MEMENTO - Python Programmable DIY Camera
by Adafruit
Make memories, or just a cool camera-based project, with Adafruit’s MEMENTO Camera Board. It’s a development board with everything you need to create programmable camera and vision projects: with a camera module, TFT preview screen, buttons, SD card slot and driven by a powerful ESP32-S3 with 2 MB of PSRAM for buffering 5 MegaPixel camera images.
This product is just the mainboard, and does not come with an enclosure, LED ring, hardware, SD card, or battery.
The ESP32-S3 is a WiFi and Bluetooth LE capable, 240 MHz dual core Tensilica processor - much like the famous ESP32. The S3 adds native USB support so it’s great for use with Arduino or CircuitPython. The S3 also has the ability to interface with raw camera modules. The cameras require 12 GPIO pins and fast data transfer in order to get images off the sensor, and then a lot of memory for storing 2560 x 1920 images - which is why we picked an S3 module with 2MB of PSRAM so that we can read JPEGs into memory for saving onto an SD card.
To make the board easy to use we added a ton of supporting hardware, here’s a full list of the hardware included:
- ESP32-S3 module with 8 MB Flash, 2 MB PSRAM - dual core 240MHz Tensilica with WiFi and BTLE.
- OV5640 camera module with 72 degree view and auto-focus motor - 5MP camera sensor with JPEG encoder built in.
- 1.54” 240x240 Color TFT - For previewing the camera images, or user interface design.
- MicroSD card slot - Store images or animations to any SPI-capable micro SD card.
- Two Digital/Analog Stemma Ports - JST PH-3 connectors for A0, A1 and power+ground for adding external buttons, LEDs, or sensors. Can provide 3V or 5V power.
- I2C Stemma QT Port - Connect just about any I2C sensor you please with a Stemma QT JST SH port, provides 3.3V power and logic.
- LIS3DH Accelerometer - Triple-access accelerometer can detect orientation, shaking or movement.
- LiPoly battery charging support - Use a 3.7/4.2V 350mA or 420mA battery for on-the-go snaps.
- 6 User Buttons - change modes, preview saved images, play DOOM (?). Connected through a GPIO expander
- Buzzer - play tones or alerts, or indicate when a photo was successfully taken
- Analog Microphone - Can be used as a sensor to detect loud sounds, not for recording video with audio.
- Shutter button - Connected to GPIO 0 for entering the ROM bootloader
- Reset button - For entering the bootloader or starting over
- On/Off switch - Cut all power when using a battery
- USB Type C for programming the ESP32-S3, as well as REPL access in CircuitPython and charging the optional LiPoly battery
- Breakout pads for hardware UART - for more intense debugging needs, solder wires to the through-hole pads to connect to a console cable.
- Four M3 standoffs for mounting or enclosure attachment.
We’ve got both Arduino and CircuitPython example code that lets you preview the camera, adjust settings, and take photos that are saved to disk. However, we recommend CircuitPython because the compilation time in Arduino is pretty intense due to the huge amount of code required to run the camera. CircuitPython is fast to develop for and our library will make it easy to start making custom camera projects.
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CircuitPython 9.0.4
This is the latest stable release of CircuitPython that will work with the MEMENTO - Python Programmable DIY Camera.
Use this release if you are new to CircuitPython.
Built-in modules available: _asyncio, _pixelmap, adafruit_bus_device, adafruit_pixelbuf, aesio, alarm, analogbufio, analogio, array, atexit, binascii, bitbangio, bitmapfilter, bitmaptools, board, builtins, builtins.pow3, busdisplay, busio, busio.SPI, busio.UART, codeop, collections, countio, digitalio, displayio, epaperdisplay, errno, espcamera, espidf, espnow, espulp, fontio, fourwire, frequencyio, getpass, gifio, hashlib, i2cdisplaybus, io, ipaddress, jpegio, json, locale, math, mdns, memorymap, microcontroller, msgpack, neopixel_write, nvm, os, os.getenv, ps2io, pulseio, pwmio, qrio, rainbowio, random, re, rtc, sdcardio, select, socketpool, ssl, storage, struct, supervisor, sys, terminalio, time, touchio, traceback, ulab, usb_cdc, usb_hid, usb_midi, vectorio, warnings, watchdog, wifi, zlib
CircuitPython 9.1.0-beta.1
This is the latest development release of CircuitPython that will work with the MEMENTO - Python Programmable DIY Camera.
Alpha development releases are early releases. They are unfinished, are likely to have bugs, and the features they provide may change. Beta releases may have some bugs and unfinished features, but should be suitable for many uses. A Release Candidate (rc) release is considered done and will become the next stable release, assuming no further issues are found.
Please try alpha, beta, and rc releases if you are able. Your testing is invaluable: it helps us uncover and find issues quickly.
Release Notes for 9.1.0-beta.1
Built-in modules available: _asyncio, _pixelmap, adafruit_bus_device, adafruit_pixelbuf, aesio, alarm, analogbufio, analogio, array, atexit, binascii, bitbangio, bitmaptools, board, builtins, builtins.pow3, busdisplay, busio, busio.SPI, busio.UART, codeop, collections, countio, digitalio, displayio, epaperdisplay, errno, espcamera, espidf, espnow, espulp, fontio, fourwire, frequencyio, getpass, gifio, hashlib, i2cdisplaybus, io, ipaddress, jpegio, json, locale, math, mdns, memorymap, microcontroller, msgpack, neopixel_write, nvm, os, os.getenv, ps2io, pulseio, pwmio, qrio, rainbowio, random, re, rtc, sdcardio, select, socketpool, ssl, storage, struct, supervisor, sys, terminalio, time, touchio, traceback, ulab, usb_cdc, usb_hid, usb_midi, vectorio, warnings, watchdog, wifi, zlib
Absolute Newest
Every time we commit new code to CircuitPython we automatically build binaries for each board and language. The binaries are stored on Amazon S3, organized by board, and then by language. These releases are even newer than the development release listed above. Try them if you want the absolute latest and are feeling daring or want to see if a problem has been fixed.
Previous Versions of CircuitPython
All previous releases of CircuitPython are available for download from Amazon S3 through the button below. For very old releases, look in the OLD/ folder for each board. Release notes for each release are available at GitHub button below.
Older releases are useful for testing if you something appears to be broken in a newer release but used to work, or if you have older code that depends on features only available in an older release. Otherwise we recommend using the latest stable release.
Install, Repair, or Update UF2 Bootloader
Latest version: 0.18.2
The UF2 bootloader allows you to load CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino programs. The bootloader is not CircuitPython. If a UF2 bootloader is installed, you can check its version by looking in the INFO_UF2.TXT file when the BOOT drive is visible (FTHRS2BOOT, MAGTAGBOOT, HOUSEBOOT, etc.)
It is not necessary to reinstall a UF2 bootloader you unless a BOOT drive is not visible when in UF2 bootloader mode, or you know of a problem with your current UF2 bootloader.
If a UF2 bootloader has never been installed on the board, or the UF2 bootloader was removed by erasing or overwriting the flash, the UF2 bootloader must be installed in order to flash .uf2 files onto the board. .bin files can be uploaded without a UF2 bootloader, using the ESP Web Flasher or esptool.py.
Note: update.uf2 files are not currently working on ESP32-S2 or ESP32-S3 boards.
Important: this will erase previously flashed firmware and sketches from the board, but needs to be perfomed only once.
The instructions here are general. We recommend you consult the manufacturer's board documentation for detailed instructions, which may be different.
- Unzip to find the file combined.bin.
- Place board in bootloader mode:
- Plug board into a USB port on your computer using a data/sync cable. Make sure it is the only board plugged in, and that a charge-only cable is not being used.
- Press and hold down the BOOT or 0 button.
- Press and release the RESET or RST button.
- Release the BOOT button.
- Upload combined.bin (Google Chrome 89 or newer):
- Open ESP Web Flasher in a new window/tab.
- Select 460800 Baud from the pull-down menu (top-right).
- Click Connect (top-right).
- Select the COM or Serial port from the pop-up window.
- After successful connection, click Erase.
- After successful erase, click any Choose a file..., then locate and select the combined.bin file unzipped earlier.
- After successfully choosing combined.bin, click Program.
- After the TinyUF2 firmware update is complete, press the RESET button on the board. A new drive BOOT should be visible in your file browser.
After installing the UF2 bootloader, enter the bootloader by double-clicking the reset button. On boards with an RGB status LED, tap reset once, wait for the LED to turn purple, and tap again before the purple goes away. On other boards, consult the board documentation.
After you update, check INFO_UF2.TXT to verify that the bootloader version has been updated. Then you will need to load or reload CircuitPython using the .uf2 file.