Published March 15, 2016 © GPL3+

Python on Flip&Click (Arduino DUE)

Multithread example on Flip&Click written in Python using Zerynth Studio

IntermediateProtip30 minutes1,729

Things used in this project

Hardware components

MikroE Flip & Click

Software apps and online services

Zerynth Studio

Story

Background

The purpose of this project is to provide simple directions on how to play around with Python on Arduino DUE or Mikroelektronika Flip & Click board.

Preparation

Before you get started, download the installation for Zerynth Studio from http://www.zerynth.com/ . Zerynth Studio is powerful IDE for programming embedded devices in Python with cloud sync and board management features. For board you can use either original Arduino DUE or compatible Mikroelektronika Flip & Click. Installation of Zerynth Studio is very easy. Just start downloaded installer and whole process is automated.

An very intuitive and simple tutorial will be started on first start. Follow instructions and you will ready for two or three minutes to create first Python project for Arduino DUE.

Hardware Setup

I used three self made LED modules. Module is simple PCB with blue LED and resistor. These modules are connected to 8,9,10 pin on Flip & Click. An potentiometer for blink rate control is connected to A1 pin.

Enviroment Setup

Zerynth Studio IDE screenshot is on the next image. It is very simple and easy to use. On the left side you have project manager, package manager and one very useful tools : clone examples. Zerynth provide large number of examples to learn. Every example can be cloned in your project. I made this project from one of them.

Zerynth IDE

When you connect Flip & Click, Zerynth will detect the board and give you instructions for next steps. First step is upload VM (virtual machine) to board. Virtual machine ?? Yes, core of this technology is virtual machine. VM running on the board and execute your Python code. Next step is uploading code to board. For all steps you have dedicated button at top of window.

Board submenu

Making project

First step is uploading VM into board. Click on most left icon, next to the dropdown listbox. Wait until uploading process has been finished. Next, on the left side of window, find icon "clone examples" and select "Sensor driven Multiblink". An dialog for cloning will be shown:

Cloning examples

Click on the "Clone" button and new project will be created. At top left part of window you have two icons : Verify and upload. Click on upload, wait .... and that's it. Change analog voltage with potentiometer and watch how blinking frequency of every LED is changed... Multi-threading in action!

What next?

This is very simple example how to use Python on Flip & Click board. One question you could ask : is it really Python IDE? No.. You can not use "pip install <....>" as you can on Windows or Linux distribution. Zerynth provide some downloadable package for specific devices, and library is expanding... In next projects, I will focus on I2C and SPI senors. From my point of view, this combination of micro-controllers and Python has bright future.

main.py

################################################################################
# Sensor Driven Multi-Blink
#
# Created by ZERYNTH Team 2015 CC
# Authors: G. Baldi, D. Mazzei
################################################################################

# This example requires an analog sensor and three LEDs
import streams
import adc

# create a serial port stream with default parameters
streams.serial()

# set the A1 pin as analog input and D8, D9, D10 as outputs to drive the LEDs. 
pinMode(A1,INPUT_ANALOG)
pinMode(D10,OUTPUT)
pinMode(D9,OUTPUT)
pinMode(D8,OUTPUT)

# creates two arrays for storing global variables to be used in the blinking threads
freq=[1,1,1]        
pin=[D8,D9,D10]    

# define the generic blinking function to be used for driving the LEDs
# this function takes as input the index identifying the LED, then uses the global freq and pin arrays to dynamically drive the LEDs
def blink(Npin):
    while True:
        digitalWrite(pin[Npin],HIGH)
        sleep(freq[Npin])
        digitalWrite(pin[Npin],LOW)
        sleep(freq[Npin])

# define an analog sensor sampling function that acquires the raw data and converts it to the three LED frequencies
def sampling():
    global freq
    while True:
        value = adc.read(A1)
        freq[0] = value//10
        freq[1] = freq[0] * 2
        freq[2] = freq[0] * 4
        sleep(50)

# launch the four threads        
thread(sampling)
thread(blink,0)
thread(blink,1)
thread(blink,2)

# The main loop is used only for printing out at reasonable speed the calculated frequencies in term of waiting times 
while True:
    print("Wait times are", freq)
    sleep(500)

Credits

Zoran Roncevic

19 projects • 128 followers

Hackster Live ambassador in Serbia. Organizer of Maker NS community.

Python on Flip&Click (Arduino DUE)

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Code

main.py

Credits

Zoran Roncevic

Comments

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Python on Flip&Click (Arduino DUE)

Python on Flip&Click (Arduino DUE)

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Code

main.py

Credits

Zoran Roncevic

Comments

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