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From the Editor:

Welcome to the latest Python on Microcontrollers newsletter! It’s finally warm here and it’s officially festival time in Chicago. And what better way to celebrate than to feature some really great projects using MicroPython, CircuitPython and Python. Along with all of that, another contending CircuitPython editor is just out, wanting to replace Mu. How does it stack up?

Are you looking to use local LLM/AI models but cannot afford nVidia DGX Spark boxes? You can look to Raspberry Pi with their AI HAT+ 2 combo or the Jetson Orin Nano Super. And finally a satellite which runs MicroPython. What a world we live in, eh? – Anne Barela, Editor

We’re on Discord, Twitter/X, BlueSky and for past newsletters – view them all here. If you’re reading this on the web, please subscribe here. Here’s the news this week:

Rovari RV Circuit Studio Purports to Replace Mu for CircuitPython Editing

Rovari RV Circuit Studio aims to replace Mu for desktop users. The code editor has syntax highlighting and code folding that auto detects CircuitPython boards. It saves code.py to the CIRCUITPY drive and the board reloads automatically. There is a serial REPL with color support and a source-level debugger with breakpoints and watch expressions. Also included is a real-time serial plotter with a library manager for Adafruit bundles and a snippet manager with common CircuitPython patterns. It’s under an Apache 2.0 open license – GitHub. Via X.

Processing AI “On the Edge” Without a Dedicated $3500 Box

The use of large language models (LLMs) on single board computers has often been limited to small recognition models. With the growth of AI, the focus is to do real agentic work. Two releases aim to do advanced LLM processing locally (“on the edge”).

The Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2

The Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 is the official generative AI PCIe add-on for Raspberry Pi 5. It pairs a Hailo-10H AI accelerator capable of up to 40 TOPS of inference performance (INT4) with 8GB of dedicated on-board LPDDR4X memory, enabling local vision and small generative AI workloads – Raspberry Pi News, Tom’s Hardware and YouTube.

Bringing LLMs to the edge with Python – Raspberry Pi News.

The Jetson Orin Nano Super

The NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit is a compact, yet powerful computer that redefines generative AI for small edge devices. It delivers up to 67 TOPS of AI performance to run a wide variety of generative AI models, such as vision transformers, large language models, vision-language models, and more – nVidia.

A CubeSat Satellite Project Using the RP2350 and MicroPython

VYOMSAT – Vyom / व्योम (sky/space) + Sat / सत् (truth/satellite) is a high-fidelity, open-source PocketQube/CubeSat learning kit, built on the Raspberry Pi RP2350 and programmed in MicroPython. From power systems to attitude control, one can learn real satellite engineering & STEM for under $200. MIT licensed – VyomSat and GitHub.

Turning the Replay Keynote Surprise Into an Open-Source Embedded Playground

After the final keynote at the Replay Conference by Temporal.io, the CEO handed all attendees what looked like a badge. It was actually a tiny hackable computer with an ESP32-S3, an OLED screen, an LED matrix, buttons, joystick, motion sensor, haptics, IR, MicroPython, DOOM, games, and more. All MIT licensed – Temporal.io, Badge website and GitHub.

End of an Era: JetBrains is Killing A Popular IDE Used by Python Devs

JetBrains has deprecated DataSpell as a standalone IDE and is now blocking new customers from buying licenses, though anyone currently holding an active license can keep using the tool – Neowin.

“DataSpell was created to focus on the needs of data science and analytics professionals within the JetBrains ecosystem. It allowed us to build and refine a dedicated experience for working with Jupyter notebooks, data exploration, and analytical workflows. These improvements have been successfully integrated into PyCharm, where they can benefit a much broader audience. Today, we’ve reached a point where maintaining a separate product is no longer the most effective path forward.”

Flapulator – The World’s Most Tactile Calculator

Flapulator is the “form over function” calculator. No more do you have to sit in silence as you calculate. Sit back and enjoy the clacks of a mechanical keyboard as your display gently clicks its way to the next digit. It uses a Raspberry Pi Pico and MicroPython – Maker World and GitHub. Via Raspberry Pi News.

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