
- Fixed a number of small layout problems.
- Preventing multiple errors in the update plugin
- Added a project configuration screen to the expert version for setting default project directory
- Fixed a bug where the REPL threw an error when using backspace and arrows combination
6. Documentation: As I stated in my previous update, we are working hard to get the whole "Getting started Pages" beefed-up. I want to see a mixture of videos and documentation to support every level of programmer. Its coming!
7. The Things Network: We have been working with the TTN team to make the API more user friendly and fixed a few issues that were giving trouble to some users when connecting to the TTN back end. We are working on a joint GETTING STARTED guide that walks you step by step to get a succesful LoRaWAN connection (via OTAA and ABP) between TTN and the LoPy. This guide will be published on Friday together with our release as it requires the API changes that we have introduced.
On a personal note, again, I want to thank you all for your support throughout these 'teething' pains. We have a comprehensive plan in place to ensure we get the product up-to its true potential.
I will continue to make these weekly updates until we see resolution on the main firmware releases. For better overview of all our release dates (Past and Future), we are setting up a detailed release log. Link coming shortly.
In the meantime, you may want to read some of the blogs posted having just come back from a few days with Edinburgh University. Great Hackathon organised with the LoPy module!
Best wishes
Fred
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@acheesehead The new pinouts are now available and we also included them at docs.pycom.io.
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@Fred Thanks for the update. Is there any news on the Nano Gateway?
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@acheesehead said in WEEKLY Update - IMPORTANT:
Not very useful. P1-P23 are not very descriptive pin names. How do these map to ESP32 pins? For the CC3200 version, there was a pin mapping table. We want to build a custom carrier board for the WiPy 2.0, but we don't have much to go with at this point. A schematic would be ideal for us.
This will be released in the next few days. I've been working on the LoPy pinout but unfortunately I don't have a WiPy to do the same.
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Not very useful. P1-P23 are not very descriptive pin names. How do these map to ESP32 pins? For the CC3200 version, there was a pin mapping table. We want to build a custom carrier board for the WiPy 2.0, but we don't have much to go with at this point. A schematic would be ideal for us.
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@acheesehead Take a look at docs.pycom.io
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I have a shiny new WiPy 2.0 fired up on a breadboard. Have no idea how to use it. Really need the pinouts and some kind of user guide.
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@brotherdust One idea is to move the documentation to GitBook. This makes user contribution easy. But there is no concrete decision about it yet. We will let you know.
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@brotherdust the arduino core is still limited too. It might do a little more than the current lopy/wipy 2.0 micropython firmware, but not too much yet. Espressif won't add features to the arduino core that aren't yet available in the public SDK.
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Hello everyone,
Regarding the pin-out... I just got an update from Alberto Piganti (pighixxx) who is working on the pin-out and he still needs a few more days to complete them (LoPy, WiPy 2.o and Expansion board). He reckons that he'll be able to deliver them around Thursday. Apologies for the delays, but the result is going to be worth it!
Cheers,
Daniel
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@brotherdust Hi and hanks for the detailed feedback. As Daniel has mentioned everybody will be able to contribute however it would be great for you to give input around expanding the examples etc. Can you email Bettina@pycom.io ? I have spoken to her about this and theee is definitely something you can help with. Thank you! Fred
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@brotherdust yes of course you will be able to contribute to the docs, as they are part of the code repository and will be made public when everything goes open source.
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@brotherdust said in WEEKLY Update - IMPORTANT:
@Fred
That's fantastic news! Thank you for the update. I had a chance to play with my new LoPy's over the weekend and noticed a big difference between what the ESP32 can do and what is implemented in uPy. I was even looking into a way to load up the Arduino core on this device and just finding my own way forward. It looks like all my concerns have been addressed with this update, so thank you again. Keep up the good work, guys!I forgot to ask: in keeping with the spirit of open source, is there anything us humble users can do to contribute to the documentation effort? Specifically, I was thinking about addressing some of the errata and expanding some of the examples.
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@Fred
That's fantastic news! Thank you for the update. I had a chance to play with my new LoPy's over the weekend and noticed a big difference between what the ESP32 can do and what is implemented in uPy. I was even looking into a way to load up the Arduino core on this device and just finding my own way forward. It looks like all my concerns have been addressed with this update, so thank you again. Keep up the good work, guys!
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@littlebat Hi there. The intent is indeed to release under the most permissive terms. I will come back with the finer details shortly. Thanks Fred
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@w0run Hi, this update must be done via UART. The updater details the process at the various stages. Reach out to the team if you need support. Thanks Fred
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@Fred said in WEEKLY Update - IMPORTANT:
@adafruit HI, In order to give you an exact answer, let me have the call with the OpenSource lawyers wednesday AM. I will then post back the input. For sure, whatever code we have developed will be placed under the GPL licence. I just need clarification as to how that will work with the uP MIT licence. Thank you for backing Pycom! Best wishes Fred
I hope you will release as much of the code as possible under the most permissive license and take into consideration that ESP-IDF is apache, uP is MIT and we already have pumbaa (another uP port) developing for esp32 which is LGPL. Of course it is your hard work so choose what you need but it will affect whether people contribute to the codebase and buy the products.
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@Fred Still a little unclear- must this important update be done via UART or wifi?
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@adafruit HI, In order to give you an exact answer, let me have the call with the OpenSource lawyers wednesday AM. I will then post back the input. For sure, whatever code we have developed will be placed under the GPL licence. I just need clarification as to how that will work with the uP MIT licence. Thank you for backing Pycom! Best wishes Fred
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@Fred wow! that's great news, thank you! just to be clear does this mean you would be relicensing micropython now that is MIT (https://github.com/micropython/micropython/blob/master/LICENSE) and putting the original code plus what you're doing under the GPL v3?
cheers!
pt and limor
