A Native MicroPython Operating System Built for Microcontrollers
A team is hard at work developing MicroPythonOS for microcontrollers and you should be excited about that.
We’re finally starting to get pretty decent compatibility for ARM64-based operating systems, which is really awesome and makes SBCs (single-board computers) very useful in the modern world. But these boards are still pricey and they take a long time to boot, which is frustrating if you only need the basics without a lot of processing power. That’s why a team is hard at work developing MicroPythonOS for microcontrollers.
MicroPython has been around for a while now and is pretty mature at this point. It brings the user-friendliness of Python to microcontrollers. MicroPythonOS is built on a native MicroPython foundation, so it should mirror that compatibility and work on any supported microcontroller—namely ESP32 variants.
Of course, ESP32 microcontroller specs differ dramatically when it comes to processor cores, clock speeds, and available memory. MicroPythonOS is best suited to the ESP32-S3, which offers a lot of power in an affordable package. Many ESP32-S3 development boards cost well under $10, so they’re still affordable. The developers behind MicroPythonOS have tested on Waveshare’s ESP32-S3 2” Touchscreen Development Board in particular, which costs $21.99 with that touchscreen, a camera module, a six-axis IMU, and a microSD card slot.
MicroPythonOS provides a quick boot time, a smartphone-style touchscreen interface, an app store, over-the-air updates, and a lightweight base that allows for good performance.
The point here isn’t to replace smartphones or SBCs. It is to provide a base for you to build upon. Imagine, for instance, that you want an interface for IoT control. You can grab that Waveshare board, install MicroPythonOS, and then develop different apps to control your different IoT devices — or simply download existing apps from the store, if someone else has already developed them.
It combines the best of smartphones and SBCs, while also offering dramatically faster boot times at far more affordable prices. That is exciting and I find the idea to be very compelling.