micro:bit, an Educational & Creative Tool for Kids

Note: micro:bit V1 is discontinued now, we recommend micro:bit V2- an Educational & Creative Tool for Kids as a suitable replacement.

micro:bit is a pocket-sized microcontroller designed for kids and beginners learning how to program, letting them easily bring ideas into DIY digital games, interactive projects and robotics.

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Product Name	Micro:bit - an Educational & Creative Tool for Kids	Micro:Mate - A Mini Expansion Board for micro:bit (Gravity Compatible)	micro:bit Expansion Board for Boson (Gravity Compatible)
SKU	DFR0497	DFR0518	DFR0521
Operating Voltage	3.5~5.5V	3.3V/5V	3.3V
Power supply	DC2.1/Terminals	USB	USB
External supply voltage	3.5~5.5V	3.3V/5V	3.3V/5V
Digital ports (IO/PWM)	17/8	3	3
Analog ports (input/output)	P0、P1、P2	3	3
UART	x	x	x
I2C	2	x	x
SPI	x	x	x
Interrupt pin (quantity)	x	x	x
Interface Type	Gravity	Gravity	Gravity
3.5mm headphone port	x	√	√
Dimension	63 x 58 mm	68.5×53.3 mm	80×70 mm
Mounting hole	50*55	-	-
Weight (g)	64	23	48
Price	$14.9	$5.9	$7.9
Drive the servo	√	√	x
Scenarios	Many motors and sensors needed	Suitable for small Works	Initial Stage
Key Features	17 io ports with 2 i2c interfaces Can drive Quad DC Motor Driver	IO port expands 6 and the pin replaces the edge connector slot Anti-reverse pad on the back, which protects the control board and prevents micro-reverse Drive high current equipment, such as steering gear, components connected to 8 12 16	3-Pin fool-proof connector x 6 Edge Connector Compatible with sensor

micro:bit comes with a variety of on-board modules, including a 5x5 LED matrix (also supports light detection), 2 programmable buttons, motion detector, Compass and Bluetooth® Smart module. Additionally, you may attach more modules such as a servo motor, RGB LED lights through 5 I/O rings or 20 edge connectors.

micro:bit can be programmed with Microsoft Block Editor via graphical editor or JavaScript editor. The Microsoft Block Editor is available on Windows, macOS, IOS and Android, supporting wireless programming via Bluetooth.

micro:bit - an Educational & Creative Tool for Kids Programming

micro:bit - an Educational & Creative Tool for Kids Connection

Note: It comes with board only, USB cable and Power holder need to be purchased separately.

Microbit Tutorials

A variety of on-board modules

Expandable for additional sensors or actuators

Graphical drag and drop code editor

Easy and smooth program uploading

Bluetooth wireless programming uploading

Bluetooth Wireless communication

Microprocessor: 32-bit ARM® Cortex™ M0 CPU

A 5x5 LED matrix with 25 red LEDs to light up. Each LED is inpidually programmable and can display animated patterns, scrolling text and alphanumeric characters

Two programmable buttons. The micro:bit can detect either of its two buttons being pressed and unpressed, and can be programmed to act on that or send the information to another device. Use them as a games controller, or control music on a smartphone.

On-board motion detector or 3-AXIS digital accelerometer that can detect movement and tell other devices you’re on the go. It measures on 3 axes, X, Y, Z, and sends back the data in milli-gs. The micro:bit can react to this data and tell other devices it is moving. The device will also detect a small number of standard actions, eg shake, tilt and freefall. Turn the micro:bit into a spirit level. Use it for motion-activated games. Have your micro:bit light up when something is moved.

A built-in compass, 3D magnetometer to sense which direction you’re facing and your movement in degrees. This data can be used by the micro:bit in a program or be sent to another device. The magnetometer could also detect the presence of certain metals and magnets.

Bluetooth® Smart Technology (previously called Bluetooth Low Energy) to wirelessly communicate with other Bluetooth Smart devices and exchange data and commands. Connect the micro:bit to other micro:bits, devices, phones, tablets, cameras and everyday objects all around. Play games, share creations or join forces to create multi-micro:bit masterpieces. Take a selfie. Pause a DVD or control your playlist.

Five Ring Input and Output (I/O) including power (PWR) and ground (GRD). PWR, GRD, I/O x 3. Each I/O ring is programmable to be either analogue or digital. The rings are suitable for crocodile clips or 4mm banana plugs, meaning an external sensor can be connected to measure things like temperature, moisture, proximity to other devices. The micro:bit reads values from the sensor and acts on them or sends them to another device. The micro:bit can also send control commands to the rings – these could be used to control things like a motor or robot. The PWR and GRD rings supply 3 volts and could be used to power a separate device.

Edge Connector: 20 pins, 1.27mm pitch and extend 7.62mm from board edge suitable for standard connectors. This allows the micro:bit to be connected to another device, eg Arduino, Galileo, Kano and Raspberry Pi through a standard connector.

Micro-USB contoller: This is controlled by a separate processor and presents the micro:bit to a computer as a memory stick. This means the program can be dragged onto the micro:bit in the same way a file is dragged onto a memory stick.

2xAAA battery pack

System LED x 1 (yellow)

System push button switch x 1

Size: 43×52 mm / 1.7*2.04 inches (net).

Weight: 8g

Project 1. Micro:bit Surprise box
In this project it shows how the box interacts with flahsing hearts.

Hardware components:

Microbit Project 2. How To Make A Micro:bit Heart Rate Monitor
The following tutorial will show you how to set the micro:bit beating together with your heart using the optical heart rate sensor:
Hardware components:

Microbit Project 3: OBLOQ-IoT Module +Micro:bit IoT Flower Watering

Hardware components:

Microbit Project 4: Microbit Projects: Yes/No Bear

There are 2 possible answers. Either yes or no. We randomly generate the outcome when a button is pressed. When the answer is yes, the display will show Y & the tilt servo will response. When no, the display will show N and pan servo will response.

Hardware components:

Microbit Project 5: LED writing board (micro:bit compatible)

The LED writing board is created using a photo frame that is surrounded with LED strip lights. When button A is pressed, the led strip turns white and flash. When button B is pressed, a random color is generated. To off, press button A and B together.
Hardware components:

photo frame *1
RGB inpidually addressable LED strip (neo pixels)
microbit *1
micro:mate(breakout board) *1

Microbit Project 6: Drinking Cola equals to Drinking Toilet Cleaner?

Hardware components:

Microbit Project 7: Micro:bit car with DFRobot gamepad

Hardware components:

Arcylic car chassis with 3 wheels (kit)
L9110 Dual Channel Motor Driver Module
micro:bits *2
micro:bit mate
micro:gamepad
Double sided tape to stick the battery holder to the acrylic
Glue gun to immobilize the back wheel
Dupont cables

Microbit Project 8: Basketball score counter

Hardware components:

Microbit Project 9: micro:bit Laser Target

The ambient light sensor sensor detects the intensity of the laser pointer. If it is greater than 400, it will sound the buzzer and the servo will make the target fall and up. Game over when it reaches 10. Press A to reset score to 0.