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

Python Programming Essentials

In the previous chapter, we got acquainted with Python’s history and implementations. We also learned how to use an online editor by the Micro:bit Foundation for programming a Micro:bit device (also referred to as a board). We installed the Thonny and Mu IDEs for MicroPython programming and explored their useful features for programming Micro:bit with MicroPython. I hope that you have had an opportunity to write a basic program for Micro:bit.

In this chapter, we will get started with hands-on programming with MicroPython. We will get comfortable with the Python programming syntax before getting into creating projects with MicroPython and Micro:bit. If you are new to Python programming, this chapter will help you to gain the essentials. We will explore the following list of topics together:

  • Getting started with Python programming
  • Conditional statements
  • Loops
  • Computing prime numbers, factorials, and Fibonacci series

Let...