Pycom GPy

Overview

The Pycom GPy is a triple-bearer IoT development module combining Espressif ESP32 processing with WiFi, Bluetooth Low Energy, and LTE CAT-M1/NB1 cellular connectivity on a single breadboard-compatible board. The "G" in GPy refers to the cellular modem — this is one of the first compact MicroPython modules to integrate LTE connectivity directly on the board.

The LTE modem supports both CAT-M1 and NB1 standards under 3GPP Release 13, covering frequency bands from 699 MHz to 2690 MHz for global deployment. This cellular connectivity is complemented by 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with a 1km range and Bluetooth Low Energy for short-range communication, giving developers flexibility to choose the most appropriate network for any given deployment scenario.

The ESP32 SoC provides the computational backbone with dual-core processing, 4MB of PSRAM, and 8MB of flash, supporting Python multi-threading and hardware floating-point operations. The module exposes up to 22 GPIO pins with 8x 12-bit ADC, 2x DAC, multiple UART/SPI/I2C interfaces, and a microSD card slot — sufficient for most embedded IoT data acquisition tasks. A built-in ULP co-processor enables ultra-low-power sensor monitoring during deep sleep.

The GPy is programmed via MicroPython using Pycom's open-source firmware, which extends the standard MicroPython library with cellular-specific APIs. An LTE antenna (sold separately) is required for cellular operation; WiFi and BLE use the built-in ceramic antenna.