Definitive Guide to micro:bit [+Free Access to 10 micro:bit Game Tutorials]

What is micro:bit?

The micro:bit is a pocket-sized computer that introduces kids to how software and hardware work together. It is an interactive and programmable device, which consists of various input-output features such as LED light display, sensors, buttons, etc. It is also referred to as BBC micro:bit since BBC designed the device to encourage young people to become the digital innovators of the future. A more technical definition can be:  

“The micro:bit is an open-source programmable hardware ARM-based embedded system.”

Who invented micro:bit? 

The Micro:bit was originally created by BBC, in collaboration with 29 other leaders in business and academia as part of BBC’s Make it Digital Initiative. The major UK-wide product was launched in 2014, with a focus on creating the next generation of digital innovators. In early 2016, up to 1 million micro:bits were distributed to Year 7 students in non-formal education settings and libraries across the United Kingdom, in a project led by BBC Education. 

In 2016, BBC created Micro:bit educational foundation, a non-profit organization to scale the product and maximize opportunities for students across the world, to learn programming and hardware.  

What is micro:bit educational foundation? 

The Micro:bit Educational Foundation is a nonprofit organization, established by BBC Education and distinguished partners from academia and industry including ARM, British Council, Lancaster University, Microsoft, Nominet, etc with an aim of maximizing opportunities for students internationally.  

Mission of the micro:bit Educational Foundation

Inspiring children– We enable and inspire all children to participate in the digital world, with a particular focus on girls and those from disadvantaged groups	Making Easy & effective learning– We make micro: bit the easiest and most effective learning tool for digital skills and creativity
Collaborating with Educators– We work in collaboration with educators to create and curate exceptional curriculum materials, training programs, and resources.	Support communities of educators and partners– We build and support communities of educators and partners to remove the barriers to learning digital skills

When was the micro:bit launched? 

The micro:bit was launched in 2014, in the United Kingdom by BBC in collaboration with 29 other leaders. Check out several milestones in the history of micro:bit here. 

Who is micro:bit designed for?

micro:bit is primarily designed for kids, to learn how to code. In March 2020, there were more than 4 Million micro:bits in the market across 60+ Countries. The board is used by learners and educators across the world. 

Input devices

Input devices allow us to pass on information to the computer from the outer world. These are important when you have to logically change the output of the 

Experiment, by logically passing multiple inputs. Your computer has multiple kinds of input devices, such as a Keyboard, Mouse, Mic, etc. micro:bit also consists of multiple components which can take inputs: 

Buttons

Buttons are very common input devices, which are used as switches in multiple places. micro:bit has three buttons altogether, two buttons are programmable, and one button is a reset button for the micro:bit. 

The programmable buttons exist on the same side as an LED matrix, while the reset button exists on the opposite side of micro:bit. 

Light sensors 

The micro:bit uses the LED Display matrix as the light sensor. The LED display also detect measure and respond to the level o flight where it is placed. Check out the link here to find out how the light sensors work in a micro:bit? 

Temperature sensors

A temperature sensor is an input device that measures temperature. Your BBC micro:bit has a temperature sensor inside the processor which can give you an approximation of the air temperature. 

Acceleration sensors

An accelerometer is a motion sensor that measures movement. The accelerometer in your BBC micro:bit detects when you tilt it left to right, backward and forwards, and up and down.

Features of micro:bit v1

The Mico: Bit v1 is 43mm x 52mm in dimensions and includes: 

Processing unit

• Nordic nRF51822 – 16 MHz 32-bit ARM Cortex-MO microcontroller. 
  Memory Unit
• 256 KB Flash Memory and 16 KB static RAM> 
  General Purpose Input/Output
• 2.4 GHz Bluetooth low energy wireless networking. 
• OTG USB 2.0 controller, used as a communication interface between USB and main Nordic Microcontroller. 
• 3 Axis Accelerometer Sensor. 
• 3 Axis Magnetometer Sensor. 
• MicroUSB connector, battery connector, 25-pin edge connector. 
• Display 25  LEDs in a 5×5 array. 
• Three tactile pushbuttons. (two for applications and one for reset) 
• I/O also includes three-ring connectors, which accept crocodile clips or 4 mm banana plugs as well as a 25-pin edge connector with two or three PWM outputs. 

Unlike early prototypes, which had an integral battery, an external battery pack (AAA batteries) can be used to power the device as a standalone or wearable product.

Connecting additional sensors to the micro:bit v1

Additional sensors can be connected to the micro:bit v1,  using the additional 3 general purpose Input-output pins provided at one edge of the micro:bit. 

Connecting additional input/output devices to the micro:bit v1

The micro:bit has 25 external connections on the edge connector of the board, which we refer to as pins. The edge connector is at the opposite edge of the micro:bit logo. It consists of 5 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, which can be used using an edge connector. 

Large pins 

You can easily attach crocodile clips or 4mm banana plugs to the five large pins. 

• 0: GPIO (general-purpose digital input and output) with analog-to-digital converter (ADC).
• 1: GPIO with ADC
• 2: GPIO with ADC
• 3V: 3-volt power output or power input. (1) power output: If the micro: bit is powered by USB or a battery, then you can use the 3V pin as a power output to power peripherals with; (2) power input: If the micro: bit is not being powered by USB or battery, you can use the 3V pin as a power input to power the micro: bit
• GND: attaches to the ground in order to complete a circuit (required when using the 3V pin)

Small pins

• pin 3: GPIO shared with LED Col 1 of the LED screen; can be used for ADC and digital I/O when the LED screen is turned off.
• pin 4: GPIO shared with LED Col 2 of the LED screen; can be used for ADC and digital I/O when the LED screen is turned off.
• pin 5: GPIO shared with Button A. This lets you trigger or detect a button “A” click externally. This pin has a pull-up resistor, which means that by default it is at a voltage of 3V. To replace button A on the micro:bit with an external button, connect one end of the external button to pin 5 and the other end to GND. When the button is pressed, the voltage on pin 5 is pulled down to 0, which generates a button click event.
• pin 6: GPIO shared with LED Col 9 of the LED screen; can be used for digital I/O when the LED screen is turned off.
• pin 7: GPIO shared with LED Col 8 of the LED screen; can be used for digital I/O when the LED screen is turned off.
• pin 8: Dedicated GPIO, for sending and sensing digital signals.
• pin 9: GPIO shared with LED Col 7 of the LED screen; can be used for digital I/O when the LED screen is turned off.
• pin 10: GPIO shared with LED Col 3 of the LED screen; can be used for ADC and digital I/O when the LED screen is turned off.
• pin 11: GPIO shared with Button B. This lets you trigger or detect a button “B” click externally.
• pin 12: this GPIO pin has been reserved to provide support for accessibility.
• pin 13: GPIO that is conventionally used for the serial clock (SCK) signal of the 3-wire Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus.
• pin 14: GPIO that is conventionally used for the Master In Slave Out (MISO) signal of the SPI bus.
• pin 15: GPIO that is conventionally used for the Master Out Slave In (MOSI) signal of the SPI bus.
• pin 16: Dedicated GPIO (conventionally also used for SPI ‘Chip Select’ function).
• pins 17 and 18: these pins are wired to the 3V supply, like the large ‘3V’ pad.
• pins 19 and 20: implement the clock signal (SCL) and data line (SDA) of the I2C bus communication protocol. With I2C, several devices can be connected on the same bus and send/read messages to and from the CPU. Internally, the accelerometer and the compass are connected to i2c.
• pins 21 and 22: these pins are wired to the GND pin and serve no other function

Unlike the three large pins, which are dedicated to external connections, some of the small pins are shared with other components, on the micro: bit board. So make sure you check which pins you should use if you want to parallelly use the features. 

micro:bit v2 was launched recently in October 2020. The v2 version supports all the features of v1 micro:bit. This version of micro:bit consists of many more features:

Following is an illustration of the added components on the board: