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MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

micropythonos.com

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Re: MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

#31

Post by pkphilip »

pjmlp wrote: post #17
mrheosuper wrote: post #8

Those tech bros should just...stop. SBC is already cheap enough that you can throwaway without caring anything. Stop bloating MCU with....useless stuff. If anyone suggest me "Python in mcu" professionally, i would never be able to trust them again.

We aren't in the 1980's any longer, most of these systems are way more powerful than a typical 16 bit home computer, and incrediblly as it sounds, those 16 bit home computers still had better tooling than most MCUs have nowadays. Anything that brings MCU tooling into the 21st century is very much welcomed.

Agreed. It is really nice to have an OS like this. It will get a lot more people involved in the development. I would even think of scaling this up to more powerful processors and perhaps have it even on smartphones.

Re: MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

#33

Post by tecleandor »

tacticalturtle wrote: post #5

Serious recommendation: I would not have R. Kelly anywhere on your project page. If you’re trying to give a 30 second elevator pitch about what your project does, you should not have a name be a guy spending 30+ years in prison for child sexual abuse.

Ooooops, I didn't notice it on a first quick look. Yeah, I'm with you.

Re: MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

#37

Post by nunobrito »

travisgriggs wrote: post #10

I work on the micros that aren’t plugged I to a grid. So solar and batteries and the like. In that world, power consumption is everything. Interrupts and aggressive sleeping of your processor are you biggest tool. Does anyone have any experience with current draw of typical pieces of “firmware” using this? I see that it’s on the larger side of what feels like micro, BUT tomorrows micro has been growing heaps over yes…

Compared to other microcontrollers: ESP32 is very power hungry. Shiny displays are very power hungry, Wi-Fi is power hungry. So expect to draw about 5 watts/hour continuously while in operation with all bells and whistles.

With this said (I'm also using them for off-grid) you will need to put them to sleep and only use the display when absolutely needed for most scenarios. I've recently started using devices with e-paper display which at least solve that nuisance of the display power draw: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/ESP32-S3-ePaper-1.54

The last thing to keep in mind is heating. They will warm quite a bit and you should consider a way to either keep them cooled or make them sleep enough to cooldown, otherwise they will reboot or stop working until they are cooled again.

Re: MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

#38

Post by nunobrito »

mrheosuper wrote: post #8

Those tech bros should just...stop. SBC is already cheap enough that you can throwaway without caring anything. Stop bloating MCU with....useless stuff. If anyone suggest me "Python in mcu" professionally, i would never be able to trust them again.

Look, I'm with you on those critics and my opinion about python in general is just "duh" but this project looks good, it is easy to write/deploy and looks well documented (need to test it out).

For apps that are simple, might be OK. I've done a similar operating system which would run C-like scripts (using Wrench) instead of python and came with a command line if you wanted to shell directly into the device but nobody cared: https://github.com/radio3-network/B3OS

At least they've done a far better job in presenting a capable operating system and bringing people to move it further.

Re: MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

#39

Post by teamonkey »

pjmlp wrote: post #17
mrheosuper wrote: post #8

Those tech bros should just...stop. SBC is already cheap enough that you can throwaway without caring anything. Stop bloating MCU with....useless stuff. If anyone suggest me "Python in mcu" professionally, i would never be able to trust them again.

We aren't in the 1980's any longer, most of these systems are way more powerful than a typical 16 bit home computer, and incrediblly as it sounds, those 16 bit home computers still had better tooling than most MCUs have nowadays. Anything that brings MCU tooling into the 21st century is very much welcomed.

I haven't yet shook the feeling I got when I first realised my thermostat has more processing power than the computer I had as a child.

But also the devices this OS is aimed at will often be doing more than those computers were ever capable of, such as driving a full-colour display with touch interface while running a web server and wireless networking stack.

Re: MicroPythonOS – An Android-like OS for microcontrollers

#40

Post by progbits »

nunobrito wrote: post #37
travisgriggs wrote: post #10

I work on the micros that aren’t plugged I to a grid. So solar and batteries and the like. In that world, power consumption is everything. Interrupts and aggressive sleeping of your processor are you biggest tool. Does anyone have any experience with current draw of typical pieces of “firmware” using this? I see that it’s on the larger side of what feels like micro, BUT tomorrows micro has been growing heaps over yes…

Compared to other microcontrollers: ESP32 is very power hungry. Shiny displays are very power hungry, Wi-Fi is power hungry. So expect to draw about 5 watts/hour continuously while in operation with all bells and whistles. With this said (I'm also using them for off-grid) you will need to put them to sleep and only use the display when absolutely needed for most scenarios. I've recently started using devices with e-p…

> 5 watts/hour

Typo I'm guessing, but I found this unit of "energy acceleration" amusing.

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