TiLDA MK4/Get Started

Get started

Hacking your TiLDA Mk4 badge is easy. We've written it down step by step.

If something goes wrong, the badge can be reset to its out-of-the-box state, so do not be concerned about breaking anything.

1. Connect to your computer

To get started you need to connect your badge to a computer. You can use any MicroUSB cable - the same type that charges most mobile phones nowadays. It doesn't matter whether the battery is plugged in or not, so don't worry about it.

2. Connect to your badge

Windows

• Please follow the instruction under the "Windows" section on this page: https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/pyboard/pyboard/tutorial/repl.html
• Once you've installed the driver and Putty and you've connected to your badge, press Control+C to stop the main badge app, and then you should be greeted by a line saying "Micropython"

OSX

• Click the magnifying class in the top right of your screen and type Terminal followed by Enter. A white terminal window should appear.
• type screen /dev/tty.usbmodem* (The * is important, so don't let it out) and hit enter
• hit control+c, if an error is displayed
• You should now be greeted by a line saying "Micropython"

Linux

• Open a terminal and type screen /dev/xyz (todo: please add the correct path)
• You should now be greeted by a line saying "Micropython"

What to do if this step doesn't work?

• Press the reset button at the back of your badge and try again
• Have a look at https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/pyboard/pyboard/tutorial/repl.html for more information

3. Your first line of Micropython

• In your terminal (next to the >>>) type print(1 + 1) followed by Enter
• You should see 2 printed on the screen. Congratulations, you've just written your first line of micropython code!
• You can now close the terminal window (or Putty, if you're on Windows). Note: some serial terminals will not close when the badge is removed or powered off. You should close the serial terminal before plugging the badge back in, otherwise the serial terminal may not reconnect.

4. Download some software you'll need

You will be downloading some stuff now. It's probably be best if you create some folder somewhere so you don't end up with files all over your Desktop.

Note you can copy files across from your computer to the badge, reset the badge and run the files though the menu, however these instructions make things a little easier.

Windows

• Python: Go to https://www.python.org/downloads/ and download python version 3.x. After the download is finished you can install it.
• Go to https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py and save the file into your folder
• Hold shift, right click on the folder on, and click "open command window here"
• Now type python get-pip.py
• After the install was successful please type pip install pyserial pyusb followed by Enter.

OSX / Linux

• Python: Open a terminal and type python --version. If you get a version number you're good to go, otherwise go to https://www.python.org/downloads/ and download Python version 3.x. After the download is finished you can install it.
• Go to https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py and save the file into your folder
• Use a terminal to go to the folder you created (this is how you do it) and type python get-pip.py
• Now type python get-pip.py
• After the install was successful please type pip install pyserial pyusb followed by Enter

Problems

• If you have problems install python, please use google, there are lots of good explanations out there
• For information about how to install pip have a look here: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/

5. tilda_tools

You need to clone our Mk4-Apps repository: https://github.com/emfcamp/Mk4-Apps

You might find some tricks on how to do this here: https://badge.emfcamp.org/wiki/TiLDA_MK4/Badge_Store_Submissions#Submitting_your_badge_app_to_the_official_badge_store

There's a python script calle "tilda_tools" in the repository. You can use it to do all sorts of stuff that is a bit complicated to do with the USB mass storage.

To test it open "adhoc.py" and add the following line at the bottom:

ugfx.text(5, 5, "Hello World!", ugfx.RED)

and then run "./tilda_tools run adhoc.py" (or "python tilda_tools run adhoc.py" on Windows)

Todo: test this on windows - what's the best way of running python scripts there?

You should now see "Hello World!" on your screen.

5. Your first app

Let's create an app you can put on your badge.

• Open the folder you've downloaded from github - You will see other app folders like "badge_store" and "snake".
• Create a folder called "my_app". This is your new app.
• Open a text editor. On Windows you can search for Notepad, on OSX there's one called textedit and if you're on Linux you can probably find one by searching for "edit".
• Copy the following and save it as main.py in your folder:

"""My first app"""

___title___         = "My app"
___license___      = "MIT"
___dependencies___ = ["ugfx_helper"]
___categories___ = ["Demo"]

import ugfx_helper, ugfx, tilda, sleep
from app import restart_to_default

ugfx_helper.init()
ugfx.clear()

ugfx.text(5, 5, "Hello World", ugfx.RED)
ugfx.fill_circle(100, 100, 30, ugfx.GREEN)
ugfx.fill_circle(200, 100, 30, ugfx.GREEN)
ugfx.area(80, 150, 140, 20, ugfx.GREEN)
ugfx.area(120, 170, 60, 20, ugfx.GREEN)

while tilda.Buttons.is_pressed(Buttons.BTN_Menu) is False:
    sleep.wfi() # This means sleep for a short while

ugfx.clear()
restart_to_default()

Now you can run "./tilda_tools app my_app" - Wait a few seconds and you should see your app working on the screen.

It will now work even when the computer is disconnected. To load it you'll have to open it via the Launcher or use the settings app to make it your default app.

6. Publish your app to the app library

Now that you have your own smiley app, why not share it with others?

See https://badge.emfcamp.org/wiki/TiLDA_MK4/Badge_Store_Submissions for more information