Hardware & Software

 

 

Your micro:bit has the following physical features:

 

LEDs

What is it? LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. The micro:bit has 25 individually-programmable LEDs, allowing you to display text, numbers, and images.

 

Buttons

What is it? There are two buttons on the front of the micro:bit (labelled A and B). You can detect when these buttons are pressed, allowing you to trigger code on the device.

 

Light Sensor

What is it? By reversing the LEDs of the screen to become an input, the LED screen works as a basic light sensor, allowing you to detect ambient light.

Temperature Sensor

What is it? This sensor allows the micro:bit to detect the current temperature of the device, in Farenheit and Celsius.

Pins

What is it? There are 25 external connectors on the edge connector of the micro:bit, which we refer to as 'pins'. Program motors, LEDs, or other electrical components with the pins, or connect extra sensors to control your code!

There are five large pins, that are also connected to holes in the board labelled: 0, 1, 2, 3V, and GND. And along the same edge, there are 20 small pins that you can use when plugging the BBC micro:bit into an edge connector.

Accelerometer

What is it? An accelerometer measures the acceleration of your micro:bit; this component senses when the micro:bit is moved. It can also detect other actions, e.g. shake, tilt, and free-fall.

 

Compass

What is it? The compass detects the earth's magnetic field, allowing you to detect which direction the micro:bit is facing. The compass has to be calibrated before it can be used.

Radio

What is it? The radio feature allows you to communicate wirelessly between micro:bits. Use the radio to send messages to other micro:bits, build multiplayer games, and much more!

The new Micro:bit - Version 2 (shown below) now has a built in Microphone and Speaker

 

Powering your micro:bit

When your BBC micro:bit is not connected to your computer with a USB, you will need 2 x AAA batteries to power it.

Always keep your BBC micro:bit in the anti-static bag when not using it. It's good practice to earth yourself before handling it.

Only handle the BBC micro:bit by its edges and avoid touching the components when powered.

 

Software

To code your micro:bit you will be using a website application called MakeCode for micro:bit

 

Bookmark the following website MakeCode

 

This is what the 'Home' screen looks like. The My Projects section will list any projects that you have been working on recently.

There are also lots of built in tutorials.

 

Click on the Flashing Heart tutorial and complete it.

Plug in your micro:bit into to your laptop using the USB cable.

Clicking on the button will save it to your micro:bit and also to the My Projects section of the Home screen.

To back up a your work you need to ensure you click on the blue disk icon and save to a folder on your OneDrive, giving it a suitable name