Book Image

BBC Micro:bit in Practice

By : Ashwin Pajankar, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Saini
Book Image

BBC Micro:bit in Practice

By: Ashwin Pajankar, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Saini

Overview of this book

This book is a one-stop guide for learning BBC Micro:bit with MicroPython, exploring many hardware components and programming techniques to provide detailed insights into developing practical applications with the Micro:bit. It will also show you how hardware components can be manipulated using a combination of Micro:bit and MicroPython for developing practical projects. BBC Micro:bit in Practice will help you gain a holistic understanding of the BBC Micro:bit platform and MicroPython programming, guiding you through mini projects aimed at developing practical knowledge of circuit design and writing programs. You’ll learn how to write programs for working with built-in LEDs and buttons, interfacing external LEDs, buttons, motors, buzzers, and much more. You’ll also work with built-in radio, speakers, accelerometer, and a compass. You’ll dive into concepts related to the Micro:bit filesystem, interfacing external displays, and working with libraries in detail before exploring sewable circuits and wearable technology. After reading this Micro:bit book, you’ll understand how to apply principles in electronics and MicroPython to create interesting real-life projects from scratch.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
1
Part 1: Getting Started with the BBC Micro:bit
6
Part 2: Programming Hardware with MicroPython
10
Part 3: Filesystems and Programming Analog I/O
13
Part 4: Advanced Hardware Interfacing and Applications

PWM signals

PWM is a way of handling analog write operations. It is a set of repetitive signal pulses, where the time of the pulse is in milliseconds, and the width of a pulse can be controlled using the write_analog() operation. When an analog device is connected to the Micro:bit, the read operation can be performed using read_analog(), and at the same time, when an output analog signal needs to be generated, it can be done using PWM. To do so, a duty cycle needs to be defined. The duty cycle can be explained as a measure of time in which a signal is active or a General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) device receives an output. It can be easily understood with the help of this figure:

Figure 9.6 – PWM with the duty cycle (courtesy: https://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/_/downloads/hu/latest/pdf/)

In Figure 9.6, the first pulse indicates an equal distribution of high and low values; it implies that the output device connected to a particular pulse...