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

NeoPixel products

NeoPixels are a brand of a range of related products manufactured by Adafruit (https://www.adafruit.com/category/168). They are based on individual LEDs (WS2812, WS2811, and SK6812). These LEDs are Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) or Red, Green, Blue, and White (RGBW)-colored LEDs. They use the Single Wire Protocol for communication. Let’s understand what it is. As you may recall, in Chapter 6, Interfacing External LEDs, we interfaced the Micro:bit board with RGB LEDs with four pins (one for each color and one for a common anode or common cathode). This circuit configuration can only support a limited number of RGB LEDs with the Micro:bit (or any board/device for that matter) as it has a limited number of GPIO pins that can be used for digital I/O. So, the drawbacks of this configuration are as follows:

  • Utilization of too many pins
  • Cannot support more RGB LEDs
  • Must write separate code blocks to handle each LED

NeoPixel only uses one GPIO pin...