The BBC Micro Bit is an ARM-based circuit board designed by the BBC for use in computer education in the UK that can be connected to ARC via USB. It was first announced at the launch of BBC's Make It Digital campaign in March 2015 to deliver 1 million devices to pupils in the UK.
The device is half the size of a credit card and has an ARM Cortex-M0 processor, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a display consisting of 25 LEDs, two programmable buttons, and can be powered by either USB or an external battery pack. The device inputs and outputs are through five-ring connectors that form part of a larger 23-pin edge connector.
GPIO
GPIO #0 #1 and #2 are accessible using large alligator clips. With a MicroBit breakout accessory, you can access the other 16 GPIO's.
Note that many of these pins are multiplexed with the LED matrix which means they can either control the LED's or external devices, but not both at the same time.
- Pin #0 - large pad - analog in
- Pin #1 - large pad - analog in
- Pin #2 - large pad - analog in
- Pin #3 - analog in, also used for LED matrix
- Pin #4 - analog in, also used for LED matrix
- Pin #5 - also used for Button A
- Pin #6 - also used for LED matrix
- Pin #7 - also used for LED matrix
- Pin #8
- Pin #9 - also used for LED matrix
- Pin #10 - analog in, also used for LED matrix
- Pin #11 - also used for button B
- Pin #12
- Pin #13 - also available as SPI clock
- Pin #14 - also available as SPI MISO
- Pin #15 - also available as SPI MOSI
- Pin #16
- Pin #19 - also available as I2C clock
- Pin #20 - also available as I2C data
To use the onboard Buttons and LEDs, use pins: #0, #1, #2, #8, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #19 and #20.
Programming Firmware With Arduino IDE
The firmware for connecting the Microbit to ARC is distributed via an Arduino sketch. This means you must program the Microbit with the Arduino sketch below. To use the Microbit with Arduino, the IDE must have the required tools and support installed. Rather than re-creating the work of Adafruit's how-to guide, we've included a link to it below. Follow the link to install the Microbit tools and support into the Arduino IDE to compile and upload the firmware for ARC support.
