Program the ESP32 with PictoBlox

Code Blocks

© Lead Image © Dietmar Hoepfl, 123RF.com

© Lead Image © Dietmar Hoepfl, 123RF.com

Article from Issue 299/2025
Author(s):

Block coding is not exactly new, but block programming of a microcontroller is more exciting than you might think.

As the name suggests, PictoBlox is a block-based development environment. What's unusual about it is the option to upload programs directly to an MCU. I will be looking at an example to discover how to implement projects with PictoBlox.

You can download the development environment free of charge from the manufacturer's homepage [1]; different versions are available for all common operating systems. As the current 7.1.0 version refused to compile programs for the ESP32 on Ubuntu, I went for the slightly older 6.2.0 version in my lab. After downloading the right installation package, install it on your computer with the following command:

sudo dpkg -i PictoBlox6.2.0amdx64linux.deb

[...]

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