BBC micro: bit - all information about the single board computer
The BBC micro: bit is a practical developer platform for beginners and advanced users.
Here you can buy micro: bit
The small circuit board is available, among other things, as a "micro: bit go" package, which is currently commercially available for around 20 euros.
- Supplied with a quick guide, a USB adapter, a battery box with batteries and of course the board itself.
- To really have fun, you need a micro: bit expansion board so you can use all the GPIO pins on the board.
What does the board offer?
On the back you will find a micro USB socket to which you can connect the micro: bit to the PC. You will also find a connection for a 3V power source (→ battery box).
- The board has a microcontroller with 32-bit architecture. This has a clock frequency of 16 MHz and has 56 kilobytes of flash memory and 16 kilobytes of static RAM.
- The processor also supports "Bluetooth Low Energy", which is why a suitable Bluetooth antenna was installed on the module. A compass and an acceleration sensor were also installed.
- There are two buttons on the front and a 5 × 5 LED matrix. The LEDs can also be used as a brightness sensor. The micro: bit also has a temperature sensor installed and can communicate with other micro: bits.
- At the bottom you can find five rings, three of which are analog inputs and outputs and the other two can be used as ground or 3V pin. You can simply plug in a few banana plugs here. There are various GPIO pins between the rings, some of which can also be used for communication using I²C or SPI. For this you need the expansion board mentioned above.
program micro: bit
There are two different ways to program the micro: bit:
- You can either use a Python editor or a JavaScript block editor. Let your creativity run free when programming.
- To test the program, connect the micro: bit to your PC with the USB cable. This should then be automatically recognized as a new drive. Then click the download button in the program editor and save the HEX file on the micro: bit. Now you can test the program on your board.
In the next practical tip, you will learn how to create your own 3D models with Solid Edge.