MicroPython is a great way to get the most of your ESP8266 board, and, the ESP8266 chip is a great platform for using MicroPython!
This article is for accomodated users with the board, and also can be a quick guide for beginers. First of all, download the firmware for the ESP8266 from
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https://micropython.org/download/esp8266/ |
Install Python on your desktop, mine is a Windows10, then proceed to verify or install the required tools:
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C:\Users\MY_USER><strong>python --version</strong> Python 3.8.2 C:\Users\MY_USER><strong>python -m ensurepip --default-pip</strong> Looking in links: c:\Users\MY_USER\AppData\Local\Temp\tmpepn5zlys Requirement already satisfied: setuptools in c:\users\MY_USER\appdata\local\programs\python\python38-32\lib\site-packages (41.2.0) Requirement already satisfied: pip in c:\users\MY_USER\appdata\local\programs\python\python38-32\lib\site-packages (20.2.3) C:\Users\MY_USER><strong>pip --version</strong> pip 20.2.3 from c:\users\MY_USER\appdata\local\programs\python\python38-32\lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.8) C:\Users\MY_USER> |
PIP is a package manager for Python and likely to be included already in your Python installation.
Install the esptool and run the commands to erase and burn the image on the chip:
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<span class="n">pip</span> <span class="n">install</span> <span class="n">esptool </span> |
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<strong>>esptool.py --port COM3 erase_flash</strong> esptool.py v2.8 Serial port COM3 Connecting.... Detecting chip type... ESP8266 Chip is ESP8266EX Features: WiFi Crystal is 26MHz MAC: 5c:cf:7f:15:b5:a8 Uploading stub... Running stub... Stub running... Erasing flash (this may take a while)... Chip erase completed successfully in 10.3s Hard resetting via RTS pin... |
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<strong>>esptool.py --port COM3 --baud 460800 write_flash --flash_size=detect -fm dio 0 esp8266-20200911-v1.13.bin</strong> esptool.py v2.8 Serial port COM3 Connecting.... Detecting chip type... ESP8266 Chip is ESP8266EX Features: WiFi Crystal is 26MHz MAC: 5c:cf:7f:15:b5:a8 Uploading stub... Running stub... Stub running... Changing baud rate to 460800 Changed. Configuring flash size... Auto-detected Flash size: 4MB Flash params set to 0x0240 Compressed 638928 bytes to 419659... Wrote 638928 bytes (419659 compressed) at 0x00000000 in 9.4 seconds (effective 544.3 kbit/s)... Hash of data verified. Leaving... Hard resetting via RTS pin... |
In my case, the ESP bord is at COM3 serial port.
To connect to your ESP, you can use uPyCraft IDE from uPyCraft IDE (see the links below). For Mac, you can use ThonnyIDE.
Now, let’s see some blinking leds action:
Create main.py file and then hit the button “Download and Run”
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from machine import Pin from time import sleep led = Pin(2, Pin.OUT) while True: led.value(not led.value()) sleep(0.5) |
From now on, with this setup, we will set the wifi connection, add some temperature sensors, pressure – and then the plan is to use the blynk app!
Happy blinking!
Where to buy:
Links:
https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/esp8266/tutorial/intro.html
Getting Started with Thonny MicroPython (Python) IDE for ESP32 and ESP8266