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

RGB LEDs

RGB LEDs can emit three colors: red, green, and blue. They have four pins, one for each color; the remaining pin acts as a common cathode or common anode. The following circuit diagram shows the common cathode LED connection to the Micro:bit:

Figure 6.18 – An RGB LED (common cathode)

In a common cathode LED, we must apply a positive voltage to the color pins to activate the corresponding LEDs. We have connected the common cathode to the ground, the red pin to pin 0, the green pin to pin 1, and the blue pin to pin 2. The program that cycles through all the colors that this combination of digital outputs can produce is quite simple and intuitive, as follows:

from microbit import *
red = pin0
green = pin1
blue = pin2
def glow(red_val, green_val, blue_val):
    red.write_digital(red_val)
    green.write_digital(green_val)
    blue.write_digital(blue_val)
try:
    ...