Over the past few weeks, we've been sharing the individual modules of An Introduction to Computer Science - a curriculum of activities and lesson plans using the BBC micro:bit, developed by our partners at the Microsoft Corporation.
Written by Douglas…
An Introduction to Computer Science is an introductory curriculum for the BBC micro:bit that was developed by our partners at the Microsoft Corporation. Written by Douglas and Mary Kiang, the twelve-week program features easy-to-follow lessons to guide…
Back in April, we challenged our element14 Community members to tell us about summer code club initiatives in their local communities. Whether through assisting in the…
Each month, we're going to shine a light on a kit or accessory that you can use to enhance your micro:bit projects. This month our featured product is the Klimate Board, developed by Kitronik.
What is it?
The Klimate board is a Real Time Clock (RTC…
WINNERS HAVE NOW BEEN SELECTED! SEE THEM HERE:
micro:bit Summer Code Club Challenge - Winners Announced!
Back in Autumn 2018, the element14 community ran the Great micro…
Each month, we're going to shine a light on a kit or accessory that you can use to enhance your micro:bit projects. This month our featured product is the Totem Crab, developed by BinaryBots.
What is it?
A sophisticated 'smart toy' from Binary Bots…
Each month, we're going to shine a light on a kit or accessory that you can use to enhance your micro:bit projects. This month our featured product is the Grove Inventor Kit, developed by Seeed Studio.
What is it?
The Grove System is a modular, standardized…
Each month, we're going to shine a light on a kit or accessory that you can use to enhance your micro:bit projects. This month our featured product is the Kitronik Inventor's Kit, available for purchase now from Farnell element14.
What is it?…
As the exclusive manufacturer of the BBC micro:bit, Farnell element14 has access to a wide variety of kits and accessories, designed to expand the possibilities of what can be…
The Micro:bit Accelerometer Theremin. Cool case, but no lights this time. (All Images: ME)
Continuing on the theme of the Accelerometer Tone Adjusting project, I want to use the idea of very little hardware in building another Theremin. You can see the…
Do you have an urge to write some microbit games but don't know how to start, maybe this will help. Learning how to code some basic gaming functions could be all you need to overcome coders block. Let's take it back to basics and learn a couple of key…
This is the Multi-button Synth in "button play mode."
(UPDATE: The next version of this project is done, see the "16-button sequence synthesizer.")
What’s the logical next step to a synthesizer? Playing multiple sounds or melodies. Accessible…
The Atari Punk Console, a name that Kaustic Machines dubbed, is an astable square wave driving a monostable oscillator. This was done with two 555 timer ICs, typically. The output was sound that resembled those produced by the old Atari 2600. It’s origin…
(Above) The Advanced Theremin as I had it set up. I placed the sensors separate to allow each hand to control a tone. (via me)
The last BBC Micro:bit Theremin project had you create a single channel for sound. This, “ADVANCED,” Theremin will up that to…
A shot of the complete circuit. (via me)
Digital musical instruments are in every facet of music today. Arguably, you can trace digital music’s origin to the original Theremin. Today, the Theremin is more of an art installation than a practical instrument…
A partial build of the Scary Tapping project above.
This started out as a Halloween project – Scary Tapping. It makes the sound of someone, or something, tapping behind a wall, floor, what have you. But it seems to have turned into a "robot spoon musician…
Even being bathing in technology, my sink still leaks, and I don’t know until it’s flooded in the cupboard. It’s almost ridiculous to NOT know when your basement is flooded. Tubs, washing machines, even the refrigerator could leak at any time.
Anxiety…
Legend World Adventure Quest, Championship Edition Super Turbo
“If you only ever play one video game in your entire life, this is it!” – Game Xtremist Chronicle
“To be in the presence of true game genius is a gift few will experience. Play this game!”
…Among the BBC Micro:bit’s onboard sensors is an accelerometer. This can be used for a myriad of applications, but I will use it for the simplest of motion detection – a step-counter!
The idea is simple, it detects enough motion and considers it a step…
The BBC Micro:bit is small, different than other boards. But this board is packed with features. One, in particular, I use in this project is the onboard compass, aka a magnetometer. I wanted to use it as a metal detector!
The earth has a magnetic field…
This is Part 2 of the Micro:bit version of the someone behind you sensor.
For those who did part 1, this one adds an addressable LEDs to indicate when the PIR motion sensor is triggered. It also has a secondary nightlight mode that turns on the LED strip…
The Someone Behind You Sensor idea (for Arduino) is one of the most useful but simple projects I ever made. I thought it would be worthwhile to port it over to the BBC Micro:bit. The original idea was to have some LEDs placed on a desk, where the user…
Newark element14 recently teamed up with TechGirlz - a nonprofit organisation dedicated to reducing the gender gap in technology industries - to provide middle school students in Chicago with a hands-on introduction to basic coding.
Hosted at two Microsoft…
Students from Wimbledon High School had the opportunity to showcase their programming skills this month when they took part in Microsoft's 'Hack The Classroom' event, featuring the BBC micro:bit.
Provided with micro:bit devices, sensors and…
Singapore has become the latest country to join the micro:bit revolution, with the country's Ministry of Education supporting a national campaign to roll out more than 100,000 of the devices in a bid to nurture a new generation of digital makers. …
micro:bit Summer Code Club Challenge
