EuroSciPy 2026

login

Developing IoT sensors with MicroPython
.ical
2026-07-22 –, Room 1.19 (Ground Floor, Shannon)

In this workshop, you will create practical internet-connected sensors with MicroPython. We will cover the basics of setting up the development environment, both for developing on PC and deploying/developing on a microcontroller device.

Targeted towards those that are already comfortable programming in Python, but that have little exposure to embedded/hardware/electronics.

We will provide some MicroPython-capable hardware to develop against, pre-flashed with MicroPython. You may need to sit together in pairs or small groups for the on-device part.

Prerequisites

Participants must bring:

  • Laptop with Linux/MacOS/Windows Subsystem for Linux
  • Have Python 3.12+ with virtualenv support installed
  • USB-C to USB-C cable or USB Type A adapter (our kit only has Type A plug)

Outline of tutorial

Part I: MicroPython development

  • Introduction to MicroPython. 5 minutes
  • Developing with MicroPython on PC using Unix port. 15 min
  • Serving data and handling requests using MicroDot HTTP server. 10 min
  • Storing/loading sensor data using on-board filesystem. 5 min
  • Using frontend/browser for user interfaces. 20 min
  • Sending data to external servers using HTTP. 5 min

Part II: Deploying on device

  • Deploying our server on device. WiFi setup etc. 30 min
  • Physical input/output using GPIO. 10 min
  • Reading digital sensors using I2C. 10 min
  • Sending data to shared MQTT broker. 10 min

Part III: Open hacking

  • Extend the application skeleton.
    Pick one of 3 provided ideas (TBD).
Expected audience expertise: Domain: none Expected audience expertise: Python: some Supporting material: Supporting material Your relationship with the presented work/project: Active contributor
The speaker’s profile picture
Jon Nordby

Jon is a Machine Learning Engineer specialized in IoT systems. He has a Master in Data Science and a Bachelor in Electronics Engineering, and has published several papers on applied Machine Learning.
He has been contributing to open-source software since 2010.

These days Jon is co-founder and Head of Data Science at Soundsensing, a leading provider of condition monitoring solutions for commercial buildings and HVAC systems.
He is also the creator and maintainer of emlearn, an open-source Machine Learning library for microcontrollers and embedded systems.

This speaker also appears in: