micro bit lcd screen free sample

The Kitronik :VIEW Text32 character LCD, for those times when the LED Matrix and/or external LEDs aren"t delivering adequate visual feedback from your microbit project. The :VIEW Text32 is a character LCD showing 32 characters (2 lines of 16 characters). The :VIEW Text32 also breaks out the BBC micro:bit pins to edge pads (excluding pin14).

The bottom edge of the board has a replication of the BBC microbits own edge connector, this allows you to plug the :VIEW Text32 into any board that the microbit itself can be slotted into. This is great news if your project outputs strings of text and numbers that previously would have slowly scrolled across the LED Matrix.

The board has been designed so that the BBC micro:bit can be slotted into the edge connector on the top side of the PCB. No extra tools are required for installation, the board is supplied and ready to go --plug and play/work!

On the back of the :VIEW Text32 is a 3 x AAA battery holder to provide power to the :VIEW Text32, the attached micro:bit, and the replicated edge connector. There is a power switch for turning the battery supply on and off. The replicated edge connector can supply 90mA (as per the normal micro:bit)

Kitronik has produced a set of custom blocks for the Microsoft MakeCode editor. To add them click on the cog icon in the top right of the editor, then; select Extensions from the drop down menu, type and enter Kitronik into the search bar and select the :VIEW Text32 tile from the list. The custom blocks will now be added to the editor and can be used in your code.

A LCD screen is a great way to give more feedback to a user, either for a text message or values back from a sensor. Known as a 1602 LCD, this common display gives two rows of 16 characters to work with, and can scroll text. However it comes with two issues for the Micro:bit. First is that it needs 5v input and the second is it uses a lot of pins.

The first problem can be overcome by using an external power supply. The Micro:bit can only supply 3.3v. If you try powering a LCD screen from this, it will light up but if you can see anything at all, it will be very faint. There are a number of ways to supply 5v, one of the easiest is using a ‘3.3v 5v breadboard power supply module’. One of these comes with the Elegoo 37 sensor kit, but searching for the above description will find a number of other suppliers. These are usually quite cheap.

The second issue was the amount of pins used by the LCD module. The LCD requires 16 pins. While some of these are for power, plugging directly into the Micro:bit will not leave many free pins for other hardware. The easiest solution is to buy a I2C LCD module, pictured above the screen in the title image. To buy one, search for “I2C 1602 LCD”. You will often find screens with these already fitted.

If you screen or your module has female headers, you can plug the module directly into the back of the screen. In the picture above, both the screen and the I2C module had male headers. Plug these into breadboard making sure the left most pin on the LCD (often marked ‘1’) lines up with the pin on the left of the module when it has it’s four pins on the side pointing out to the left.

From the power supply module, connect a 5v pin to Vcc on the I2C module and connect Gnd to a ground strip on the breadboard. You must connect this to Gnd on the Micro:bit. If you wish, you can connect a 3.3v pin from the power supply board to the 3v pin on the Micro:bit to power it, or you can power it via a serial cable.

The LCD interface module uses I2C, which is a common protocol that can be used to reduce connecting various modules to two wires each. So long as the devices have different addresses (don’t worry about this for now), you can connect multiple devices to I2C. The Micro:bit has two I2C pins to support this, 19 and 20. Connect SDA on the LCD module to pin 20 and SCL to pin 19.

At the time of writing, there does not appear to be a common I2C LCD library, however ‘shaoziyang‘ has produced on at github, which works quite nicely (Thank you!).

The following code displays a hello message (to our dog) and counts up the seconds the Micro:bit has been running. If this does not work first time, check your wiring but also try changing LCD_I2C_ADDR from 63 to 39. Some modules use a different address:

This embedded board has a Bluetooth capable microcontroller, USB interface, accelerometer, magnetometer, light and temperature sensors, 5x5 LED matrix, buttons, and GPIO accessible via the edge connector.

MakeCode Multi Editor - Two MakeCode editors side by side to create, modify, and test two micro:bit programs at the same time, great for simulating radio with a transmitter and receiver.

MicroCode - MicroCode is a icon-based (minimal text), editor for the micro:bit V2, which can also be used to write programmes directly on the micro:bit with an Arcade Shield. It is suitable for younger learners and users with variable accessibility needs.

micro:bit Python - Visual Studio Code extension for micro:bit MicroPython with access to flash and edit example sketches and interact with the filesystem.

Strype - A novel tool that combines the strengths of blocks and text programming with the use of Frames. Write real Python for the micro:bit with drag and drop features.

micro:bit python libs - Growing collection of modules, including TM1637/TM1650 7-seg LEDs, OLED 128x64, LCD1602, AT24XX EEPROM, DS1302/DS1307/DS3231 RTC, NeoPixel drivers, APDS9930 Digital Proximity and Ambient Light Sensor, BME280 humidity and pressure sensor, BMP280/BMP180 pressure sensors.

Micropython-MakeCode compatible Radio - Class MakeRadio which includes all the functionality of the MicroPyhton radio module, while being compatible with MakeCode blocks.

MicroPeri - Run Python programs on your computer with the same micro:bit MicroPython API and connecting a micro:bit as an external peripheral device or sensor.

bitio - BBC micro:bit I/O library for Python. It allows you to run code in Python on a PC/Mac/Linux/Raspberry Pi and interact directly with the micro:bit.

Kasper"s micro:bit - A Python package to connect to the Bluetooth LE GATT services of paired BBC micro:bit devices. Use your micro:bit as a wireless game controller!

MakeCode Multi Editor - Two MakeCode editors side by side to create, modify, and test two micro:bit programs at the same time, great for simulating radio with a transmitter and receiver.

Espruino JavaScript - JavaScript interpreter for microcontrollers, supports Bluetooth LE and wireless programming. Also offers a WebIDE for written code and blocks.

The link below contains a list of the officially approved extensions, and they can be loaded by by searching for their name in the "Extensions" screen.

MakeCode Extensions - Growing collection of packages, including TM1637/TM1650 7-seg LEDs, OLED 128x64, LCD1602, AT24XX EEPROM, DS1302/DS1307 RTC, APDS9930 Digital Proximity and Ambient Light Sensor, BH1750 digital ambient light sensor, BME280 humidity and pressure sensor, BMP280/BMP180 pressure sensors.

PXT Command Line Tool - Use the command line to program the micro:bit with MakeCode JavaScript. You can also run a local version of the MakeCode online editor (part of Microsoft"s PXT).

C/C++ runtime - Guidance on how to start using the DAL runtime in C/C++ including full documentation of the APIs, drivers, and types that make up the micro:bit runtime.

Mynewt - Open-source operating system for tiny embedded devices. Its goal is to make it easy to develop applications for microcontroller environments where power and cost are driving factors.

Running Rust code on a BBC micro:bit - Article describing the experience and steps of compiling Rust code for the micro:bit with and without interaction with the runtime DAL.

Rust on the BBC micro:bit - How to get started using Rust and BLE on the micro:bit, exposing temperature data as a Bluetooth Environment Sensing Service, and publishing it to the Drogue Cloud via a Bluetooth gateway.

Tock - An embedded operating system designed for running multiple concurrent, mutually distrustful applications on low-memory and low-power microcontrollers, with support for the BBC micro:bit.

The Discovery book - This book is an introductory course on microcontroller-based embedded systems, using micro:bit, that uses Rust as the teaching language rather than the usual C/C++.

Ada Accelerometer Driver + Stable Nerve Game - Tutorial to write a driver in Ada for the micro:bit LSM303AGR accelerometer and make a small nerve game.

BASICtools - A BASIC dialect (similar to the original Microsoft BASIC, QBASIC, or early versions of Visual BASIC) ported to the micro:bit, with provided examples.

Simulink Coder Support Package - Package that enables you to create Matlab and Simulink models and automatically generate and deploy code on the micro:bit. More info on this link.

micro:bit for Dyalog APL on the Pi - Tools for using the micro:bit (via MicroPython serial connection) with the Dyalog APL programming language on the Raspberry Pi.

BlockyTalkyBLE - MakeCode and App Inventor extension that makes it easy to connect AppInventor mobile phone apps with the BBC micro:bit wirelessly over Bluetooth.

CBMicroBit - CoreBluetooth wrapper in C++ that connects a micro:bit to a computer running macOS using BLE and outputs over OSC (can be used standalone, or as a C++ or Objective C library).

Swift - An application programming interface written in Swift for use with the micro:bit. It allows programs written for Apple devices to communicate with the micro:bit using BLE.

Docker micro:bit Toolchain - Docker image with the micro:bit toolchain, useful to easily compile C/C++ programmes like DAL & CODAL (the micro:bit runtime), MicroPython, DAPLink, etc.

Vagrant Development Environment for C/C++, MicroPython and Makecode - Creates a virtual machine with the toolchain required to create C/C++ programs, develop/compile MicroPython, and create packages for MakeCode.

Hardware Simulation with QEMU - Emulation support for the micro:bit is available from QEMU 4.0 and can be used for low-level software testing and development.

My micro:bit - Web app that communicates with the micro:bit via WebUSB or Web Bluetooth. You can control the micro:bit from your computer keyboard, send commands, and analyse sensor data in charts and gauges.

Bitty Software Apps - Diverse collection of Android and iOS apps, going from demos, to data logging, to audio pranks, you"ll certainly find something of interest.

micro:bit Xamarin - Open source Android app that communicates with the micro:bit over BLE and gets sensor data. A good example of using Xamarin (a cross platform mobile framework) with the micro:bit.

nRF Connect - A generic tool for Android that allows you to scan, advertise and explore BLE devices. It supports the micro:bit by including information on the micro:bit services, custom macros and more.

Micro:bit Explorer - A Swift Playground Book that introduces computer fundamentals in a visual way, it allows you to enter machine code or assembly and see how it executes and how the micro:bit registers are affected.

Voice activated micro:bit with Machine Learning - How to make your micro:bit respond to a keyword, by training a machine learning model with Edge Impulse that recognizes your voice.

Vibrational Anomaly Detection - This project introduces a statistics-based, time-series Vibrational Anomaly Detection using Tri-Axial accelerometer data on a micro:bit.

AlpacaML - Automated Learning and Prototyping for Athletics and Creative Activity with Machine Learning. A wearable micro:bit connected to an app that can graph the data and learn to classify actions based off of the users criteria.

MicroPal Guide - Craft your own interactive micro:bit project that responds to your voice. Create a Teachable Machine Model, load it into the MicroPal website, and control the micro:bit via Web Bluetooth.

micro:bit Gesture Recognizer - An experimental gesture recognition tool using the micro:bit"s accelerometer, built using ml5js, which is built on top of TensorFlow.js.

Machine Learning Dance Move Detector - Builds a system running on the micro:bit which can identify TikTok dance routines using the onboard accelerometer.

A micro:bit of AI - A tool to bridge the gap between the Teachable Machine AI and a micro:bit. Train an AI to make a prediction, and then code your micro:bit to use those predictions to activate motors, lights & more!

micro:bit AI vehicle - A voice to controlled micro:bit vehicle using a Web App that recognizes 5 words and connects to the micro:bit via Web Bluetooth.

Radiobit, a BBC micro:Bit RF firmware - Custom MicroPython & tools allowing security researchers to sniff, receive and send data over Nordic"s ShockBurst protocol, Bluetooth Smart Link Layer, and more.

The USB Interface Chip is the microcontroller placed close to the battery connector. It provides the capability to flash the micro:bit via the MICROBIT USB (Mass Storage Device) drive, flash via WebUSB from the browser, a serial console, and HID debugger.

microbit.org Developer Community Info - This micro:bit Developer Community page contains information about the Interface Chip DAPlink and the USB interface.

DAPLink on micro:bit - The DAPLink is the default software running on the Interface Chip, this page contains information, update instructions, and the latest firmware.

pyOCD - Python library for programming and debugging ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers, like the one included in the micro:bit, using the CMSIS-DAP provided by the Interface Chip.

micro:bit V1 Reference Design - Hardware design files for a board 100% binary compatible with the micro:bit. Created to help make your own micro:bit derived designs.

NeoBit - Open source board that lets you hook up NeoPixel and DotStar LEDs to a BBC micro:bit, also contains a headphone jack and a couple of slide potentiometers for input.

Sumo Robot - Firmware and hardware design files for the TimeExpander.com micro:bit robot with 2 motor bridges, 3 time of flight sensors, 4 reflective object sensors, and a GPIO expander.

Shiun robot (micro:bit biped robot) - Using micro:bit as control board and very simple 3D design, you can easy to assembly and program the biped robot.

BBC micro:bit V2 battery pack holder - A multi-purpose battery pack holder for BBC micro:bit that can stand on its own, be clipped on lanyard, or with use of velcro strap used as wearable.

Stackable micro:bit LED Matrix Magnifier - Designed to be placed on top of the micro:bit to magnify the display, it can be combined with multiple micro:bits to create a larger screen to quadruple the LED matrix.

Coffee Timer - (Part 2, Part 3) Three part article describing how to augment a coffee maker with an micro:bit indicator, options for low power communication, and creating a custom enclosure.

micro:bit Hovercraft - A hovercraft, which runs both in the water and on the ground. Uses 2 motors to blow air underneath to support the hovercraft body and 2 motors in the end to control its direction.

OpenGestureControl - A Linux application which interacts with the BBC micro:bit to give hand prosthesis users the ability to control their desktop computer using gestures.

Bluetooth Low Energy Remote Control for Spotify - This project allows you to configure your micro:bit to work as a Bluetooth Low Energy remote control for Spotify on macOS.

Stirling Blue - An extensive project to examine Stirling engine operation and performance. A micro:bit is used to create a custom keyboard and LCD interface that communicates with other parts of the project.

Micro:Gamer - A portable game console based on the micro:bit board. It features a 128x64 monochrome OLED screen, six buttons, a buzzer for sound, and a 2xAAA battery holder.

Musical Instrument Controller - A micro:bit instrument that communities with an iPad via Bluetooth into MIDI controller app that can play music via GarageBand.

Pong-Like Retro Clock Using TinyGo and micro:bit - Use an RGB matrix and a micro:bit to display the time with an awesome game of PONG. Made with love and TinyGo.

The Christmas Joy Spreading Machine - Project inside a box representing a metaphor of the most popular Christmas symbols. Maybe it"s a bit dystopian but it moves, lights and reacts to music.

micro:bit Magic Wand - This project uses two micro:bit, a few small electronic parts, and some everyday objects from around the house to create our very own magical wand.

DIY Educational micro:bit Robot - Building a relatively accessible, capable and cheap robot. Two variants provided with different sensors and example code for MakeCode and MicroPython.

MIDI CC Wireless Controller - A wireless MIDI CC controller, allowing you to use your micro:bit as a MIDI controller and connect it to your favourite music production software.

Smart Garden Ornaments - Track things happening in your garden, neighbourhood, or school using smart ornaments with the BBC micro:bit, Raspberry Pi, and a cloud-based IoT service.

Hands-Free Cardboard Gumball Machine - A gumball machine using a micro:bit, it detects when you place your hand in the base of the rocket and the machine administers a gumball, without touching a thing.

Automatic Plant Watering System Using a micro:bit - How to build an automatic plant watering system using a micro:bit, moisture sensor, and some other small electronic components.

Digital Measuring Roller Using micro:bit & Tinkercad - How to make a digital measuring roller with the help of a micro:bit, a rotatory encoder, a few blocks of code, and some 3D printed parts.

"High-Fivey" the Cardboard Robot - Stuck at home but still have a need to high-five someone? Make a friendly little cardboard micro:bit robot to do just that.

Awaken the Force with micro:bit - For millennia people have used the force for good, evil, and just to move things around. We have found quite a lot of force in the micro:bit, enough to lift small, everyday objects.

Mechanical digital clock - 4 digits, 24 hour-notation mechanical digital clock controlled by micro:bit and only one RC servo motor. Time adjustment from PC is possible via bluetooth.

PIR Movement Alarm - How to make a simple movement alarm using MicroPython on a BBC micro:bit with a passive infrared (PIR) sensor module to play a low bitrate sound sample when a warm, moving object is detected.

Lip Syncing Characters - Cute characters made with micro:bit that lip-sync to the sound of your voice to appear as if they are the ones doing the talking/singing.

Water Rocket - Did you know you can create your own water rocket by using water pipes and a water bottle? You can even add a micro:bit and measure flight data, which can be stored and later visualised.

Low cost solar power source for micro:bit - A low-cost DIY solar power source aimed at school projects such as weather stations, to log readings at intervals, and upload them to a computer for analysis.

Maker Pro micro:bit Projects & Tutorials - The micro:bit section of Maker Pro, a place for makers to share designs, collaborate, and learn how to take your product to market.

The First Video Game on the BBC micro:bit [probably] - Creating a game for the micro:bit, the MicroPython changes needed to increase performance and a general profile of its resources.

micro:bit Radio Packets - Explanation of the MakeCode radio packet specification (built on top of the micro:bit DAL spec) and how to communicate between MakeCode and MicroPython programs via radio.

Measure pressure with your micro:bit - An inexpensive and easy to build device to perform pressure measurements and demonstrate Boyle"s law with the micro:bit and BMP280 pressure/temperature sensor.

IoT Cloud Access with micro:bit over BLE for Remote Sensing - Program BBC micro:bit with mbed OS and remotely send data to cloud by utilizing BLE to smartphone/PC IoT cloud gateway.

micro:bit <-> Raspberry Pi - An introduction on how you can exchange information between a micro:bit and a Raspberry Pi using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

WiFi Web Server on BBC micro:bit and ESP-01 - Create a micro:bit web server via AT commands to an ESP8266 which can respond to web browser requests over WiFi.

IoT Cloud Access with micro:bit over BLE for Remote Sensing - Program the BBC micro:bit with Mbed OS and remotely send data to the cloud by utilizing BLE to smartphone/PC IoT Cloud Gateway.

How to connect your Mini.mu to PureData - Connecting the micro:bit to PureData (visual programming language to create interactive computer music) via radio and serial MIDI.

Using micro:bit and MakeCode with Data Streamer - How to use the MakeCode to write a simple program that sends live data from the BBC micro:bit to Microsoft Excel using the Microsoft Data Streamer add-in.

3D Rendering on a Children"s Toy - Implementing a ray tracer, an algorithm which simulates light rays to render a 3D scene, to render a pyramid in the micro:bit display.

The ThreadBoard: micro:bit E-Textile Prototyping Board - Developing a tool that will adapt to the unique set of constraints that e-textile creators face when fabricating an e-textile project.

Measuring pendulum decay with BBC micro:bit and XinaBox - Collecting large data sets is key to applied data science, use the techniques in this project to collect data on your BBC micro:bit.

Testing the micro:bit"s ADC - The micro:bit can measure analog voltages, but you can"t measure something without altering it & the best we can do is to make the measurement errors small. This article determines the micro:bit ADC measurement error.

Make your own processor with a micro:bit - Coding a 5-bit CPU in the micro:bit, useful for understanding or teaching how CPUs and simple systems work.

Embedded Python: Build a Game on the micro:bit - In this tutorial you’ll learn what embedded development is, why you would use Python, and how to write a basic game on the micro:bit with MicroPython.

Using the micro:bit to detect electrical current - The micro:bit has a magnetometer on-board, when a current flows through a wire a magnetic field is produced and we can use the magnetometer to detect this.

micro:bit V2 Pager - This blog post shows how to make a one-way BLE pager with a micro:bit V2 and nRF Connect SDK, to send text messages to the micro:bit using your smartphone or tablet.

micro:bit to Firebase - Send data from a BBC micro:bit to Google’s Firebase cloud database with a Python script. Retrieve the data and create a simple IoT demo model.

The Learning Circuit - Element14 video series to learn about basic electronics. Some of the episodes cover different ways to learn and explore with the BBC micro:bit.

Get started with the micro:bit - A set of videos that will take you from first use to micro:bit expert, exploring all the features of this tiny computer.

Building a mini sumo robot on a budget - Designing a mini sumo robot from scratch with micro:bit. From a simple paper sketch, to component selection, hardware design, mechanical assembly, coding, and testing.

The Engineering Design Process - Jasmine is here to take you though the stages of planning, designing and building your micro:bit project following the engineering design process.

Fun with Zephyr Project and BBC micro:bit - This presentation shows how Zephyr empowers the BBC micro:bit devices and its Bluetooth chip to do fun things.

Micro:bit for Mad Scientists - The 30 simple projects and experiments in this book will show you how to use the micro:bit to build a secret science lab, as you learn basic coding and electronics skills.

micro:bit Professional Development Courses - Designed to take the stress out of your computing responsibilities. They are aimed at teachers and educators supporting primary/elementary students.

Microsoft 14 Week Curriculum - Targeted to middle school grades 6-8 (ages 11-14). It is also written for teachers who may not have a Computer Science background, or may be teaching an "Intro to CS" for the 1st time.

IET micro:bit Teaching Resources - A series of resources created by the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) as part of their highly successful IET Faraday brand.

101 Computing BBC micro:bit category - Computing challenges with the micro:bit to boost your programming skills or spice up your teaching of computer science.

UCL’s BBC micro:bit Tutorials - Tutorial sheets that introduce micro:bit features with practical examples provided to invite students to design solutions to problems.

BBC micro:bit and Kodu Interact - Kodu is a visual programming language made specifically for creating games and allow interaction with the micro:bit.

Kitronik Inventors Kit Resources - A a great way to get started with programming and hardware interaction with the micro:bit. Includes 12 experiments using LEDs, motors, LDRs and capacitors.

First steps in using micro:bits with PCs - This very comprehensive article explores ways in which the micro:bit can send data via USB cable or wirelessly to PC applications.

micro:bit Basics for Teachers - (Part 2, Part 3) - Are you a teacher who wants to use micro:bit in your classroom, but doesn"t know where to start? We"ll show you how!

NCCE KS2 Sensing movement - Final KS2 programming unit that brings together elements of all previously covered programming constructs in a different, but familiar environment, with the micro:bit.

NCCE KS3 Physical computing - This unit applies and enhances the learners’ programming skills in a new engaging context: physical computing, using the BBC micro:bit.

Coding with micro:bit video series for teachers - Videos series resource for teachers and students with an introduction to coding with micro:bit to build inventions and make creations integrating LEDs, motors, servos and speakers.

Python For Kids - A comprehensive online Python development course for kids utilizing a BBC micro:bit going step-by-step into the world of Python for microcontrollers.

Scratch+micro:bit - This activity combines storytelling, coding, and making to engage in physical tinkering while helping to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds with micro:bit.

Barefoot meets micro:bit - Barefoot Computing latest set of resources, teamed up with the Micro:bit Foundation, to create three activities with an outdoors theme and making cross-curricular links to science.

Doctor Who and the micro:bit - Live Lesson - The BBC micro:bit will be put to the test at the controls of the TARDIS in this special BBC Live Lesson in collaboration with the team behind Doctor Who.

Strictly micro:bit - Live Lessons - The full BBC Live Lesson exploring the basics of coding, with help from the stars of Strictly Come Dancing and the BBC micro:bit.

micro:bit: Mission to Mars - Live Lesson - Reach for the stars with our latest Live Lesson on the BBC micro:bit, which investigates how computer science can be used to aid man"s exploration of space.

Teaching Physical Computing to 5-11 year olds - Introduction to the world of physical computing with a Crumble or a BBC micro:bit, and learn how it can encourage learners to use their imaginations to solve problems and develop new ideas.

Electronics, MicroPython, and BBC micro:bit Bootcamp - Learn the basics of electronics, MicroPython, and the BBC micro:bit in detail in a single course.

microbit.org Support - The support pages from the micro:bit Foundation is a great source of information, containing an extensive collection of FAQs, articles, and guides.

micro:bit Poster - Element14 has put together this detailed, beautifully rendered, cross-section micro:bit poster highlighting all of the device"s key functions and components.

Micro World Tour - Before the micro:bit was released a few went on a tour to the world-wide Python community. A lot of interesting content and ideas on these micro:bit adventures.

Parent"s Complete Guide To The BBC micro:bit - Free resource to help parent"s get actively involved in helping their children learn how to code, even with no prior coding experience.

Cardboard Battery Pack Holder - The new micro:bit comes with a cardboard cut out to hold the micro:bit and battery pack, this is the template to create and customise your own battery holder.

Micor:bit has variety of programming methods like mbed, micropython, typescript and other programming methods, as well as code online websites which are abundant.

Place the block before send display data. You can choose the position, color and size. For the screen, (1,1) is on top-left, and (160,128) is on bottom-right

The BBC micro:bit is a pocket-sized computer that can easily realize your creativity without much electrical and coding knowledge. There are numerous possibility of creation you can dig out by micro:bit, from robots to musical instruments. However if you want to create more things, just 1 micro:bit is barely not enough, That’s why we introduce the Grove Inventor Kit for micro:bit to you.

The Grove Inventor Kit for Micro:bit brings endless possibilities to your micro:bit. The core board in this kit is the Grove shield for micro:bit, with which you can use plenty of Grove modules including sensors, display, actuator to interact with micro:bit. If you never used and have no idea what grove is, here is the introduction of Grove. All you need to know is that with Grove, there is no need of soldering or jump wires any more. Your prototyping will be easier and much more convenient.

We have already prepared 8 grove modules to let you get started with micro:bit. With these grove modules, you can measure distance and display it, use gesture to play different music, or make a smart guard for your desk or room. We have prepared all the necessary libraries(packages) for free download. If you are a beginner to micro:bit, don’t worry because we have also prepare 12 different project which can teach you step by step. If you are an advanced user, this kit will help you more creative project than others.

The output voltage of micro:bit is around 3.0V, use microbit or AA battery to power the circuit may cause malfunction of Grove modules which requires high input voltage and drive current(e.g Grove - Ultrasonic Ranger). In order to make these kind of Grove function well, please use the micro-USB port on Grove shield for microbit to power the circuit.

You need to know some essential knowledge if it is the first time that you get involved with Micro:bit. You can click here to see more about Micro:bit.

Micro:bit offers two type of editor - JavaScript Block Editor and Python Editor. JavaScript Block Editor support graphical programming, it"s easy to learn. So this Tutorial is based on JavaScript Block Editor.

When you finish all this above, rename the project "gesture". Then you can download the project to your board. Click Download in the Bottom left corner, download the file microbit-gesture.hex into the flash of MICROBIT.

In this project, we are going to turn our BBC micro:bit into a digital thermometer, which will sense the temperature of the room by getting the temperature of the micro:bit’s components.

We’re also going to use some conditional programming, or logic, to draw an image on the micro:bit’s screen which represents how warm or cold the room is.

So, let’s build our thermometer using the BBC micro:bit’s JavaScript Blocks Editor. Let’s create a new project. And let’s call this app Thermometer App (we’ll name our app at the bottom of the screen so it is easy for us to find amongst our projects).

Once you’ve clicked Ok, you’ll see that the editor creates a Function block, with the name we gave it, on the screen. Let’s drag it down, below the current code, so we can use it.

What we want to do now is to get the current temperature, so we can store it as the value of our variable. We need to use sensors to get the current temperature from our micro:bit so we are going to click on the Input menu, and we’re going to grab the block of code that uses the correct sensor. Let’s drag down the Temperature (°C) block and drop it at the end of our Set currentTemperature To block (replacing the 0).

We are now letting the micro:bit get the current temperature, using its sensors, and we’re storing it as currentTemperature ready for us to use elsewhere in our code.

So, we now know how to get the temperature from the micro:bit, but let’s use our newly created function to display the temperature on the micro:bit’s screen!

We’re going to use the A button to show the temperature on the micro:bit’s display. Let’s grab an On Button A Pressed block from the Input menu and drag that down to an empty space on the screen.

When we press the A Button, the code inside our function will get called – so the micro:bit will get the current temperature and store it for us as the variable we created.

All that’s left to do now is to show the temperature on the screen. We know that the temperature is going to be a number, so we can grab a Show Number block from the Basic menu and drop that within our On Button A Pressed block, after our function call.

We now have a working thermometer! Click the A button on the emulator, or download your app and copy it onto your micro:bit (click here for instructions if you need them).

We now have a working thermometer! Our app gets the temperature using the micro:bit’s components and it displays it on the screen. But let’s take this a little bit further and write some logic into our app that would make our thermometer much more visual – just like a weather app on a phone.

What we’re going to build next is some code that, when we press the B button, will show us whether it is cold, warm, or hot in the room. And we’ll use our LED screen in order to do so.

推荐指数:100 在线编程时，点击下载后，micro:bit uploader 可以实现自动将HEX文件拷贝到 microbit中。如果没有micro:bit uploader，得先找到HEX文件，然后再手动拷贝到microbit中，还是比价麻烦的。 micro:bit uploader 下载地址：

The Micro:bit is a great device for learning programming. One limitation is the limited display provided by the 5x5 LED matrix. This can be used to display scrolling text but it"s difficult to read and far from user friendly.

In this guide I will show how you can use an LCD display to show text messages to users. Through this you can create a stop watch program which uses the display for showing elapsed time.

This video gives an overview of the steps taken in programming the micro:bit. This uses the Microsoft block based editor MakeCode, and I also shown what the code looks like in JavaScript. In a future video I"ll also show how this can be programmed using Python.

For this example I used a 1602 LCD display. The code refers to 16 characters per row and 2 rows in total. You could use other models such as a 16x4 which would also work.

It is important to get one with an I2C adapter. These are needed because the LCD display takes parallel data and so would use up many of the pins of the MicroBit. The I2C adapter allows you to instead send the data as serial data so needs only 2 pins (plus ground). The image below shows an LCD display without the adapter and one below with adapter. You can buy the adapter separately but that will need to be soldered to the display, whereas it is more convenient to buy them pre-soldered on. The adapters are normally based around the PCF8574 or PF8574A ICs. These normally have I2C address 39 (0x27) for the PF8574 or 63 (0x3F) for the PF8574A. If you want to connect multiple devices then you can change the address using solder pads on the bottom of the board.

The LCD display needs a 5V power supply. This is higher than the 3V power supply available on the micro:bit pins. Some breakout boards include 5V from the USB connector, but if not then you will need a separate power supply. In my case I used a USB lead with a micro-USB breakout connector. If using a separate power supply then the grounds will need to be connected together.

The diagram below shows how I wired up my particular setup [click the image for a larger version]. This includes an external micro USB connector which is mounted on a breadboard and used to provide the 5V power needed by the LCD display.

The ground of the microbit and the LCD are connected together. Pin 19 from the MicroBit connects to SCL (Serial Clock) and pin 20 to SDA (Serial Data).