About PyPlaca
A MicroPython IDE for the ESP32 that runs entirely in the browser: you write the code, build the circuit and watch the board react, with nothing to install and no board required.
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What it is
PyPlaca is a Python and MicroPython teaching platform built for a single board: the ESP32 DevKit V1 (30 pins). On the left is the code editor; on the right, the board on a 3D bench, the circuit editor (breadboard, wires and components) and the outputs: Serial with REPL, variables, pin timeline, electrical warnings and tests.
- Tracks with lessons and automatically graded challenges, and XP;
- long articles, with examples that open in the simulator with one click;
- component cards and the DevKit V1 pin map, with the source of every number;
- project export as a
.zip(yourmain.py, as you wrote it) and flashing to the real board over the USB cable (Chrome and Edge).
Who it is for
For students in technical and university courses who are starting out with microcontroller programming, for teachers who want a hands-on class even without one board per student (with classes and a progress dashboard) and for anyone who likes electronics and wants to try an idea before connecting the wires.
Who makes it
PyPlaca is created and maintained by Prof. Rodrigo dos Santos Faustino, a programming teacher, under the brand FAUSTINOPSY. The platform was born in the classroom: the lab does not always have boards for everyone, and students need to make mistakes, measure and try again without fear of burning out a component.
The sibling project is logicabr.dev, by the same author, for learning programming logic in Portuguese. PyPlaca inherited from it the shape of the tracks, XP and the desk check; the rest was built for the ESP32.
How it works, in a few words
Everything runs in your browser. A Python interpreter written in JavaScript runs your program step by step and talks to a model of the board: the simulated pins, PWM, ADC, I2C, timers, Wi-Fi and MQTT. That is why you can pause, step back and see every variable. The server only comes in when you create an account: to store projects and progress in the cloud (if you allow it), grade challenges officially and set up classes. Without internet, the IDE, the simulator and the tracks keep working.
How close to the real board
Fidelity to the hardware is a rule of the project, not decoration. The simulator's numbers (read-only pins, boot pins, voltages, ADC resolution, PWM frequencies, timings) come from Espressif's documentation, from the MicroPython v1.29.0 source code and from measurements on a real DevKit V1; when a behavior has not been measured yet, it is marked as pending in the code instead of becoming an invented number.
Even so, a simulation is not the board: timing, analog values, noise, current draw and Wi-Fi (which here talks to a simulated network and a list of allowed addresses) may behave differently on the hardware. The simulator is for learning and testing logic; before connecting a real circuit, check the voltages and the component's datasheet card. The details are in the Terms of use.
Get in touch
Found a bug, want to use PyPlaca at your school or propose a partnership? See the Contact page or write to rfaustino007@gmail.com.