Copy the Firmware

Copy the firmware to the robot

You'll need: a board with CircuitPython installed, a copy of the project · Time: 5 minutes

The firmware is the set of files in the project's PropMaker_Feather folder. Copying them onto the CIRCUITPY drive puts them on the robot.

The first time: copy by hand

1. From the latest release, download ddl0-firmware-…zip and extract it. (The simulator download and a Git copy have the same files in their PropMaker_Feather folder.)
2. Plug the Feather into your computer. The CIRCUITPY drive appears.
3. Open the extracted folder.
4. Select these and copy them onto CIRCUITPY, replacing anything already there:
   • code.py, boot.py, config.py, hardware.py, log.py, log_off.py, settings.toml
   • the folders behaviours and lib
5. Make a folder called sounds on CIRCUITPY and put your WAV files in it. The sounds aren't included in the project: see Adding sounds for how to make them and the Sound list for the names.
6. Wait for the copy to finish. The board restarts by itself and Lola starts up.

Don't copy or delete boot_out.txt: the board writes it itself.

✅ It should look like this

The board's wings sweep, its eyes light up and it plays a sound. Then it breathes.

Every time after: Deploy from the simulator

Once the libraries are on the board, the simulator can copy just the files you changed.

1. Plug the robot in.
2. In the simulator, click ⬆ Deploy at the right of the toolbar.
3. It lists the files that are new or changed. Check the list, then confirm.
4. Each file appears in the Log as [sim] deployed …. The board restarts once at the end.

⚠️ Something went wrong?

Problem	Fix
No CIRCUITPY drive found	Plug the robot in and wait for the drive to appear. Check your cable carries data. On Linux it's looked for under /media/$USER/, /run/media/$USER/ or /media/; on a Mac under /Volumes/.
The board crashes with an error about sounds/	The sounds folder is missing on CIRCUITPY. Make it (step 5).
The copy fails: the drive is "read-only"	Logging mode is on. Turn it off first: see Test it and read the log.
The board's LED blinks and Lola does nothing	There's an error. Open the serial console to read it (Test it and read the log). Did you copy lib?
ImportError: no module named …	The lib folder is missing or incomplete. Copy it again.
The wings don't move while it's plugged in	Normal: the wings can't run while the board is plugged into a computer. Unplug it and run on the battery.

More detail (for tinkerers)

• Deploy compares files byte for byte and copies only what's new or changed: the top-level .py files, settings.toml, behaviours/ and sounds/. It never touches lib/ or boot_out.txt, never deletes anything, never copies log.txt or log_mode, and copies code.py last so the board restarts once with everything in place.
• Deploy copies from the folder chosen with 🗁 Firmware.
• Try every change in the simulator before deploying: Try changes in the simulator.