1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040
[MUSIC PLAYING]

2
00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:04,800
Welcome to the Circuit Python Show.

3
00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:06,240
I'm your host, Paul Cutler.

4
00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,400
This episode, I welcome Debra Ansell.

5
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:10,080
Debra studied physics and applied math

6
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,600
before becoming a software engineer in the mid '90s.

7
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,360
She quit to stay home with her three boys

8
00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:16,320
after the internet bust, then rediscovered

9
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,900
her love of technology as a first LEGO League robotics

10
00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:19,480
coach.

11
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:24,320
She has been making open source projects ever since.

12
00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:25,920
Debra, welcome to the show.

13
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:26,880
Thank you, Paul.

14
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:28,200
It's really nice to be here.

15
00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,120
Thanks for having me on.

16
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,320
How did you first get started with computers and electronics?

17
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,040
Well, I got started with computers.

18
00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,700
Those are actually two slightly different topics.

19
00:00:38,700 --> 00:00:41,560
I got started with computers in graduate school.

20
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,120
I had taken a year of coding in college

21
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,320
and felt a little bit intimidated, frankly,

22
00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,040
because I think most of the people who took the class--

23
00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:49,500
I was a novice, and a lot of people

24
00:00:49,500 --> 00:00:53,520
had been hacking either TS-80s or whatever in high school

25
00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:54,300
before I got there.

26
00:00:54,300 --> 00:00:55,480
But I knew enough to code.

27
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,640
And then in graduate school, I did a fair amount

28
00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,720
of coding with Fortran and numerical recipes

29
00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:01,080
to analyze my data.

30
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:02,880
So I was in graduate school for physics

31
00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,640
and decided against an academic career

32
00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,720
and came back to Los Angeles and ended up

33
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,760
working for an internet startup as a software engineer.

34
00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,680
And I've been fairly comfortable with coding for a while,

35
00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,600
though I did retire from that job about 24 years ago

36
00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,540
and have only coded as a hobby since.

37
00:01:22,540 --> 00:01:25,200
I had technically learned electronics in graduate school.

38
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,320
You know, I'd learned a little bit about circuits and things

39
00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:30,600
like that, but only in the lab and only in very small amounts.

40
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,040
So I really didn't have any practical experience with that.

41
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,460
That part all started when my middle son turned eight

42
00:01:37,460 --> 00:01:39,920
and was an enormous LEGO fan and decided

43
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,620
he wanted to join a LEGO robotics team.

44
00:01:42,620 --> 00:01:44,000
But we couldn't find a local team.

45
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,360
And given that I was a stay-at-home mom with coding

46
00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:48,240
experience, I figured I could coach it.

47
00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,520
And I have told this story before, but it doesn't get old.

48
00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,160
It was a blast to coach, but I was very jealous of the kids.

49
00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,040
Because if you're a good coach, your job

50
00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,360
is to stand back and let them do the work while you just stop

51
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,120
them from doing anything dangerous.

52
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,480
But I really, really wanted to get in there and build robots

53
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,040
and make them do the things the kids were doing.

54
00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:10,240
And somebody said to me--

55
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:11,800
another coach from another team said,

56
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,080
well, if you think the robots are cool,

57
00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:14,520
you should look into Arduino.

58
00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:15,720
And I said, what's that?

59
00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,240
And he went on to explain.

60
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:18,960
And I did a little research online

61
00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,400
and found a great deal of information on people's blogs

62
00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,640
on the internet and also managed to attend

63
00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:28,320
a workshop nearby that had an Arduino lily pad.

64
00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,840
And so my first exposure to Arduino in person

65
00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:32,840
was blinky lights.

66
00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,240
And it seems it never really left.

67
00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,200
I never really kind of graduated past that.

68
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,440
Just the complexity has grown, but the focus has stayed.

69
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:42,840
But that just started everything.

70
00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,680
I started building projects on my own

71
00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,600
and then writing my own blog once I started doing projects

72
00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,120
that were original so I could kind of give back

73
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,480
because I'd gained so much from what I'd

74
00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:54,680
write on other people's blogs.

75
00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:56,560
You're well known for your LED projects.

76
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,280
And earlier this year, you shared the orb-cessed LED

77
00:02:59,280 --> 00:02:59,920
sphere.

78
00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:03,400
How did you make an LED cube into an orb?

79
00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:04,320
Thank you for asking.

80
00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,320
I'm very proud of that project.

81
00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,480
That was one of those aha moments that just worked.

82
00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,120
In general, I have a lot of ideas.

83
00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,760
And about 80% of them just never go anywhere.

84
00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,160
But they're fun to think about.

85
00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:18,800
I think most people, when you're talking about electronics,

86
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,160
it's just cooler to see them in shapes that aren't square,

87
00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:24,800
that don't have sharp corners.

88
00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,000
So a sphere is obviously the ultimate interesting shape.

89
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:29,800
But it's very hard to get circuit boards

90
00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:34,360
into a spherical shape or get lights

91
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,560
on the exterior of a sphere unless you're pushing a string

92
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:38,840
through holes or something.

93
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,280
And so it always been in the back of my mind

94
00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,040
to do an LED sphere.

95
00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,640
And I'd never really come across a good idea until--

96
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:50,040
unrelated, I can't remember quite what I was looking for.

97
00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,120
I was looking for a way to map, just map computer graphics.

98
00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,400
And I found this projection mapping

99
00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,600
that people often use to go from the surface of a cube

100
00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,560
to a sphere called a quad sphere.

101
00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,160
And they use that rather than the traditional latitude,

102
00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,560
longitude mapping because you don't have the singularity

103
00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:09,120
at the poles that you normally do.

104
00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,920
And I saw that and I said, well, wait a second.

105
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,720
I know how to pipe light.

106
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:15,880
I spent a lot of my projects on how do I get light

107
00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:16,880
from one place to another.

108
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,360
And you get very interesting diffusion effects.

109
00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,160
So this is a mapping that if I could make a cube,

110
00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:23,960
would really make it look nice in the sphere.

111
00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,800
And I just began to obsessively work on it.

112
00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,440
And there's a reason--

113
00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:29,400
it's funny.

114
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,280
It's a joke, but it's also true.

115
00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:33,400
The title of the article is Or obsession.

116
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,280
And it really did become an obsession for a very long time.

117
00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:39,440
It's just seeing how far I could take that project.

118
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,000
So yeah, it was kind of that aha moment that said,

119
00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,080
wait, I got to try this.

120
00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:44,880
And everything really-- it was the click

121
00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:46,400
that everything fell into place from.

122
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:47,680
It was so satisfying.

123
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:49,360
It only took a couple of iterations

124
00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:51,320
to really get a working shell that I

125
00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:56,200
could place over on the outside of a pre-built LED cube.

126
00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,600
People have done LED cubes for a long time.

127
00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,440
And I've seen LED spheres, by the way, too, in clever ways,

128
00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,440
but nothing quite like the way I did it.

129
00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:06,800
So that was very, very satisfying

130
00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,280
when it all came together.

131
00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:10,640
How did CircuitPython help with the project?

132
00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:12,880
Well, I used CircuitPython for the version

133
00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,240
I wrote up for Make Magazine.

134
00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,360
And I always prototype, with few exceptions.

135
00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,240
Most of my LED projects are prototyped in CircuitPython

136
00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,560
because I like the dynamic interactive nature of being

137
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,760
able to change the code and see the changes instantly

138
00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,160
in the LED patterns.

139
00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,280
I was using a small microcontroller, one

140
00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:37,560
of the Jao's-- I think the one with Bluetooth,

141
00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,520
NRF 52840 that runs CircuitPython.

142
00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,080
And what's nice, of course, is there's a wonderful LED

143
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,200
animations library that Adafruit has written.

144
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,200
So it's got a bunch of pre-built animations.

145
00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,840
And I often will use that and extend onto that library.

146
00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:55,960
So it was made mapping the sphere much easier

147
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,520
because the order in which the-- I

148
00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:00,640
wanted to know where the pixels were in 3D space

149
00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,040
because it's much cooler if the patterns respond,

150
00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,000
have a 3D spatial orientation.

151
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:07,880
I was able to use the CircuitPython libraries.

152
00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,240
First of all, the controller I used-- ah, that's right.

153
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:11,920
I used the NRF cents.

154
00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,440
I'm going to get the numbers wrong.

155
00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,320
So it had a built-in accelerometer and microphone.

156
00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,680
And there's an Adafruit library already ready

157
00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,920
to how to get that data out of the accelerometer.

158
00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:21,880
And that was great.

159
00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:23,260
So I'm very lazy.

160
00:06:23,260 --> 00:06:25,560
I'm not going to do any more work than I have to.

161
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:27,920
So I could use the library for the accelerometer, the LED

162
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,840
animations library, and then combine the two very simply

163
00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:32,600
to create a new animation that responded

164
00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,560
to orientation of the sphere.

165
00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,960
And then when I'm mapping the sphere,

166
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,920
if I were very organized, I would

167
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,880
have planned ahead for where the orientation of the pixels

168
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,200
are going to be given the mapping.

169
00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:45,560
But of course, I didn't.

170
00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,400
But the nice thing about mapping the sphere

171
00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,400
is to figure out the orientation of the matrices that

172
00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,440
made up the side, I could just light up a few pixels

173
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,400
at a time with just a few CircuitPython commands

174
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,640
and figure out what the orientation was as I went.

175
00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,040
So it just makes my life a lot easier.

176
00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,680
I'm a big fan of the interactive nature

177
00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,520
of the language for prototyping and the vast array of libraries

178
00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,880
that let me take advantage of a lot of hardware that's

179
00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:11,140
out there.

180
00:07:11,140 --> 00:07:13,520
Your projects often combine a variety of skills,

181
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,160
including CAD, 3D printing, coding, sewing, and more.

182
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,760
Is there one skill you enjoy more than the others or one

183
00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,920
that you find more challenging?

184
00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,320
The answer to that is I like all the skills.

185
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,600
I love gaining new skills.

186
00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,160
And probably my favorite skill is whatever

187
00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:32,840
I'm working with at the time.

188
00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,440
And I don't like anyone more than any of the others,

189
00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,760
but I love to combine them in unusual ways.

190
00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,580
Like sewing and electronics is one of my favorites.

191
00:07:41,580 --> 00:07:45,700
I love wearables where you're creating an accessory

192
00:07:45,700 --> 00:07:48,620
or a clothing item that's designed specifically

193
00:07:48,620 --> 00:07:51,260
to hold the LED strip or string that you're

194
00:07:51,260 --> 00:07:52,920
wearing with a pocket for the controller,

195
00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,700
or 3D printing and electronics, which a lot of people do.

196
00:07:55,700 --> 00:07:58,560
That's a great way to protect your electronics.

197
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,060
But if I can come up with a new way

198
00:08:01,060 --> 00:08:03,260
to combine skills that I've learned,

199
00:08:03,260 --> 00:08:04,340
it makes me really happy.

200
00:08:04,340 --> 00:08:05,760
And frankly, the more, the better.

201
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,480
I think the one I published recently in Make Magazine

202
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,760
was LED tote bag we called Back to the Future, which

203
00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,400
combined 3D printing and sewing and electronics

204
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,400
and a Pixel Blaze controller to make the patterns work.

205
00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,480
So that was really fun to see what you can do.

206
00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,200
Anytime I learn a new skill, it kind of

207
00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:24,700
guarantees that I'm going to come up

208
00:08:24,700 --> 00:08:26,640
with a new idea, which I really enjoy.

209
00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,120
You mentioned sewing and Pixel Blaze.

210
00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,800
And I wanted to ask you about the Pixel Blaze pillow project

211
00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,260
that you did earlier this year, which uses the Pixel Blaze

212
00:08:34,260 --> 00:08:35,040
controller.

213
00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,960
What is Pixel Blaze, and how did it help with the project?

214
00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,480
Pixel Blaze is a wonderful, wonderful controller

215
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,680
that makes-- like Circuit Python, actually,

216
00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:48,640
just makes my life easier when doing LED projects.

217
00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,880
It was designed by a very smart programmer named Ben Henke, who

218
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:54,920
does wonderful LED installations.

219
00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,520
And it is its own controller.

220
00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:02,080
It works as its own access point to launch a web-based coding

221
00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,500
interface, which has a JavaScript-based editor window.

222
00:09:06,500 --> 00:09:09,760
And you can code your LED patterns

223
00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,480
and see the changes on the fly, which is wonderful.

224
00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,440
Again, makes seeing how the code you're writing

225
00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,800
affects the patterns very easy, because it's sometimes

226
00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,840
hard to predict how things will look versus the code you're

227
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:21,860
writing on the page.

228
00:09:21,860 --> 00:09:25,480
And it has a large number of preconfigured patterns

229
00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,680
that people contribute to the library and a very active forum

230
00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:32,360
that you can ask and answer questions in.

231
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,920
So it's a very active kind of user base that's very helpful.

232
00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,240
My favorite thing about the Pixel Blaze

233
00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,600
is that it has a pattern of libraries

234
00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,200
separate from the pixel map.

235
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,440
So you can specify for any project you do.

236
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,740
You can go ahead and use whatever patterns you've

237
00:09:48,740 --> 00:09:49,540
written.

238
00:09:49,540 --> 00:09:52,920
And then in a separate area of the controller,

239
00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,720
you can specify, well, here's where my pixels are in space.

240
00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,000
And it will automatically map whatever pattern

241
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,160
you've created, as long as it has the correct number

242
00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:02,720
of dimensions, to the location of your pixels.

243
00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:04,000
So that's very nice, too.

244
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,920
I can take patterns that I've written, and I frequently do.

245
00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,640
There's some patterns that run on my sphere on my orb

246
00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,600
that the large version of my orb uses the Pixel Blaze.

247
00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,800
The smaller version uses Circuit Python.

248
00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,100
But I can take patterns for the large version of the orb that

249
00:10:19,100 --> 00:10:23,320
will also run on my tote bag, that will also run on a pendant.

250
00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,760
The versatility and the ease of use

251
00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,480
and the built-ins on that controller

252
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,760
are very, very nice for anyone who works with LEDs.

253
00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,560
One of your first Circuit Python projects

254
00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:37,840
combined a Trinket M0 and a Raspberry Pi 0W

255
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,080
to control LEDs sewn into a jacket.

256
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:41,680
How did they work together?

257
00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:43,080
That was a great project.

258
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:44,720
I really enjoyed that.

259
00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:46,840
There were a couple of steps in that process.

260
00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,780
I'd been playing with jackets and LEDs,

261
00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:50,480
and they'd all had controllers based

262
00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,980
on Circuit Python and the LED anima-- using the LED

263
00:10:53,980 --> 00:10:55,340
animations library.

264
00:10:55,340 --> 00:10:58,000
And I was going to wear the jacket to Maker Faire,

265
00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,700
the last one right before everything shut down.

266
00:11:01,700 --> 00:11:04,360
And last minute, I decided, well, it'd

267
00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,480
be really cool if people could program this jacket on the fly.

268
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,280
So I wanted to use an access point

269
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,320
and have people via a web browser

270
00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,920
be able to log in to the jacket and change

271
00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:17,520
the animations remotely.

272
00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,960
So I set up a Raspberry Pi 0 and didn't then and still

273
00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:23,600
know very, very little about Apache,

274
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,200
but set up an Apache server.

275
00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,180
And I could figure out just enough about the Apache server.

276
00:11:28,180 --> 00:11:31,300
I could get it to serve a web page that

277
00:11:31,300 --> 00:11:34,760
allowed you to use a drag and drop block code to create

278
00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:35,800
Circuit Python patterns.

279
00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,040
The block code is based on the Blockly coding language.

280
00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:39,380
That I could get set up.

281
00:11:39,380 --> 00:11:41,440
But I couldn't, for the life of me,

282
00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,180
figure out how to get those new patterns onto the jacket

283
00:11:45,180 --> 00:11:48,660
until I realized that the--

284
00:11:48,660 --> 00:11:51,520
I believe it was a Trinket M0 I was running the Circuit Python

285
00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,400
code on initially-- worked as a separate drive

286
00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,520
for the Raspberry Pi 0.

287
00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,080
So all I had to do was then, once the code was generated

288
00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,920
in the web interface, save the Python file directly

289
00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:04,520
to the drive.

290
00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:06,440
And that I could do relatively simply

291
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,820
without having to go into any kind of operating system

292
00:12:08,820 --> 00:12:09,680
or anything like that.

293
00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:11,680
Because you just save the file and Circuit Python

294
00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:14,120
automatically picks up the code and runs it on the jacket.

295
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,520
So there's probably a better way to do it.

296
00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,080
But the way that works is always the best way at the time.

297
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:20,900
And it worked.

298
00:12:20,900 --> 00:12:21,920
And I got it.

299
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:22,960
And I was thrilled.

300
00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:24,640
And it was just a nice little bonus

301
00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,480
of just the convenience of Circuit Python showing up

302
00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:28,280
as--

303
00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,760
the controller showing up as a drive on whatever computer

304
00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:32,500
you attach it to.

305
00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:33,640
So that was a lot of fun.

306
00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:35,320
And I was very proud of myself for getting it working.

307
00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,440
And I still have no idea how Apache actually works.

308
00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,720
I don't think anyone knows how Apache really works.

309
00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:43,240
Probably true.

310
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,240
If people want to learn more about your projects,

311
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:46,440
where should they go?

312
00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,440
So my older projects are available on my blog,

313
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,040
geekmomprojects.com.

314
00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,080
Those are mostly the kid-friendly ones.

315
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,440
And the really well-documented ones, you can find--

316
00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,280
I've written seven or eight articles from Make Magazine.

317
00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,180
You can look at-- that's a good place

318
00:13:03,180 --> 00:13:05,280
to go to look up archives of some

319
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:06,780
of my more interesting projects.

320
00:13:06,780 --> 00:13:08,360
Those are the two best places to go.

321
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,040
If you'd like a full instruction set,

322
00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,600
I do tend to post finished builds to social media,

323
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,160
Instagram and Mastodon.

324
00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:19,400
But for instructions, my blog and Make Magazine

325
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,160
are best places to go.

326
00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,560
I'll make sure I link to those in the show notes as well.

327
00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:24,480
Thank you.

328
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,380
Last question I ask each guest.

329
00:13:26,380 --> 00:13:28,780
You're starting a new project or a prototype.

330
00:13:28,780 --> 00:13:30,880
Which board do you reach for?

331
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,880
It's almost always the smallest Circuit Python controller

332
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:35,600
I have on hand.

333
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,640
So these days, it's a QDPI or a Zhao.

334
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,520
Because there's such a range of both of those.

335
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,160
I think they just came out with a Zhao with a camera.

336
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,160
And I've been dying to work that into a project.

337
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:45,640
And the QDPI is great.

338
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:46,680
I'm a big fan of that too.

339
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:48,240
I like the little connector.

340
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:49,240
What's that?

341
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,480
They call it the Stemic-QT, I think, connector.

342
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,360
Which makes it very easy to, when you're prototyping,

343
00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,160
attach a variety of peripherals very easily and access them.

344
00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,720
So both of those are kind of my go-to boards.

345
00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:03,480
And they're cheap, which is great.

346
00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,520
Debra, thanks so much for being on the show.

347
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:06,760
Thank you for having me, Paul.

348
00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,280
I really enjoyed it.

349
00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:10,600
Thank you for listening.

350
00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,080
Transcripts are available in most podcast players.

351
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,520
And show notes are available at www.circuitpythonshow.com.

352
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,560
Until next time, stay positive.

353
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:27,060
( calling for help )