WipperSnapper is our no-code interface for interacting with your internet-connected development board over the internet. This is a great option if you want to quickly create an IoT project which logs data to the internet or controls your board from the internet.
What is WipperSnapper?
WipperSnapper is an interface for Adafruit IO, our incredibly easy-to-use IoT platform, designed to turn any WiFi-capable board into an IoT device without programming a single line of code.
Simply load the WipperSnapper firmware onto your board, add credentials, and plug it into power. Your board will automatically register itself with your Adafruit IO account.
From there, you can add components to your board such as buttons, switches, potentiometers, sensors, and more! Components are dynamically added to hardware, so you can immediately start interacting, logging, and streaming the data your projects produce without writing code.
Sign up for Adafruit.IO
Adafruit IO is a platform designed by Adafruit to display, respond, and interact with your project's data.
You need an Adafruit IO account to use Adafruit.io Wippersnapper.
If you do not already have an Adafruit IO account set up, head over to io.adafruit.com and register for a free Adafruit IO account.
Plug your board into your computer, using a known-good data-sync cable, directly, or via an adapter if needed.
Click the reset button once (highlighted in green above), and then click it again when you see the RGB status LED(s) turn purple (approximately half a second later). Sometimes it helps to think of it as a "slow double-click" of the reset button.
Once successful, you will see the RGB status LED(s) turn green. If you see red, try another port, or if you're using an adapter or hub, try without the hub, or a different adapter or hub.
If double-clicking doesn't work the first time, try again. Sometimes it can take a few tries to get the rhythm right!
A lot of people end up using charge-only USB cables and it is very frustrating! Make sure you have a USB cable you know is good for data sync.
You will see a new disk drive appear called QTPYS2BOOT.
Drag the wippersnapper.qtpy_esp32s2....uf2 file to QTPYS2.
The BOOT drive will disappear and a new drive called WIPPER will appear with two files, secrets.json and wipper_boot_out.txt, on the filesystem.
WipperSnapper Configuration
We expect educators, scientists, artists, and makers to need quick and easy access to their WiFi network credentials, along with a way of storing their Adafruit IO credentials.
WipperSnapper uses a secrets.json file on the WIPPER drive to hold your Adafruit IO credentials and network credentials.
Open the secrets.json file using a text editor.
Inside is a JSON-formatted text file with a line for each credential item. Each item has a name (such as your Adafruit IO username, io_username) and then a colon to separate it from the item key (such as YOUR_IO_USERNAME_HERE) and finally a comma.
{
"io_username": "YOUR_IO_USERNAME_HERE",
"io_key": "YOUR_IO_KEY_HERE",
"network_type_wifi_native": {
"network_ssid": "YOUR_WIFI_SSID_HERE",
"network_password": "YOUR_WIFI_PASS_HERE"
}
}
To obtain your Adafruit IO credentials, navigate to Adafruit IO and click My Key. A modal will pop up with your Adafruit IO Username your Adafruit IO Key.
Copy both of these values.
In the secrets.json file, replace YOUR_IO_USERNAME_HERE with your Adafruit IO username. Then, replace YOUR_IO_KEY_HERE with the value of your Adafruit IO active key.
{
"io_username": "learningsystem",
"io_key": "aio_superlongkeyname",
"network_type_wifi_native": {
"network_ssid": "YOUR_WIFI_SSID_HERE",
"network_password": "YOUR_WIFI_PASS_HERE"
}
}
Next, it's time to enter your wireless network credentials. Replace YOUR_WIFI_SSID_HERE with your WiFi SSID. Replace YOUR_WIFI_PASS_HERE with your WiFi network password.
Your final secrets.json file should look something like this:
{
"io_username": "learningsystem",
"io_key": "aio_superlongkeyname",
"network_type_wifi_native": {
"network_ssid": "mywifinetworkname",
"network_password": "mynetworkpassword"
}
}
On a web browser, navigate to the Adafruit IO website. Keep this page open during this step.
Next, safely eject the WIPPER drive.
Then, Press your board's RESET (RST) button once.
On the web page, you should see a new modal pop-up with a picture of your board! Give your board a name and click Continue to Device Page
You should be brought to the board's interface page.
Congrats - you have successfully set up your board and connected it to WipperSnapper! Next, let's learn how to use WipperSnapper.
