ESP32-MPY-Jama MicroPython IDE Programs ESP32 MCUs

MPY-Jama, created by Jean-Christophe Bos, is a great tool for those looking for a balance between heavy and light IDEs that support MicroPython. MicroPython is an open-source interpreter that runs on embedded hardware, allowing programmers to write easy-to-understand programs for microcontrollers like Espressif’s ESP32 quickly. MPY-Jama has an IDE, a REPL terminal, Wi-Fi tools, and other features that make working with the ESP32 and MicroPython much simpler.

Bos provides pre-compiled binaries for macOS and Windows for ESP32 MPY-Jama, a C-python program. For Linux, you can either run it directly or follow Bos’ instructions to build a binary tailored to your distro using pyinstaller. The ESP32’s IDE section looks, at and feels like the Arduino 2.0 IDE, with files arranged as tabs and saved directly to the ESP32. Unfortunately, there is no code completion when writing MicroPython instructions, but the color theme and syntax highlighting are well done. Additionally, the integrated REPL (read-evaluate-print-loop) terminal allows users to switch between writing code and directly testing functions.

Other IDEs, such as Thonny and Mu, have the essential features, but ESP32 MPY-Jama stands out due to its additional capabilities. For instance, it comes with a suite of tools called Jama Funcs, which are pre-built functions to help configure the device. Furthermore, the Wi-Fi connection tools make it simple to search for available networks and connect MicroPython to them.

The GUI has a widget in the bottom-left corner that always displays real-time information such as RAM usage, temperature sensor, and how long the board has been running. Additionally, the System Info section provides additional details that can be accessed without having to type commands on the REPL, such as the version of code on the device, as well as a real-time read-out of the GPIO pin state.

In order to use the firmware tools to help with updating the firmware, ESP32 MPY-Jama must have access to the esptool.py toolchain, which can be installed through pip, the python package manager. If you are a Windows user, you may need to add the directory path of the installed EXEs to your environmental variables so that ESP32 MPY-Jama can locate the tool. For instance, “esptool.py.exe” may be installed in “%AppData%\Roaming\Python\Python39\Scripts” (the location may vary depending on your system and Python version). He also provided details on how to clone the repository and run from the source. It has been tested on Ubuntu 22.04, but should work with minor adjustments on similar distributions.

You can find more information in the GitHub repository.

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