BadgePython

• 1: API reference
• 1.1: Display
• 1.2: Buttons
• 1.3: mch22

Info

This section describes the new BadgePython app and firmware. Currently this firmware is only released for the MCH2022 badge. If you’re using an older badge please read the documentation in the ESP32 platform firmware section instead.

1 - API reference

Welcome to the API reference for BadgePython.

This reference describes all officially supported APIs of our platform. We try to keep these APIs as stable as possible. There are many more (undocumented) APIs in the firmware, all of which may change at any time!

BadgePython uses MicroPython at it’s core.The libraries and APIs from the upstream MicroPython project are available in BadgePython.

The MicroPython documentation describes the builtin libraries and functions.

We’ve added some badge specific APIs for efficiently controlling hardware like the display and reading the buttons. By implementing the resource intensive parts of driving the hardware in C. This allows for a much more speedy experience and a lot more possibilities and flexibility.

If you want to help with firmware development please tell us! We’re always happy to accept PRs and improvements.

Should you have ideas, problems or observations but no means to act on them then you can always create an issue on Github.

BadgePython APIs

Other libraries and APIs

This section lists most of the other libraries that you can use in your apps.

1.1 - Display

The display module is available on platforms which have the framebuffer driver enabled. It allows for controlling the display of your device.

Available on:    ✅ CampZone 2020    ✅ Disobey 2020    ✅ CampZone 2019    ✅ HackerHotel 2019
✅ Disobey 2019    ✅ SHA2017

Reference

* This command is only available if you run a firmware with graphics acceleration, and the respective part enabled in the component config under Driver: framebuffer. Currently, badges have these features disabled by default.

Color representation

Colors are always represented in 24-bit from within Python, in the 0xRRGGBB format. This matches HTML/CSS colors which are #RRGGBB as well.

Devices with a smaller colorspace will not actually store the exact color information provided. For displays with a color depth of less than 24-bit the display driver will automatically mix down the colors to the available color depth. This means that even if you have a black and white display 0x000000 is black and 0xFFFFFF is white.

Examples

Setting one pixel

import display
x = 2
y = 3
display.drawPixel(x, y, 0x00FF00)  # Set one pixel to 100% green
display.flush() # Write the contents of the buffer to the display

Drawing a line

import display
display.drawFill(0x000000) # Fill the screen with black
display.drawLine(10, 10, 20, 20, 0xFFFFFF) # Draw a white line from (10,10) to (20,20)
display.flush() # Write the contents of the buffer to the display

Drawing a line using pixels:

import display, time
display.drawFill(display.BLACK) # Fill the screen with black before drawing the line
displau.flush() # Write the color to the screen before drawing the line
for i in range(80): # Loop for the X axis
    display.drawPixel(i, 1, 0x00FF00) # Set 1 pixel on the X axis i, and the Y axis 1 to 100% green 
    display.flush() # Write the pixel output to the screen
    time.sleep(0.050) # Sleep for 50 milliseconds as to show the line being drawn

Drawing text

import display
display.drawFill(0x000000) # Fill the screen with black
display.drawText(10, 10, "Hello world!", 0xFFFFFF, "permanentmarker22") # Draw the text "Hello world!" at (10,10) in white with the PermanentMarker font with size 22
display.flush() # Write the contents of the buffer to the display

Drawing a rectangle

import display
display.drawFill(0x000000) # Fill the screen with black
display.drawRect(10, 10, 10, 10, False, 0xFFFFFF) # Draw the border of a 10x10 rectangle at (10,10) in white
display.drawRect(30, 30, 10, 10, True, 0xFFFFFF) # Draw a filled 10x10 rectangle at (30,30) in white
display.flush() # Write the contents of the buffer to the display

Spinning a box

Note: as described earlier, matrix transformations are not enabled in the firmware by default

import display, math
# Note: radians are an angle unit where PI (math.pi) is half a rotation
display.clearMatrix() # Clear the matrix stack, just in case it wasn't already
display.translate(display.width() / 2, display.height() / 2) # Go to the middle of the screen
    # Everything is now offset as if the middle of the screen is X/Y (0, 0)
while True:
    display.drawFill(0xffffff) # Fill the screen with white
    display.rotate(math.pi * 0.1) # This will continually rotate the screen by a small amount
    display.drawRect(-20, -20, 40, 40, True, 0x000000) # Simply draw a rectangle, which will then spin
    display.flush() # Flush, show everything

Spinning text

Note: as described earlier, matrix transformations are not enabled in the firmware by default

Similarly to spinning a box, you can also spin text this way.

import display, math
# Note: radians are an angle unit where PI (math.pi) is half a rotation
text = "Well hello there!" # Whatever you want to show
font = "7x5" # Pick a font
scale = 2 # You can scale text, too!
display.clearMatrix() # Clear the matrix stack, just in case it wasn't already
display.translate(display.width() / 2, display.height() / 2) # Go to the middle of the screen
    # Everything is now offset as if the middle of the screen is X/Y (0, 0)
while True:
    display.drawFill(0xffffff) # Fill the screen with white
    display.rotate(math.pi * 0.1) # This will continually rotate the screen by a small amount
    textWidth = display.getTextWidth(text, font) # Get the size so we can center the text
    textHeight = display.getTextHeight(text, font)
    display.pushMatrix() # Save the transformation for later
    display.scale(scale, scale) # Scale the text
    display.translate(-textWidth / 2, -textHeight / 2) # Move the canvas so the text is centered
        # It is important you scale first, then translate
    display.drawText(0, 0, text, 0x000000, font) # Spinny texts
    display.popMatrix() # Restore the transformation
    display.flush() # Flush, show everything

More complex graphics

Note: as described earlier, matrix transformations are not enabled in the firmware by default

Now you’ve spun a box and some text, what about something more complicated?
Let’s say we draw a boat on a wave!

First, we draw the boat using some shapes:

import display, math

def drawBoat():
    display.pushMatrix()
    drawBoatBottom(0x000000)
    display.translate(-4, 0) # Move just a little so the mast lines up nicely
    drawBoatMast(0x000000, 0x000000)
    display.popMatrix()

def drawBoatMast(mastColor, flagColor):
    # The points drawn, by place:
    # 0--1
    # |  |
    # |  6
    # |  |\
    # |  5-4
    # |  |
    # 3--2
    x0, y0 = 0, -23
    x1, y1 = 3, -23
    x2, y2 = 3, 0
    x3, y3 = 0, 0
    x4, y4 = 12, -10
    x5, y5 = 3, -10
    x6, y6 = 3, -20
    display.drawQuad(x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3, mastColor) # This is the mast: points 0, 1, 2, 3
    display.drawTri(x4, y4, x5, y5, x6, y6, flagColor) # This is the flag: points 4, 5, 6

def drawBoatBottom(color):
    # The points drawn, by place:
    # 0--------1
    #  \      /
    #   3----2
    x0, y0 = -20, 0
    x1, y1 = 20, 0
    x2, y2 = 16, 8
    x3, y3 = -16, 8
    display.drawQuad(x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3, color)

Now, to test your boat drawing action:

import display, math

# Put the boat drawing functions here

display.clearMatrix() # Don't forget
display.translate(30, 30) # Move to where you want to draw the boat
display.drawFill(0xffffff) # Clear the screen once more
drawBoat() # Draw the boat of course
display.flush() # Flush display; boat is now visible

Then, we’ll draw a wave and a sun:

import display, math

def drawSun(color): # Draws the sun with a circle and some lines
    display.pushMatrix()
    display.translate(-3, -3 - display.height()) # This is where the sun will orbit around
        # We do - display.height() here because we set the origin to be at the bottom of the screen earlier
    display.drawCircle(0, 0, 30, 0, 360, True, color) # The sun
    display.rotate(sunOffset)
    for i in range(20): # Draw lines as the sun's rays
        display.rotate(math.pi / 10)
        display.drawLine(0, 35, 0, 45, color)
    display.popMatrix()

# For good measure.
display.clearMatrix()

display.translate(0, display.height())

sunOffset = 0
offset = 0
boatX = display.width() / 6
boatAngle = 0
boatY = 0

while True:
    display.drawFill(0xffffff)
    drawSun(0x000000) # Draw the sun
    for i in range(display.width()): # Draw the waves by plotting points
        wave = math.sin((i + offset) * math.pi / 35) * 8 - 35
        display.drawPixel(i, wave, 0x000000)
        if i & 1:
            for j in range(round(wave - 1) | 1, 0, 2):
                display.drawPixel(i, j + ((i >> 1) & 1) + 1, 0x000000)
    offset += 8 # Move the waves over by a bit
    sunOffset += math.pi * 0.025 # Spin the sun by a bit
    display.flush()

Finally, you can draw the boat on the wave, by adding some code:

while True:
    display.drawFill(0xffffff)
    drawSun(0x000000)
    for i in range(display.width()):
        wave = math.sin((i + offset) * math.pi / 35) * 8 - 35
        display.drawPixel(i, wave, 0x000000)
        if i & 1:
            for j in range(round(wave - 1) | 1, 0, 2):
                display.drawPixel(i, j + ((i >> 1) & 1) + 1, 0x000000)
    # vvvv HERE vvvv
    display.pushMatrix() # Save the transformation, we're going to mess with it
    waterLevelBeforeBoat = math.sin((boatX + 2 + offset) * math.pi / 35) * 8 - 35
    boatY = math.sin((boatX + offset) * math.pi / 35) * 8 - 35
        # Calculate the two water levels, one at and one before the boat
        # By doing this, we know how and where to position the boat
    boatAngle = math.atan2(waterLevelBeforeBoat - boatY, 2) # Using atan2 to find the angle required to rock the boat with the wave
    display.translate(boatX, boatY - 6) # Now, position the boat
    display.rotate(boatAngle)
    drawBoat() # And draw the boat
    display.popMatrix() # Undo our changes to the transformation
    # ^^^^ HERE ^^^^
    offset += 8
    sunOffset += math.pi * 0.025
    display.flush()

The source code for the boat can be found here: gist: boat.py

Available fonts:

The fonts in the latest firmware can be obtained from the sourcecode.

Known problems

• Rotation of the contents of windows does not work correctly in combination with rotation of the screen itself
• There is no method available to list the fonts available on your platform
• There is no method for providing a custom font
• There is no anti-aliassing support

1.2 - Buttons

The buttons API allows you to read the state of the buttons on a badge. This API encapsulates the drivers for different button types.

Badge support

This API is currently supported on the following badges:

• SHA2017
• Hackerhotel 2019
• Disobey 2019
• CampZone 2019
• Disobey 2020
• Fri3dcamp 2018

Support for GPIO buttons and touch-buttons via the MPR121 touch controller IC are supported. Touch buttons using the touch button features of the ESP32 can not be used (yet).

Reference

Button availability per badge

Default callback per button

Callback implementation:

to use the buttons, you need to implement a callback function:

import buttons, display # Imports 2 libraries to use the buttons, the display library, as well as the buttons library
def on_action_btn(pressed): # Defines a function on_action_btn with the required parameter pressed
    if pressed: # Uses an if statement to check if the button has been pressed
        display.drawFill(display.BLACK) # If the button is pressed, sets the screen to black
        display.drawText(10,10,"Hack The Planet!!!", display.GREEN, "roboto_regular18") # Draws text if the button is pressed
        display.flush() # Flushes the screen to draw the text and color onto the screen
buttons.attach(buttons.BTN_A, on_action_btn) # Assigns the function on_action_btn to the A button

1.3 - mch22

FPGA

The ICE40UP5K FPGA on the MCH2022 badge can be controlled using these APIs.

Loading a bitstream

A bitstream can be loaded into the FPGA by calling mch22.fpga_load(x) with x being a bytes object containing the bitstream binary. Loading a bitstream automatically enables the FPGA.

Disabling the FPGA

To disable the FPGA after a bitstream was loaded call mch22.fpga_disable(). Note that to enable the FPGA a bitstream has to be loaded in again.

Communicating with the FPGA

The FPGA is connected to the ESP32 via an SPI bus. Communication over SPI can be done in full-duplex mode (sending while receiving) or in half-duplex mode (only sending or receiving).

The transmitting functions require a bytes object, the receiving functions return a bytes object.

In case you get communication errors please check the timing constraints of your bitstream.

LCD mode

To connect the LCD to the FPGA call mch22.lcd_mode(True), to connect the LCD to the ESP32 call mch22.lcd_mode(False). To send the contents of the framebuffer to the LCD call display.flush(True), the True argument forces the flush to happen even though the contents of the framebuffer haven’t changed.

GPIO

You can set the direction of a GPIO pin using mch22.set_gpio_dir(pin, direction), where pin is one of mch22.SAO_IO0_PIN, mch22.SAO_IO1_PIN, mch22.PROTO_0_PIN or mch2022.PROTO_1_PIN and direction is False for input or True for output.

Inputs can be read using value = mch22.get_gpio_value(pin) and outputs can be set using mch22.set_gpio_value(pin, value).

Deprecated functions

These functions have been moved to other, more generic APIs. Please use those APIs instead.

Buttons

The mch22 module exposes a direct interface to the button handler code via the buttons and set_handler functions. Please do not use these, use the buttons API instead. Using these APIs directly can cause crashes to occur.

Brightness control

Please use the display API instead, brightness can be set using display.brightness(x) with x being a value from 0 to 255.