PyCon US 2024 - Introduction to MicroPython: getting started with BBC micro:bit

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INTRODUCTION TO MICROPYTHON GETTING STARTED WITH BBC MICRO:BIT Juliana Karoline de Sousa | @julianaklulo

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Please handle the equipment with care Be careful Disclaimers No sponsors This tutorial is not sponsored Have fun! Return Don’t forget to return the devices before leaving the room 1 2 3 4

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Challenge MicroPython Examples Experimenting with the device’s components Battleship Build the single player version of the game 01. Overview about MicroPython BBC micro:bit Overview of the device and the speciﬁcations Python editor 02. 03. Using the Python editor and built-in simulator 04. 05. 06. Make the game multiplayer Agenda

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MicroPython 01. Python for microcontrollers

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What is MicroPython? Reimplementation of Python 3 targeted to microcontrollers

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But what is a microcontroller?

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Microcontroller Can store persistently user-deﬁned code in memory Integrated Circuit Processor, memory and peripherals all on a single chip I/O Capabilities Built-in input/output ports to interact with sensors and actuators Programmable Low power consumption Suitable for battery powered applications

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MicroPython Key points: ● Re-implementation of Python 3, written in C ● Contains a small subset of the standard library ● Optimized for constrained environments Features: ● Interactive prompt (REPL) ● List comprehensions, generators, closures ● Exception handling ● Access to GPIO, PWM, ADC, UART and more Requirements: ● 256k code space ● 16k RAM

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Microcontrollers with MicroPython PyBoard ESP8266 & ESP32 BBC micro:bit Raspberry Pi Pico Arduino Nano RP2040

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BBC micro:bit 02. Pocket-sized computer for physical computing

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What is the BBC micro:bit? Pocket-sized computer that introduces you to how software and hardware work together

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Which components are included?

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Which components are included?

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Python editor 03. Easiest way to program the micro:bit

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Online Python editor https://python.microbit.org

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Workflow Plug micro:bit into computer Write .py file in the Python editor Click on “save to micro:bit” and select the micro:bit Automatically flash the .hex file to micro:bit Plug micro:bit into computer Write .py file in the Python editor Click on “save to micro:bit” to download .hex file to your machine Copy .hex file to micro:bit flash drive Supported browsers (Chrome) Other browsers (Firefox)

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Examples 04. Experimenting with the device’s components

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Code Resources https://tinyurl.com/micropython-tutorial Examples and cheat sheet are available in the repository at https://github.com/julianaklulo/pycon2024-intro-to-micropython

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Using the Display 0-9: Brightness intensity

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Using the Push Buttons Button A (left) and Button B (right)

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Example 1: Buttons and Display

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Using the Speaker

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Example 2: Play melody

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Using the Accelerometer

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Example 3: Accelerometer Gestures

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Example 4: Accelerometer values

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Using the Radio

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Example 5: Teleporting Duck

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Battleship 05. Single-player version of the game

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Battleship - Single Player

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Battleship Breakdown Player Handles the logic to shoot on the sea and stores the shots ﬁred Sea Stores the automatically generated ships and checks if a shot hit a ship Game Runs the game until the player hits all the ships

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Sea How to populate the sea with ships?

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Examples of Sea boards

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The ship can’t overﬂow the board Location matters Size matters Place the biggest ships ﬁrst No touching Each boat must be surrounded only by water 1 2 3 Rules to place the ships Valid placement Impossible to place the third ship

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Sea Breakdown

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Analyzing the code Open ﬁle battleship-single-player/template_1.py in the repository

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Sea - Generate board ship sizes brightness

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Sea - Indexing Index: [ROW][COL] Index: [COL][ROW] VS

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Sea - Populate board reset the board if the ships don’t fit

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Sea - Place Ship (part 1) select among the candidates coordinates fails if none of the coordinates work Each water coordinate is a candidate

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Sea - Possible H: hold the row and increase the col V: increase the row and hold the col check for each part of the boat desired placement

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Sea - Near Ships Example: (2, 2) non-inclusive exclude the coordinate

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Sea - Place Ship (part 2) H: hold the row and increase the col V: increase the row and hold the col

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Sea - Hit will be used once the player starts shooting

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Sea - Show Board represents the brightness

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Sea - Show Board create one string for each row then concatenate each string using :

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Try it in the simulator Open battleship-single-player/template_1.py, paste it in the simulator and execute the code https://python.microbit.org

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Player How to shoot the ships?

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Player Breakdown

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Analyzing the code Open ﬁle battleship-single-player/template_2.py in the repository

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Player - Generate Shots Board start player in the center of the board same structure as the sea board

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Player - Mark similar to the hit method

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Player - How to Shoot

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Player - Shoot Value to ﬁlter out small movements or noise in the accelerometer readings Alternate between the coordinate in the shot board and the current coordinate Threshold Blink While loop Run until Button A is pressed Update row Use accelerometer axis Y to update the row Update col Use accelerometer axis X to update the col 1 4 5 3 6 Show the board Show the shots board so the user knows where they’ve already shot 2

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Writing the shoot method Edit ﬁle battleship-single-player/template_2.py in the repository

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Player - Shoot

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Try it in the micro:bit Upload battleship-single-player/template_2.py with your implementation to the micro:bit https://python.microbit.org

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Game Control the logic of the game

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Analyzing the code Open ﬁle battleship-single-player/template_3.py in the repository

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Game Breakdown

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Game - Init Sea and Player

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Game - Win

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Starting the Game

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Game - Start and End Display a countdown to indicate that the game is about to start Countdown Greet the player Play sound and display image 1 3 Wait for input Keep blinking the image until the player press both buttons 2 Choose an appropriate sound Play an ending sound End game The game ends when all the ships have been hit 4 6 Display a positive image Happy face is a good choice 5

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Writing start and end methods Edit ﬁle battleship-single-player/template_3.py in the repository

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Game - Start and End

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Game - Run Read the player’s shot Shoot the board Start the game Run the start routine 1 3 Loop until end Run the loop until the game ends with the player winning 2 Let the player know if the shot has hit or missed the ships Display the result Check hit and mark Check in the Sea instance if the shot hit any ships 4 6 Check win Check if the player has already hit all the ships and run the end routine if so 5

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Writing the Game run method Continue editing ﬁle battleship-single-player/template_3.py in the repository

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Game - Run

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Try it in the micro:bit https://python.microbit.org Upload battleship-single-player/template_3.py with your implementation to the micro:bit

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Challenge 06. Multiplayer version of the game

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Battleship - Multiplayer

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Multiplayer Breakdown Player No changes needed Sea No changes needed Game Handles the publisher and subscriber logic

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Game Control the logic of the game

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Analyzing the code Open ﬁle battleship-multiplayer/template_1.py in the repository

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Game Breakdown

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Game - Init Sea and Players same Player class for both players define the group with a partner and set the constant

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Game - Start same as the single player version

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Game - Lost only the player receiving the shot can check if they’ve lost the game

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Game - End different endings depending on which player won the game

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Choosing Players

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Game - Choose Players Send a message after Player 1 pressed Button A, wait for response from Player 2 Player 1 - Button A Display boat image Show an image while waiting for the input from the players 1 3 Loop until press Wait for both players to be ready to start the game 2 PLayer 2 - Button B After Player 2 pressed Button B, wait for message from Player 1 and reply with acknowledgment message 4 Assign the players Store the player number to deﬁne who starts the turn 5

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Writing the Choose Players method Edit ﬁle battleship-multiplayer/template_1.py in the repository

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Game - Choose Players define the group with a partner and set the constant

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Game - Send Shot Wait for the opponent to reply with the result of the shot Wait for response Run Shoot method Update the coordinates of the current player 1 3 Send message Send to the opponent the coordinates of the shot 2 Mark result Mark in the current player’s board the result of the shot 4 Check hit Celebrate if the current player’s shot hit a ship 5 Return value Returns True if the current player won 6

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Writing the Send Shot method Continue editing the ﬁle battleship-multiplayer/template_1.py in the repository

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Game - Send Shot

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Game - Receive Shot Display in the board the coordinate that the opponent shot Blink the coordinate Show the board Display the sea board to the current user 1 3 Wait for message Wait for the opponent to make the shot 2 Check hit and mark Check if the opponent hit a ship in the sea board and mark the shot in the opponent’s board 4 5 Check lose Check if the opponent hit the last ship in the current player’s board 6 Send response Send message with result of the shot and if the opponent won the game 7 Show shot result Display the result of the shot to the current player 8 Return value Returns True if the current player lost

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Writing the Receive Shot method Continue editing the ﬁle battleship-multiplayer/template_1.py in the repository

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Game - Receive Shot

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Game - Run Shoots ﬁrst then receives a shot Player 1 Start the game Run the start routine 1 3 Choose players Decide who’s starting the game 2 The current player loses when receive_shot returns True Opponent win? Player 2 Receives the ﬁrst shot and then shoots 4 6 Current player win? The current player wins when send_shot returns True 5

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Writing the Run method Continue editing the ﬁle battleship-multiplayer/template_1.py in the repository

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Game - Run

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Try it in the micro:bit https://python.microbit.org Find a partner, decide the group number and upload battleship-multiplayer/template_1.py with your implementation to the micro:bit

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Improvements ● Track the score ● Let the player place the ships manually ● Mark in the player board the sunk ships What improvements would you make?

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Thank you for attending! I hope you enjoyed it :)

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For more games, watch my talk at PyCon US 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teALLngESw0

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@julianaklulo Reach out via social media

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Reach out via social media I’ll post more details about the MicroPython open space