Do you want to learn how to use DAC and ADC on microcontrollers, in Python? With this Hackster tutorial, it will take a couple of minutes.

First, you’ll need to decide what development board you’ll be using. The tutorial uses the ESP32-DevkitC by Espressif. You can choose any of the Zerynth supported 32-bit microcontroller devices.

Secondly, you’ll need Zerynth Studio. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, you can do it now.

After that, it’s just a matter of following all the steps in the tutorial.

More about DAC and ADC

DAC stands for Digital to Analog Converter and, as you can guess, it converts digital signals into analog. As you can guess, ADC stands for Analog to Digital Converter and does the opposite.

Converting these signals back and forth is a common task in the embedded industry. That’s why a tutorial like this is so useful. For example, when you’re working on a project that has a temperature sensor, you need to convert this analog temperature data into a digital format. The analog temperature data has an infinite amount of values, while you need it in a neat binary form.

As the tutorial says:

“An analog signal varies continuously over time, i.e. it can take on infinite different values. A digital signal, on the contrary, can assume a finite number of different values.”

This organizes binary form will then be easily processed by the microcontroller.

Check out Zerynth Academy

If you’re done with this tutorial, and you want to explore other possibilities in Python and Zerynth Studio, check out the Zerynth Academy. It’s the perfect place for inspiration (and challenges).

Just take a look at some of the tutorials it has to offer:

• WiFi Packet analyzer (aka WiFi Sniffer) using ESP32 and Python – In this tutorial, you will be looking at the Promiscuous Mode (WiFi sniffer) for the ESP32 based boards and as an example. You are also going to see the implementation of WiFi sniffer using Zerynth Studio.
• Design Bluetooth BLE Applications in Python on ESP32 using Zerynth – the tutorial teaches how to implement BLE Alerts with ESP32 using Zerynth.
• How to use Python on microcontrollers for Blockchain and IoT applications – This tutorial will be exploring the potential of combining IoT and blockchain using simple Python directly on microcontrollers, thanks to Zerynth tools. In particular, the Zerynth Ethereum library allows microcontrollers, the heart of IoT solutions, to generate and sign Ethereum transactions in a few lines of Python.
• Getting Started with Zerynth on XinaBox – Blinking an LED using Python – the tutorial teaches how to get started with the XinaBox XK12 IoT Starter Kit, and how to do some LED blinking.

Download Zerynth Studio

Do you want to recreate this tutorial? Then download Zerynth Studio, and start programming 32-bit microcontrollers in Python.

Zerynth Studio is free for download and available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.