Documentation
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Projects
Flashing heart Smiley buttons Love meter Rock paper scissors Magic button trick Coin Flipper Hack your headphones Banana keyboard Guitar Duct tape wallet Watch Soil Moisture Plant Watering Reaction Time States of Matter Hot Or Cold Voting Machine Infection Fireflies Rock Paper Scissors Teams Inchworm Milk Carton Robot Milk monster RC Car Timing gates Compass Telegraph Railway Crossing Karel
Examples
Blinky Name tag Rando Plot acceleration Plot light level Plot analog pin Servo calibrator Game of Life Egg and Spoon Race Stop watch Radio dashboard
Courses
About Introduction References Acknowledgements
Introduction Unplugged Walkthrough Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Review Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Review Project Examples Standards
Reference
show number show icon show leds show string clear screen forever pause show arrow show animation
on button pressed on gesture on pin pressed button is pressed compass heading pin is pressed temperature acceleration light level rotation magnetic force running time set accelerometer range
play tone ring tone rest beat tempo change tempo by set tempo
plot unplot point toggle brightness set brightness stop animation plot bar graph enable
send number send value send string on data packet received set group set transmit power set transmit serial number write received packet to serial
create sprite delete move turn in on edge bounce get set change is touching is touching edge add score score set score start countdown game over pause resume
create image create big image show image scroll image arrow image icon image arrow number
digital read pin digital write pin analog read pin analog write pin analog set period map on pulsed pulse duration pulse in servo write pin servo set pulse i2c read number i2c write number set pull analog pitch analog set pitch pin spi write spi Pins spi format spi frequency
write line write number write value write string read until read line read string on data received redirect write buffer read buffer
in background reset wait micros on event raise event event timestamp event value
Pairing on bluetooth connected on bluetooth disconnected start accelerometer service start button service start io pin service start led service start magnetometer service start temperature service start uart service uart read until uart write string uart write number uart write value advertise url stop advertising advertise uid advertise-uid-buffer
tell camera to tell remote control to raise alert to on notified on gamepad button signal strength on signal strength changed
Packages
NeoPixel File System Sonar Bluetooth Temperature Sensor MAX6675 Bluetooth MAX6675 MIDI Bluetooth MIDI Code Dojo Olney UCL Junk Robot SRS BitBot SRS BitBot BlockyTalkyBLE
Blocks
On Start
repeat for while
if Boolean
assign change var var
Math JavaScript blocks Custom blocks
JavaScript
Calling Sequencing Variables Operators Statements Functions Types Classes Interfaces Generics
Types
Number String Boolean Array Function
Hardware
Data logging Error codes Foil circuits MES events Pins Reactive Screen Serial Servo Simulator Usb Flashing via HID (CMSIS-DAP)
Published by Microsoft
    Documentation
Support
Projects
Flashing heart Smiley buttons Love meter Rock paper scissors Magic button trick Coin Flipper Hack your headphones Banana keyboard Guitar Duct tape wallet Watch Soil Moisture Plant Watering Reaction Time States of Matter Hot Or Cold Voting Machine Infection Fireflies Rock Paper Scissors Teams Inchworm Milk Carton Robot Milk monster RC Car Timing gates Compass Telegraph Railway Crossing Karel
Examples
Blinky Name tag Rando Plot acceleration Plot light level Plot analog pin Servo calibrator Game of Life Egg and Spoon Race Stop watch Radio dashboard
Courses
About Introduction References Acknowledgements
Introduction Unplugged Walkthrough Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Review Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Overview Unplugged Activity Project Standards
Review Project Examples Standards
Reference
show number show icon show leds show string clear screen forever pause show arrow show animation
on button pressed on gesture on pin pressed button is pressed compass heading pin is pressed temperature acceleration light level rotation magnetic force running time set accelerometer range
play tone ring tone rest beat tempo change tempo by set tempo
plot unplot point toggle brightness set brightness stop animation plot bar graph enable
send number send value send string on data packet received set group set transmit power set transmit serial number write received packet to serial
create sprite delete move turn in on edge bounce get set change is touching is touching edge add score score set score start countdown game over pause resume
create image create big image show image scroll image arrow image icon image arrow number
digital read pin digital write pin analog read pin analog write pin analog set period map on pulsed pulse duration pulse in servo write pin servo set pulse i2c read number i2c write number set pull analog pitch analog set pitch pin spi write spi Pins spi format spi frequency
write line write number write value write string read until read line read string on data received redirect write buffer read buffer
in background reset wait micros on event raise event event timestamp event value
Pairing on bluetooth connected on bluetooth disconnected start accelerometer service start button service start io pin service start led service start magnetometer service start temperature service start uart service uart read until uart write string uart write number uart write value advertise url stop advertising advertise uid advertise-uid-buffer
tell camera to tell remote control to raise alert to on notified on gamepad button signal strength on signal strength changed
Packages
NeoPixel File System Sonar Bluetooth Temperature Sensor MAX6675 Bluetooth MAX6675 MIDI Bluetooth MIDI Code Dojo Olney UCL Junk Robot SRS BitBot SRS BitBot BlockyTalkyBLE
Blocks
On Start
repeat for while
if Boolean
assign change var var
Math JavaScript blocks Custom blocks
JavaScript
Calling Sequencing Variables Operators Statements Functions Types Classes Interfaces Generics
Types
Number String Boolean Array Function
Hardware
Data logging Error codes Foil circuits MES events Pins Reactive Screen Serial Servo Simulator Usb Flashing via HID (CMSIS-DAP)
Published by Microsoft

Device

Looking to buy a micro:bit? See the list of resellers.

All the bits and pieces that make up the BBC micro:bit

LED Screen and Status LED

The red lights are LEDs (light emitting diodes) and form a 5 x 5 LED Screen. They can be set to on/off and the brightness can be controlled.

The yellow light on the back of the micro:bit is the status LED. It flashes yellow when the system wants to tell the user that something has happened.

Buttons

Buttons A and B are a form of input. When you press a button, it completes an electrical circuit. The micro:bit can detect either of its two buttons being pressed/released and be programmed to act on these events.

Button R on the back of the micro:bit is a system button. It has different uses. When you have downloaded and run your code onto your micro:bit, press Button R to restart and run your program from the beginning.

USB connection

When you plug in your micro:bit via USB, it should appear as a MICROBIT drive.

If you accidentally hold down the reset button as you’re plugging in your micro:bit, the micro:bit will appear as a MAINTENANCE drive instead of MICROBIT. This is known as maintenance mode.

To continue programming your micro:bit YOU MUST unplug your USB and reconnect it. Check that the drive now shows as MICROBIT.

Use with caution. If you click on the drive while it shows as MAINTENANCE, you can see which version of firmware you have running on your micro:bit. Firmware on your micro:bit should be up-to-date already. You can find the version of firmware in the ‘version.txt’ file on the micro:bit. Further information on the firmware can be found here:

https://developer.mbed.org/platforms/Microbit/#firmware

Compass

The compass can detect magnetic fields such as the Earth’s magnetic field. As the micro:bit has this compass, it is possible to detect the direction it is moving in. The micro:bit can detect where it is facing and movement in degrees. This data can be used by the micro:bit in a program or be sent to another device.

Accelerometer

There is an accelerometer on your micro:bit which detects changes in the micro:bit’s speed. It converts analogue information into digital form that can be used in micro:bit programs. Output is in milli-g. The device will also detect a small number of standard actions e.g. shake, tilt and free-fall.

Pins

The pins can be a form of electrical input or output. There are labels for the input/output pins P0, P1, P2, which you can attach external sensors to such as thermometers or moisture detectors.

Light level

The screen can also be used a light level sensor (it’s a really cool trick).

Runtime

The micro:bit embodies many fundamental concepts in computer science. To learn more, read the micro:bit - a reactive system.

Sometimes, your micro:bit may display an error code. For more information, see:

How do I connect the micro:bit to my computer?

Your micro:bit can be connected to your computer via a micro USB cable. Data can be sent and received between the micro:bit and the computer so programs can be downloaded from Windows, Macs and Chromebooks onto the micro:bit via this USB data connection. Click here to read more information on how to run scripts on your micro:bit, and click here to read more about the error messages you might get.

Powering your micro:bit

When your micro:bit is connected to your computer with the micro USB, it doesn’t need another power source.
When your micro:bit isn’t connected to your computer, tablet or mobile, you will need 2 x AAA 1.5 V batteries to power it.

The pins labelled 3V and GND are the power supply pins. You can attach an external device such as a motor to these and power it using the battery or USB.

Serial Communication

The micro:bit can send an receive data via serial communication. The serial data can be transfered via USB or BLE.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Antenna

You will see the label BLE ANTENNA on the back of your micro:bit. It is for a messaging service, so that devices can talk to each other. The micro:bit is a peripheral device which can talk to a central device like a smart phone or tablet that has Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The micro:bit can send signals and receive signals from a central device so another BLE device can control the micro:bit or the micro:bit can control another BLE device.

Technical Information

The micro:bit has been designed to be a bare-board micro controller for use by children aged 11-12. More information is available at the Microbit Foundation web site.