Although the BBC has finalized the design for the Micro:bit, there are no specs at all. However, a few educated guesses can be made. The USB controller is provided by Freescale, who also provide the digital compass and magnetometer. Programming is done through a web-based, Arduino-like IDE with what appears to be a decent Micro:bit specific library. The board is also mbed compatible. Bluetooth, and apparently the ARM Cortex M0 core, is provided by a Nordic nRF51822. There are only three alligator clip-compatible I/Os, and its doubtful any student will be building anything that would be too complex for an entry level ARM. It’s also 3V logic; finally, the tyranny of 5V has fallen.
The Micro:bit is best seen as a tool that enables the relatively recent addition of a computer science curriculum in UK schools. There is now a requirement for seven-year-olds to understand algorithms and create simple programs. Previously computer education in the UK has consisted of PowerPoint. Now, secondary school students will be learning Boolean logic.
While the Micro:bit is utterly useless as a tool for doing real work, education is not real work. For blinking a few LEDs, having a device react to movement, playing with Bluetooth, and other lesser evils of electronics, the Micro:bit is great.
Students will build a collision detection buggy which utilises the built in accelerometer in the BBC micro:bit and the expansion connector.
The buggy consists of two motors and wheels connected to a motor driver board, which in turn connects to the BBC micro:bit via an expansion connector. It is powered by 4 AA batteries, which are housed in a battery holder. Everything is then mounted on a purpose designed laser cut acrylic chassis.
The buggy works by detecting a sudden deceleration which occurs when the buggy collides with an object, and then causes the buggy to reverse slightly, turn and then move off again.
The BBC has revealed the full specifications of its Micro:bit pocket computer board, which is designed to lure kids to embedded electronics.
The global broadcaster has promised “up to 1 million devices will be given to every 11- or 12-year-old child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK, for free.”
The Micro:bit is part of the BBC’s Make it Digital Initiative and will be supported by online lessons, videos, projects and tutorials. The device is expected to arrive in schools in late October. According to the BBC, this is “giving children a chance to settle into new schools, and teachers the opportunity to build this into lesson plans for the rest of the academic year.”
Measuring 5x4cm and weight 8g, the board is built around a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 CPU, the smallest ARM core available.
The BBC has admitted that the Micro:bit, the computer it plans to give to up to one million children, is not going to arrive on time due to quality problems.
The Micro:bit was announced in March as a “get kids coding” initiative. Delivery was anticipated to occur in September, so that every 11 or 12 year-old in the UK could be given the computer to spur them into digital classroom action .
By July the corporation revealed the device’s spec and a revised “late October” release schedule.
Yesterday, the Beeb admitted that things are off the rails and that delivery can be expected “after Christmas”.
An issue with the device’s power supply is the reason for the delay.
The BBC has developed a computer to be used by thousands of students across the UK. While not very powerful in terms of hardware, it comes with an interpreted language that will get students writing their own code and will launch the careers of an entire generation of web developers.
Now, the micro:bit is getting Python, the BASIC of today, and will assuredly be even more useful in UK classrooms.
The initial development for Python on the micro:bit started down the road of using Microsoft’s TouchDevelop as a browser-based IDE that would send C++ code to an mBed cloud compilation service.
The current way of running Python on the micro:bit is as simple as plugging it in to a USB port, opening a terminal, and writing some code.
It’s a small, cheap, British single board computer, and nobody can get hold of them. Another Raspberry Pi Zero story, you might think, but no, this is about the other small cheap and difficult to find British SBC, the BBC micro:bit. Samsung UK have produced an app for the micro:bit that allows owners to write code on their Android phones, and upload it to their micro:bit via Bluetooth.
The micro:bit story has played out with agonising slowness over the last year, but it seems that there may now be light at the end of the tunnel. The idea is a good one: give a small but very capable single board computer to every Year 7 (about 12 years old) child, and watch them learn something more useful about computers than how to use a Windows application. It has echoes of the BBC Micro 8-bit computer for schools sponsored by the UK government in the 1980s, and the hope is that it will help reproduce the same technical literacy enjoyed by 1980s kids.
The little board that has at times seemed so plagued with delays as to become the Duke Nukem Forever of small computers has finally shipped. A million or so British seventh-grade schoolchildren and their teachers will today start receiving their free BBC micro:bits.
Announced early last year, the plan was to rekindle the learning of code in schools through handing out a powerful and easy to program small computer to the students.
It was last May that the BBC unveiled an ambitious plan to give a million schoolchildren a tiny device designed to inspire them to get coding. Now, after a few bumps in the road, the Micro Bits are finally ending up in the hands of children.
The tiny device can be plugged into a computer and programmed to do all sorts of cool stuff, and Year Seven pupils across the UK are being told it is theirs to take home.
“We built a small, low-power ‘embedded’ device, which actually needs a regular computer to program it. In a world of wearable devices, connected gadgets and the ‘internet of things’ the Micro Bit is both relevant and yet unusual – just like the BBC Micro was 35 years ago,” he says.
THE LONG-AWAITED BBC Micro:bit officially became a thing today after months of delays.
The barebones mini-computer is being distributed to 11- and 12-year-olds (Year 7) in the hope of inspiring a new generation to learn to code while they’re still young.
Unlike similar machines such as the INQ award winning Raspberry Pi, the Micro:bit has been designed to connect to an existing computer over Bluetooth, meaning that children don’t need to rely on a separate mouse and keyboard, but rather a web interface.
It can even be set up to work from an Android device using a dedicated app. The board itself includes a micro USB connector, optional battery connector, Bluetooth LE antenna and a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 CPU running at 16MHz and with 16K of RAM.
One million Micro:bits are being sent to teachers for distribution in a tie up between the BBC, ARM and Samsung along with nearly 30 other contributors.
With the use of add-ons, the Micro:bit is a fully fledged IoT device limited only by the skills and imagination of the user.
The first of the BBC Micro Bits are slowly making their ways into hacker circulation, as is to be expected for any inexpensive educational gadget (see: Raspberry Pi). [Martin] was able to get his hands on one and created the “hello world” of LED displays: he created a playable game of snake that runs on this tiny board.
For those new to the scene, the Micro Bit is the latest in embedded ARM systems. It has a 23-pin connector for inputs and outputs, it has Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a wealth of sensors, and a 25-LED display. That’s small for a full display but it’s more than enough for [Martin]’s game of snake.
A tiny programmable board designed as part of an educational initiative for UK kids to learn programming skills and originally distributed by the public service broadcaster, the BBC, to one million schoolchildren is now up for public pre-order. The micro:bit is available for public pre-order in the UK, via Element14′s website, with delivery slated for July.
Jamie Rigg / Engadget:
BBC’s educational Micro:bit computer now available to pre order for £13, or £15 for a starter bundle including battery pack and USB cable
After a couple of unforeseen delays, the BBC finally began delivering Micro:bit computers to Year 7 students across the UK in March. With the objective of distributing free microcomputers to an entire year group nearing completion — around 80 percent of schools have received theirs to date — it’s time to let anyone else with an interest in coding loose on the little device. Pre-orders open today at element14, which manufactures the palm-sized ‘puters, Microsoft’s online store and many other resellers, with the first shipments expected in July.
A lone Micro:bit costs £13, while a starter bundle with battery pack, USB cable and a handful of introductory activities goes for £15
The Micro:bit is small microcomputer with programmable buttons, an LED array, various sensors, several I/O rings and Bluetooth connectivity.
Developed by the BBC with the help of many partners including Microsoft, Samsung and ARM, it was initially intended to introduce children to the basics of coding and computing.
It’s been a long wait, but our latest single board computer for review is finally here! The BBC micro:bit, given free to every seventh-grade British child, has landed at Hackaday courtesy of a friend in the world of education. It’s been a year of false starts and delays for the project, but schools started receiving shipments just before the Easter holidays, pupils should begin lessons with them any time now, and you might even be able to buy one for yourself by the time this article goes to press.
The BBC Micro Bit, the tiny computing device designed to get children coding, is going on sale to the general public.
The device is already being delivered, free, to one million Year 7 children in schools across the UK.
Now it will also be available to buy from the various partners in the project for £12.99.
The firm says it will only sell them in batches of 90.
But retailers including Microsoft, the Technology Will Save Us organisation and Sciencescope will offer individual devices.
“It’s going to be huge,” he told me.”We’ve already got a pipeline of orders including foreign governments who’ve seen what has happened in the UK.”
The Micro Bit was meant to be the flagship of the BBC’s Make It Digital season last year but suffered a number of delays. It started arriving in schools this spring and the BBC says it has now been delivered to about 80% of schools and roughly 750,000 Year 7 children (11 and 12-year olds).
The development environments are all accessible through the micro:bit website, on which no login is required for writing code. On clicking the “Create code” button you are presented with a choice of four, Code Kingdoms JavaScript, Microsoft Block Editor, Microsoft Touch Develop, and Python
Computers have made it much easier for musicians to perform and produce music, even in really simple ways.
What we’re making
For this make, you will need:
A micro:bit and USB cable (like, obviously)
A battery pack
A piezo buzzer
Connecting wires or crocodile clips
Fancy mechanical metronomes have a large swinging arm so you can see and hear when the beat is, as well as make the tempo faster or slower.
Our micro:bitronome should do the same thing:
Make a noise and show an image on every beat
Be able to speed up or slow down the tempo
Be able to reset the tempo back to normal
Let’s get coding!
So, which coding engine should we use? Microsoft Blocks and Microsoft Touch Develop have functions to make the micro:bit play sounds but Python has a music module that lets us do all kinds of fun things with tempo.
Let’s open up the Python coding engine and get started.
For our metronome we definitely need to establish a tempo. I want to set the tempo at 120 beats per minute (or two beats per second). It’s a popular tempo for pop and dance songs!
We have our code, but our micro:bit can’t play music on its own – we need to attach a buzzer to the golden input/output pins at the bottom of the micro:bit.
Using wire or crocodile clips, attach one end of the buzzer to Pin 0 and the other end to the GND pin.
The BBC describe the micro:bit as a pocket-sized, codable computer that allows children to get creative with technology. Made possible through a major partnership with 28 organisations, up to 1 million micro:bits will be given away, one to every 11 or 12 year old child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK, for free.
The BBC micro:bit is based on the mbed HDK. The target MCU is a Nordic nRF51822 with 16K RAM, 256K Flash. As well as the nRF51822 there’s also an onboard accelerometer and magnetometer from Freescale.
micro:bit Device Abstraction Layer (DAL)
Lancaster University have written a full abstraction of the hardware on the micro:bit, based on mbed. This is used by the higher level languages provided by the BBC and is perfect for creating projects in mbed that use the various pieces of hardware on the micro:bit.
Supporting schoolchildren digital teaching the BBC Micro: bit PC card will be piloted in Espoo, Finland. The project is supported by the BBC Micro: bit Foundation leader Zach Shelby in addition to Etteplan’s IoT, Vice President of Jaakko Ala-Paavola and educational organization Mehackit.
Great Britain has been since March 2016, divided into about a million persons studying in the seventh grade schoolchildren BBC Micro: bit computer board. Now supporting educational projects in British Foundation will help the Finnish secondary schools with Mehackit-company training.
“It’s been amazing to see the enthusiasm of the students’ and teachers’ ‘, Ala-Paavola says. He believes that the platform enables the programming interface for other subjects teaching.
British Broadcasting Corporation brainchild of a microprocessor card will be introduced dozens of new schools in Finland. A small processor card for use in teaching programming in 15 schools across the Finnish, autumn starting co-operation of schools will be 50 more.
In Finland, University of Helsinki is involved through Innokas (Eager) Network. Co-operation means, among other things, large-scale experiments examining their functionality.
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Education, Eager Network was selected Micro: bits partner for Finnish schools for the tip. With his enthusiasm has a strong network of interested of digital technology in educational use and development of teachers.
” Our pilots during the avid Network conducts research on how teachers and children work and what students ages Micro: bit is best suited for, ”
Finnish curriculum of digital technology fits very well, but user-friendly for teachers teaching tools are missing. Therefore, often the enthusiasm fall apart easily. With simple tools, for example, students learn to program, build robots and create music.
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19 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Micro:bit — BBC Gets A Million Kids Into Embedded Dev
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/07/the-bbc-microbit/
Although the BBC has finalized the design for the Micro:bit, there are no specs at all. However, a few educated guesses can be made. The USB controller is provided by Freescale, who also provide the digital compass and magnetometer. Programming is done through a web-based, Arduino-like IDE with what appears to be a decent Micro:bit specific library. The board is also mbed compatible. Bluetooth, and apparently the ARM Cortex M0 core, is provided by a Nordic nRF51822. There are only three alligator clip-compatible I/Os, and its doubtful any student will be building anything that would be too complex for an entry level ARM. It’s also 3V logic; finally, the tyranny of 5V has fallen.
The Micro:bit is best seen as a tool that enables the relatively recent addition of a computer science curriculum in UK schools. There is now a requirement for seven-year-olds to understand algorithms and create simple programs. Previously computer education in the UK has consisted of PowerPoint. Now, secondary school students will be learning Boolean logic.
While the Micro:bit is utterly useless as a tool for doing real work, education is not real work. For blinking a few LEDs, having a device react to movement, playing with Bluetooth, and other lesser evils of electronics, the Micro:bit is great.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Collision Detection Buggy Tutorial – Kitronik Univeristy
https://www.kitronik.co.uk/blog/collision-detection-buggy-tutorial-kitronik-univeristy/
Students will build a collision detection buggy which utilises the built in accelerometer in the BBC micro:bit and the expansion connector.
The buggy consists of two motors and wheels connected to a motor driver board, which in turn connects to the BBC micro:bit via an expansion connector. It is powered by 4 AA batteries, which are housed in a battery holder. Everything is then mounted on a purpose designed laser cut acrylic chassis.
The buggy works by detecting a sudden deceleration which occurs when the buggy collides with an object, and then causes the buggy to reverse slightly, turn and then move off again.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the BBC is stuffing free Micro:bit computers into schoolkids’ satchels
A meeellion devices to be hurled at Blighty’s nippers
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/07/bbc_microbit_final_specification_announced_a_million_devices_to_be_flung_at_schools_in_october/
The BBC has revealed the full specifications of its Micro:bit pocket computer board, which is designed to lure kids to embedded electronics.
The global broadcaster has promised “up to 1 million devices will be given to every 11- or 12-year-old child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK, for free.”
The Micro:bit is part of the BBC’s Make it Digital Initiative and will be supported by online lessons, videos, projects and tutorials. The device is expected to arrive in schools in late October. According to the BBC, this is “giving children a chance to settle into new schools, and teachers the opportunity to build this into lesson plans for the rest of the academic year.”
Measuring 5x4cm and weight 8g, the board is built around a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 CPU, the smallest ARM core available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC Micro:bit delayed by power supply SNAFU
Christmas is RUINED for ONE MILLION KIDS promised a free (rubbish) computer
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/18/bbc_microbit_delayed_by_power_supply_snafu/
The BBC has admitted that the Micro:bit, the computer it plans to give to up to one million children, is not going to arrive on time due to quality problems.
The Micro:bit was announced in March as a “get kids coding” initiative. Delivery was anticipated to occur in September, so that every 11 or 12 year-old in the UK could be given the computer to spur them into digital classroom action .
By July the corporation revealed the device’s spec and a revised “late October” release schedule.
Yesterday, the Beeb admitted that things are off the rails and that delivery can be expected “after Christmas”.
An issue with the device’s power supply is the reason for the delay.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC’s micro:bit Gets Python
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/20/bbcs-microbit-gets-python/
The BBC has developed a computer to be used by thousands of students across the UK. While not very powerful in terms of hardware, it comes with an interpreted language that will get students writing their own code and will launch the careers of an entire generation of web developers.
Now, the micro:bit is getting Python, the BASIC of today, and will assuredly be even more useful in UK classrooms.
The initial development for Python on the micro:bit started down the road of using Microsoft’s TouchDevelop as a browser-based IDE that would send C++ code to an mBed cloud compilation service.
The current way of running Python on the micro:bit is as simple as plugging it in to a USB port, opening a terminal, and writing some code.
The Story of MicroPython on the BBC micro:bit
http://ntoll.org/article/story-micropython-on-microbit
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC Micro:Bit Gets An App
http://hackaday.com/2016/02/21/bbc-microbit-gets-an-app/
It’s a small, cheap, British single board computer, and nobody can get hold of them. Another Raspberry Pi Zero story, you might think, but no, this is about the other small cheap and difficult to find British SBC, the BBC micro:bit. Samsung UK have produced an app for the micro:bit that allows owners to write code on their Android phones, and upload it to their micro:bit via Bluetooth.
The micro:bit story has played out with agonising slowness over the last year, but it seems that there may now be light at the end of the tunnel. The idea is a good one: give a small but very capable single board computer to every Year 7 (about 12 years old) child, and watch them learn something more useful about computers than how to use a Windows application. It has echoes of the BBC Micro 8-bit computer for schools sponsored by the UK government in the 1980s, and the hope is that it will help reproduce the same technical literacy enjoyed by 1980s kids.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.microbit
Tomi Engdahl says:
British Kids Finally Get Their Micro:Bits
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/22/british-kids-finally-get-their-microbits/
The little board that has at times seemed so plagued with delays as to become the Duke Nukem Forever of small computers has finally shipped. A million or so British seventh-grade schoolchildren and their teachers will today start receiving their free BBC micro:bits.
Announced early last year, the plan was to rekindle the learning of code in schools through handing out a powerful and easy to program small computer to the students.
Can the Micro Bit inspire a million?
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35863859
It was last May that the BBC unveiled an ambitious plan to give a million schoolchildren a tiny device designed to inspire them to get coding. Now, after a few bumps in the road, the Micro Bits are finally ending up in the hands of children.
The tiny device can be plugged into a computer and programmed to do all sorts of cool stuff, and Year Seven pupils across the UK are being told it is theirs to take home.
“We built a small, low-power ‘embedded’ device, which actually needs a regular computer to program it. In a world of wearable devices, connected gadgets and the ‘internet of things’ the Micro Bit is both relevant and yet unusual – just like the BBC Micro was 35 years ago,” he says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC Micro:bit officially launches as 29 partners join forces to get kids coding
It’s official: 11- and 12-year-olds can finally play with their bits
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2452039/bbc-micro-bit-officially-launches-as-29-partners-join-forces-to-get-kids-coding
THE LONG-AWAITED BBC Micro:bit officially became a thing today after months of delays.
The barebones mini-computer is being distributed to 11- and 12-year-olds (Year 7) in the hope of inspiring a new generation to learn to code while they’re still young.
Unlike similar machines such as the INQ award winning Raspberry Pi, the Micro:bit has been designed to connect to an existing computer over Bluetooth, meaning that children don’t need to rely on a separate mouse and keyboard, but rather a web interface.
It can even be set up to work from an Android device using a dedicated app. The board itself includes a micro USB connector, optional battery connector, Bluetooth LE antenna and a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 CPU running at 16MHz and with 16K of RAM.
One million Micro:bits are being sent to teachers for distribution in a tie up between the BBC, ARM and Samsung along with nearly 30 other contributors.
With the use of add-ons, the Micro:bit is a fully fledged IoT device limited only by the skills and imagination of the user.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Snake On A BBC Micro:bit
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/13/snake-on-a-bbc-microbit/
The first of the BBC Micro Bits are slowly making their ways into hacker circulation, as is to be expected for any inexpensive educational gadget (see: Raspberry Pi). [Martin] was able to get his hands on one and created the “hello world” of LED displays: he created a playable game of snake that runs on this tiny board.
For those new to the scene, the Micro Bit is the latest in embedded ARM systems. It has a 23-pin connector for inputs and outputs, it has Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a wealth of sensors, and a 25-LED display. That’s small for a full display but it’s more than enough for [Martin]’s game of snake.
Playing Snake on a @BBC #Microbit
https://blog.adafruit.com/2016/03/29/playing-snake-on-a-bbc-microbit/
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC Micro:Bit Learn-To-Code Device Up For Public Pre-Order In UK
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/06/01/1548252/bbc-microbit-learn-to-code-device-up-for-public-pre-order-in-uk
A tiny programmable board designed as part of an educational initiative for UK kids to learn programming skills and originally distributed by the public service broadcaster, the BBC, to one million schoolchildren is now up for public pre-order. The micro:bit is available for public pre-order in the UK, via Element14′s website, with delivery slated for July.
BBC micro:bit – GET CREATIVE, GET CONNECTED, GET CODING
http://uk.farnell.com/bbc-microbit?rd=micro%253Abit&selectedCategoryId=&categoryNameResp=All%2BCategories
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jamie Rigg / Engadget:
BBC’s educational Micro:bit computer now available to pre order for £13, or £15 for a starter bundle including battery pack and USB cable
BBC Micro:bit computer now available to all for £13
Allowing anyone to learn the basics of coding and computing.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/31/bbc-microbit-preorders/
After a couple of unforeseen delays, the BBC finally began delivering Micro:bit computers to Year 7 students across the UK in March. With the objective of distributing free microcomputers to an entire year group nearing completion — around 80 percent of schools have received theirs to date — it’s time to let anyone else with an interest in coding loose on the little device. Pre-orders open today at element14, which manufactures the palm-sized ‘puters, Microsoft’s online store and many other resellers, with the first shipments expected in July.
A lone Micro:bit costs £13, while a starter bundle with battery pack, USB cable and a handful of introductory activities goes for £15
The Micro:bit is small microcomputer with programmable buttons, an LED array, various sensors, several I/O rings and Bluetooth connectivity.
Developed by the BBC with the help of many partners including Microsoft, Samsung and ARM, it was initially intended to introduce children to the basics of coding and computing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hands-On With The BBC Micro:Bit
http://hackaday.com/2016/06/03/hands-on-with-the-bbc-microbit/
It’s been a long wait, but our latest single board computer for review is finally here! The BBC micro:bit, given free to every seventh-grade British child, has landed at Hackaday courtesy of a friend in the world of education. It’s been a year of false starts and delays for the project, but schools started receiving shipments just before the Easter holidays, pupils should begin lessons with them any time now, and you might even be able to buy one for yourself by the time this article goes to press.
Micro Bit computer becomes a commercial product
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36416862
The BBC Micro Bit, the tiny computing device designed to get children coding, is going on sale to the general public.
The device is already being delivered, free, to one million Year 7 children in schools across the UK.
Now it will also be available to buy from the various partners in the project for £12.99.
The firm says it will only sell them in batches of 90.
But retailers including Microsoft, the Technology Will Save Us organisation and Sciencescope will offer individual devices.
“It’s going to be huge,” he told me.”We’ve already got a pipeline of orders including foreign governments who’ve seen what has happened in the UK.”
The Micro Bit was meant to be the flagship of the BBC’s Make It Digital season last year but suffered a number of delays. It started arriving in schools this spring and the BBC says it has now been delivered to about 80% of schools and roughly 750,000 Year 7 children (11 and 12-year olds).
Tomi Engdahl says:
The development environments are all accessible through the micro:bit website, on which no login is required for writing code. On clicking the “Create code” button you are presented with a choice of four, Code Kingdoms JavaScript, Microsoft Block Editor, Microsoft Touch Develop, and Python
https://www.microbit.co.uk/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coach Challenges – will.i.am
https://www.microbit.co.uk/the-voice/william-challenge
Computers have made it much easier for musicians to perform and produce music, even in really simple ways.
What we’re making
For this make, you will need:
A micro:bit and USB cable (like, obviously)
A battery pack
A piezo buzzer
Connecting wires or crocodile clips
Fancy mechanical metronomes have a large swinging arm so you can see and hear when the beat is, as well as make the tempo faster or slower.
Our micro:bitronome should do the same thing:
Make a noise and show an image on every beat
Be able to speed up or slow down the tempo
Be able to reset the tempo back to normal
Let’s get coding!
So, which coding engine should we use? Microsoft Blocks and Microsoft Touch Develop have functions to make the micro:bit play sounds but Python has a music module that lets us do all kinds of fun things with tempo.
Let’s open up the Python coding engine and get started.
For our metronome we definitely need to establish a tempo. I want to set the tempo at 120 beats per minute (or two beats per second). It’s a popular tempo for pop and dance songs!
We have our code, but our micro:bit can’t play music on its own – we need to attach a buzzer to the golden input/output pins at the bottom of the micro:bit.
Using wire or crocodile clips, attach one end of the buzzer to Pin 0 and the other end to the GND pin.
https://www.microbit.co.uk/app/#list:installed-scripts:script:5381bcac-ccbc-4dda-3398-e5c81c8f895d:overview:id=nybxyk
Tomi Engdahl says:
Since the micro:bit is also an mbed under the hood we’d expect it to be programmable using the mbed toolchain, however that is beyond the scope of this
Source: http://hackaday.com/2016/06/03/hands-on-with-the-bbc-microbit/
BBC micro:bit
https://developer.mbed.org/platforms/Microbit/
The BBC describe the micro:bit as a pocket-sized, codable computer that allows children to get creative with technology. Made possible through a major partnership with 28 organisations, up to 1 million micro:bits will be given away, one to every 11 or 12 year old child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK, for free.
The BBC micro:bit is based on the mbed HDK. The target MCU is a Nordic nRF51822 with 16K RAM, 256K Flash. As well as the nRF51822 there’s also an onboard accelerometer and magnetometer from Freescale.
micro:bit Device Abstraction Layer (DAL)
Lancaster University have written a full abstraction of the hardware on the micro:bit, based on mbed. This is used by the higher level languages provided by the BBC and is perfect for creating projects in mbed that use the various pieces of hardware on the micro:bit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC Micro:bit is piloted Espoo
Supporting schoolchildren digital teaching the BBC Micro: bit PC card will be piloted in Espoo, Finland. The project is supported by the BBC Micro: bit Foundation leader Zach Shelby in addition to Etteplan’s IoT, Vice President of Jaakko Ala-Paavola and educational organization Mehackit.
Great Britain has been since March 2016, divided into about a million persons studying in the seventh grade schoolchildren BBC Micro: bit computer board. Now supporting educational projects in British Foundation will help the Finnish secondary schools with Mehackit-company training.
“It’s been amazing to see the enthusiasm of the students’ and teachers’ ‘, Ala-Paavola says. He believes that the platform enables the programming interface for other subjects teaching.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/10/26/bbcn-korttimikroa-pilotoidaan-espoossa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The BBC’s card micro will come to Finnish schools
British Broadcasting Corporation brainchild of a microprocessor card will be introduced dozens of new schools in Finland. A small processor card for use in teaching programming in 15 schools across the Finnish, autumn starting co-operation of schools will be 50 more.
In Finland, University of Helsinki is involved through Innokas (Eager) Network. Co-operation means, among other things, large-scale experiments examining their functionality.
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Education, Eager Network was selected Micro: bits partner for Finnish schools for the tip. With his enthusiasm has a strong network of interested of digital technology in educational use and development of teachers.
” Our pilots during the avid Network conducts research on how teachers and children work and what students ages Micro: bit is best suited for, ”
Finnish curriculum of digital technology fits very well, but user-friendly for teachers teaching tools are missing. Therefore, often the enthusiasm fall apart easily. With simple tools, for example, students learn to program, build robots and create music.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/04/11/bbcn-korttimikro-tulee-voimalla-suomalaiskouluihin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://microbit.org/fi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://microbit.org/assets/documents/student-saftey-guide.pdf