Are you new to using CircuitPython? No worries, there is a full getting started guide here.
Adafruit suggests using the Mu editor to edit your code and have an interactive REPL in CircuitPython. You can learn about Mu and installation in this tutorial.
Set up the IO Feed
Create a feed called "barcode". (You can choose another feed name but you'll need to make sure that Adafruit IO's "key" for the feed matches what you use in your CircuitPython program!)
You can also add this Feed to a Dashboard, if you want to show it together with information from other Feeds.
Secrets File Setup for Adafruit IO
If you don't have a secrets.py file in your CIRCUITPY drive yet, create one and add the information about your wifi connection.
Then, add the following code to your secrets.py file, replacing _your_adafruit_io_username
with your Adafruit IO username.
Then, replace _your_big_huge_super_long_aio_key_
with your Adafruit IO Active Key.
secrets = { 'ssid' : '_your_wifi_ssid_', 'password' : '_your_wifi_password_', 'aio_username' : '_your_adafruit_io_username_', 'aio_key' : '_your_big_huge_super_long_aio_key_', }
Make sure you save this file before proceeding as secrets.py in the root directory of your board CIRCUITPY drive.
Download the Project Bundle
Your project will use a specific set of CircuitPython libraries and the code.py file. In order to get the libraries you need, click on the Download Project Bundle link below, and uncompress the .zip file.
Drag the contents of the uncompressed bundle directory onto your board's CIRCUITPY drive, replacing any existing files or directories with the same names, and adding any new ones that are necessary.

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2021 Jeff Epler for Adafruit Industries # # SPDX-License-Identifier: Unlicense """ This demo is designed for the Kaluga development kit version 1.3 with the ILI9341 display. Your secrets.py must be populated with your wifi credentials and your Adafruit IO credentials. """ import ssl from secrets import secrets from ulab import numpy as np from terminalio import FONT import board import busio import displayio import fourwire import qrio import socketpool import wifi import adafruit_ov2640 from adafruit_display_text.bitmap_label import Label from adafruit_ili9341 import ILI9341 from adafruit_io.adafruit_io import IO_MQTT import adafruit_minimqtt.adafruit_minimqtt as MQTT # To change the name of the feed on adafruit_io, just modify this string: feed_name = "qrstring" print("Initializing display") displayio.release_displays() spi = busio.SPI(MOSI=board.LCD_MOSI, clock=board.LCD_CLK) display_bus = fourwire.FourWire( spi, command=board.LCD_D_C, chip_select=board.LCD_CS, reset=board.LCD_RST ) display = ILI9341(display_bus, width=320, height=240, rotation=90) print("Initializing camera") bus = busio.I2C(scl=board.CAMERA_SIOC, sda=board.CAMERA_SIOD) cam = adafruit_ov2640.OV2640( bus, data_pins=board.CAMERA_DATA, clock=board.CAMERA_PCLK, vsync=board.CAMERA_VSYNC, href=board.CAMERA_HREF, mclk=board.CAMERA_XCLK, mclk_frequency=20_000_000, size=adafruit_ov2640.OV2640_SIZE_QQVGA, ) cam.flip_x = False cam.flip_y = False cam.colorspace = adafruit_ov2640.OV2640_COLOR_YUV print("Connecting to WIFI") wifi.radio.connect(secrets["ssid"], secrets["password"]) pool = socketpool.SocketPool(wifi.radio) print("Connecting to Adafruit IO") mqtt_client = MQTT.MQTT( broker="io.adafruit.com", username=secrets["aio_username"], password=secrets["aio_key"], socket_pool=pool, ssl_context=ssl.create_default_context(), ) mqtt_client.connect() io = IO_MQTT(mqtt_client) # Blank out any previously published message io.publish(feed_name, "\ufeff") qrdecoder = qrio.QRDecoder(cam.width, cam.height) bitmap = displayio.Bitmap(cam.width, cam.height, 65536) # Create a greyscale palette pal = displayio.Palette(256) for i in range(256): pal[i] = 0x10101 * i label = Label( font=FONT, text="Scan QR Code...", color=0xFFFFFF, background_color=0x0, padding_top=2, padding_left=2, padding_right=2, padding_bottom=2, anchor_point=(0.5, 1.0), anchored_position=(160, 230), ) # Show the camera image at 2x size g1 = displayio.Group(scale=2) view = np.frombuffer(bitmap, dtype=np.uint8) tg = displayio.TileGrid( bitmap, pixel_shader=pal, ) tg.flip_y = True g1.append(tg) g = displayio.Group() g.append(g1) g.append(label) display.root_group = g display.auto_refresh = False old_payload = None while True: cam.capture(bitmap) for row in qrdecoder.decode(bitmap, qrio.PixelPolicy.EVEN_BYTES): payload = row.payload try: payload = payload.decode("utf-8") except UnicodeError: payload = str(payload) if payload != old_payload: label.text = payload print(payload) for i in range(3): try: io.publish(feed_name, payload) old_payload = payload break except OSError as e: print(e) mqtt_client.reconnect() # Clear out the odd bytes, so that the bitmap displays as greyscale view[1::2] = 0 bitmap.dirty() display.refresh(minimum_frames_per_second=0)
Once the code is uploaded, the program will automatically start and display a greyscale capture from the camera.
Hold a printed QR code in front of the camera at a distance of about 6". The scanned QR code will be shown on the LCD and also uploaded to Adafruit IO via WiFi.
If something goes wrong, you can use the REPL to diagnose the problem.
Page last edited January 21, 2025
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