Summary

Working on hardware projects often has significant friction involved when compared to pure software. Brian Pugh enjoys tinkering with microcontrollers, but his "weekend projects" often took longer than a weekend to complete, so he created Belay. In this episode he explains how Belay simplifies the interactions involved in developing for MicroPython boards and how you can use it to speed up your own experimentation.

Announcements

• Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great!
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• Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Brian Pugh about Belay, a python library that enables the rapid development of projects that interact with hardware via a micropython-compatible board.

Interview

• Introductions
• How did you get introduced to Python?
• Can you describe what Belay is and the story behind it?
• Who are the target users for Belay?
• What are some of the points of friction involved in developing for hardware projects?
  • What are some of the features of Belay that make that a smoother process?
• What are some of the ways that simplifying the develop/debug cycles can improve the overall experience of developing for hardware platforms?
  • What are some of the inherent limitations of constrained hardware that Belay is unable to paper over?
• Can you describe how Belay is implemented?
• What does the workflow look like when using Belay as compared to using MicroPython directly?
• What are some of the ways that you are using Belay in your own projects?
• What are the most interesting, innovative, or unexpected ways that you have seen Belay used?
• What are the most interesting, unexpected, or challenging lessons that you have learned while working on Belay?
• When is Belay the wrong choice?
• What do you have planned for the future of Belay?

Keep In Touch

• BrianPugh on GitHub
• LinkedIn

Picks

• Tobias
  • Gunnar Computer Glasses

Closing Announcements

• Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out our other shows. The Data Engineering Podcast covers the latest on modern data management. The Machine Learning Podcast helps you go from idea to production with machine learning.
• Visit the site to subscribe to the show, sign up for the mailing list, and read the show notes.
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Links

• Belay
• Geomagical
• PIC Microcontroller
• AVR Microcontroller
• Matlab
• MicroPython
  • Podcast Episode
• CircuitPython
  • Podcast Episode
• Celery
• Potentiometer
• Raspberry Pi
• Raspberry Pi Pico
• ADC Converter
• Thonny
  • Podcast Episode
• Adafruit
• Pyboard
• Python Inspect Module
• Python Tokenize
• Magnetometer Project
• Lidar

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA