Adafruit Language Flashcards on the MagTag User Manual

Language Flashcards on the MagTag

Created by Lucian Copeland

Last updated on 2021-04-15 08:19:06 PM EDT

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Guide Contents

Guide Contents Overview

Parts

Install CircuitPython

Set Up CircuitPython

Option 1 - Load with UF2 Bootloader

Try Launching UF2 Bootloader

Option 2 - Use esptool to load BIN file Option 3 - Use Chrome Browser To Upload BIN file CircuitPython Internet Libraries

Adafruit CircuitPython Library Bundle

CircuitPython Internet Test

Secrets File Connect to WiFi

Getting The Date & Time

Step 1) Make an Adafruit account Step 2) Sign into Adafruit IO Step 3) Get your Adafruit IO Key Step 4) Upload Test Python Code

MagTag-Specific CircuitPython Libraries

Get Latest Adafruit CircuitPython Bundle Secrets

Simple Flashcards

Download the Software Example Deck How does it work?

Complicated Flashcards

Download the Software New Deck Format Program Flow Code Walkthrough

Setup: Chapter Selection: Flashcard Session: Wrapping up:

Other Resources

Font License:

Overview

When you’re studying something that needs a lot of memorization, like learning a language, prepping for a tough biology exam, or mastering all those pesky built-in Python functions, it’s hard to beat a good old deck of flashcards. It’s the tried and true method of getting tough subjects to stick to your grey matter especially when you’re on a deadline, and you’ve really got to get this stuff

down

or you are going to

flunk

most heinously tomorrow, dude!

But like many old fashioned methods, flashcards can be kind of a pain! You have to spend ages writing them all out on paper, and then somebody knocks them off the table and one goes under the fridge, and then your buddy asks to borrow them but you’re not

finished

and you’re not going to make him a

whole

other deck,

are you

kidding,

and now the edges have gotten all bent so they don’t shuffle well any more, and then once you’ve finally gotten everything memorized there’s nothing to do but toss them all out and get started on the next deck. The results may be good, but the process? Frustrating.

Enter the MagTag!

With CircuitPython, you can type out your flashcards in JSON, and you’ll never be stuck writing and shuffling huge decks of index cards again. You can sort them by chapters, support lots of different international fonts, even share them with your slacker buddy with a simple copy-paste. Maybe not the

most

old-fashioned anymore, but it’s e-paper, so we’re pretty sure it still counts.

Thanks to Unicode font support in CircuitPython, you can quickly and easily make text for

any language

using free fonts!

 This guide uses the e-paper and other hardware features of the MagTag, but note that it does not

use any of the ESP32-S2 networking capabilities (WIFI, etc). Setting up WIFI is included in the installation process for completeness, but the final project will not connect to the internet, so you can skip those steps if you want! Just install Circuitpython and the libraries, and don't worry about secrets.py or the internet tests. If you'd specifically like to do a connected IoT project, we've got lots of other guides to do that - check out the full list Magtag tutorials for ideas!

Parts

The MagTag starter kit comes with a battery and some magnets included. You'll also need to grab a USB C cable separately, if you don't have one:

Adafruit MagTag Starter Kit - 2.9" Grayscale E-Ink WiFi Display

The Adafruit MagTag combines the new ESP32-S2 wireless module and a 2.9" grayscale E-Ink display to make a low-power IoT display that can show data on its screen... Out of Stock

Out of

Stock

USB Type A to Type C Cable - approx 1 meter / 3 ft long

As technology changes and adapts, so does Adafruit. This USB Type A to Type C cable will help you with the transition to USB C, even if you're still... $4.95 In Stock

Alternatively, you can get the parts individually, if you'd like to swap out the battery or omit the magnets.

Add to Cart

Adafruit MagTag - 2.9" Grayscale E-Ink WiFi Display

The Adafruit MagTag combines the new ESP32-S2 wireless module and a 2.9" grayscale E-Ink display to make a low-power IoT display that can show data on its screen even when power... Out of Stock

Out of

Stock

Lithium Ion Polymer Battery with Short Cable - 3.7V 420mAh

Lithium ion polymer (also known as 'lipo' or 'lipoly') batteries are thin, light and powerful. The output ranges from 4.2V when completely charged to 3.7V. This battery... $6.95 In Stock

Mini Magnet Feet for RGB LED Matrices (Pack of 4)

Got a glorious RGB Matrix project you want to mount and display in your workspace or home? If you have one of the matrix panels listed below, you'll need a pack of these... $2.50 In Stock

Add to Cart

Install CircuitPython

CircuitPython (https://adafru.it/tB7) is a derivative of MicroPython (https://adafru.it/BeZ) designed to simplify

experimentation and education on low-cost microcontrollers. It makes it easier than ever to get prototyping by requiring no upfront desktop software downloads. Simply copy and edit files on the CIRCUITPY drive to iterate.

Set Up CircuitPython

Follow the steps to get CircuitPython installed on your MagTag.

https://adafru.it/OBd

Click the link above and download the latest .BIN and .UF2

file

(depending on how you program the ESP32S2 board you may need one or the other, might as well get both)

Download and save it to your desktop (or wherever is handy).

Plug your MagTag into your computer using a known-good USB cable.

A lot of people end up using charge-only USB cables and it is

very frustrating! So make sure you have a USB cable you

know is good for data sync.

https://adafru.it/OBd

Option 1 - Load with UF2 Bootloader

This is by far the easiest way to load CircuitPython. However it requires your board has the UF2

bootloader installed. Some early boards do not (we hadn't written UF2 yet!) - in which case you can load

using the built in ROM bootloader.

Still, try this first!

Try Launching UF2 Bootloader

Loading CircuitPython by drag-n-drop UF2 bootloader is the easier way and we recommend it. If you have a MagTag where the front of the board is black, your MagTag came with UF2 already on it.

Launch UF2 by double-clicking the Reset button (the one next to the USB C port). You may have to try a few times to get the timing right.

If the UF2 bootloader is installed, you will see a new disk drive appear called MAGTAGBOOT

Copy the UF2 file you downloaded at the first step of this tutorial onto the MAGTAGBOOT drive

If you're using Windows and you get an error at the end of the file copy that says Error from the file copy, Error 0x800701B1: A device which does not exist was specified. You can ignore this error, the bootloader sometimes disconnects without telling Windows, the install completed just fine and you can continue. If its

really annoying, you can also upgrade the bootloader (the latest version of the UF2 bootloader fixes this warning) (https://adafru.it/Pfk)

Your board should auto-reset into CircuitPython, or you may need to press reset. A CIRCUITPY drive will appear. You're done! Go to the next pages.

Option 2 - Use esptool to load BIN file

If you have an original MagTag with while soldermask on the front, we didn't have UF2 written for the ESP32S2 yet so it will not come with the UF2 bootloader.

You can upload with esptool to the ROM (hardware) bootloader instead!

Follow the initial steps found in the Run esptool and check

connection section of the ROM Bootloader page (https://adafru.it/OBc) to verify your environment is set

up, your board is successfully connected, and which port it's using.

In the final command to write a binary file to the board,

replace the port with your port, and replace "firmware.bin"

with the the file you downloaded above.

The output should look something like the output in the image.

Press reset to exit the bootloader.

Your CIRCUITPY drive should appear!

You're all set! Go to the next pages.

Option 3 - Use Chrome Browser To Upload BIN file

If for some reason you cannot get esptool to run, you can always try using the Chrome-browser version of esptool we have written. This is handy if you don't have Python on your computer, or something is really weird with your setup that makes esptool not run (which happens sometimes and isn't worth debugging!) You can follow along on the Web Serial ESPTool (https://adafru.it/Pdq) page and either load the UF2 bootloader and then come back to Option 1 on this page, or you can download the CircuitPython BIN file directly using the tool in the same manner as the bootloader.

CircuitPython Internet Libraries

To use the internet-connectivity built into your ESP32-S2 with CircuitPython, you must first install a number of libraries. This page covers that process.

Adafruit CircuitPython Library Bundle

Download the Adafruit CircuitPython Bundle. You can find the latest release here:

https://adafru.it/ENC

Download the adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-version-mpy-*.zip bundle zip file, and unzip a folder of the same name. Inside you'll find a lib folder. The entire collection of libraries is too large to fit on the CIRCUITPY drive. Instead, add each library as you need it, this will reduce the space usage but you'll need to put in a little more effort.

At a minimum we recommend the following libraries, in fact we more than recommend. They're basically required. So grab them and install them into CIRCUITPY/lib now!

adafruit_requests.mpy - A requests-like library for HTTP commands. neopixel.mpy - Helper library to use NeoPixel LEDs, often built into the boards so they're great for

quick feedback

Once you have added those files, please continue to the next page to set up and test Internet connectivity

https://adafru.it/ENC

CircuitPython Internet Test

Once you have CircuitPython installed and the minimum libraries installed we can get your board connected to the Internet.

To get connected, you will need to start by creating a secrets.py file.

Secrets File

We expect people to share tons of projects as they build CircuitPython WiFi widgets. What we want to avoid is people accidentally sharing their passwords or secret tokens and API keys. So, we designed all our examples to use a secrets.py file, that is in your CIRCUITPY drive, to hold secret/private/custom data. That way you can share your main project without worrying about accidentally sharing private stuff.

Your secrets.py file should look like this:

# This file is where you keep secret settings, passwords, and tokens! # If you put them in the code you risk committing that info or sharing it

secrets = { 'ssid' : 'home_wifi_network', 'password' : 'wifi_password', 'aio_username' : 'my_adafruit_io_username', 'aio_key' : 'my_adafruit_io_key', 'timezone' : "America/New_York", # http://worldtimeapi.org/timezones }

Copy and paste that text/code into a file called secrets.py and save it to your CIRCUITPY folder like so:

Inside is a python dictionary named secrets with a line for each entry. Each entry has an entry name (say 'ssid' ) and then a colon to separate it from the entry key 'home ssid' and finally a comma ,

At a minimum you'll need to adjust the ssid and password for your local WiFi setup so do that now!

As you make projects you may need more tokens and keys, just add them one line at a time. See for example other tokens such as one for accessing github or the hackaday API. Other non-secret data like your timezone can also go here, just cause its called secrets doesn't mean you can't have general customization data in there!

Adafruit Language Flashcards on the MagTag User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual