Micro:bit for Mad Scientists: 30 Clever Coding and Electronics Projects for Kids

by Simon Monk

Overview

Build your own secret laboratory with 30 coding and electronic projects!

The BBC micro:bit is a tiny, cheap, yet surprisingly powerful computer that you can use to build cool things and experiment with code. The 30 simple projects and experiments in this book will show you how to use the micro:bit to build a secret science lab complete with robots, door alarms, lie detectors, and more--as you learn basic coding and electronics skills.

Here are just some of the projects you'll build:

A "light guitar" you can play just by moving your fingers

A working lie detector

A self-watering plant care system

A two-wheeled robot

A talking robotic head with moving eyes

A door alarm made with magnets

Learn to code like a Mad Scientist!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593279745
Publisher:	No Starch Press
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1010L (what's this?)

About the Author

Simon Monk is a full-time author and maker, mostly writing about electronics for makers. Some of his better-known books include Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches, Raspberry Pi Cookbook, and Hacking ­Electronics. He is also the co-author of Practical Electronics for Inventors and wrote Minecraft Mastery with his son, Matthew Monk.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xix

About This Book xx

Experiments xxi

Projects xxi

Code and Resources xxii

1 Getting Started 1

A Tour of the Micro:bit 2

The Top 2

The Bottom 4

Power and the Micro:bit 4

Connecting Electronics with Input/Output Pins 7

Built-in Peripherals 9

Hardware Essentials 10

Programming the Micro:bit 11

Connecting your Micro:bit 11

Programming with Blocks: Hello World 12

Programming with MicroPython: Hello World 19

Programming Concepts 25

Variables 25

Arithmetic 27

If Blocks 29

Strings 30

Arrays and Lists 32

Programming Wrap-Up 33

Downloading the Code 34

Downloading the Blocks Code 34

Downloading the MicroPython Code 35

Summary 37

2 Super Sonic 39

Connecting a Loudspeaker to a Micro:bit 40

The Quiet Method: Headphones 40

The Ghetto Blaster Method: Speaker 42

Experiment 1 Generating Sounds 43

What You'll Need 43

Construction 43

Code 44

Things to Try 45

How It Works: Frequency and Sound 45

Experiment 2 It Speaks! 47

What You'll Need 47

Construction 47

Code 48

Project: Musical Doorbell 48

What You'll Need 49

Construction 50

Code 51

Things to Try 53

Project: Shout-O-Meter 54

What You'll Need 55

Construction 55

Code 56

How It Works: Microphone Output 58

Summary 59

3 Luminous Light 61

Experiment 3 Sensing Light 62

What You'll Need 62

Construction 62

Code 62

How It Works 63

Project: Automatic Night-Light 63

What You'll Need 64

Construction 64

Code 65

Project: Light Guitar 66

What You'll Need 66

Construction 67

Code 71

Project: Infinity Mirror 73

What You'll Need 73

Construction 75

Code 81

How It Works 83

Summary 84

4 Magical Magnetism 85

Project: Compass 86

What You'll Need 86

Construction 87

Code 89

Things to Try 92

How It Works: The Earth's Magnetic Field 92

Experiment 4 Measuring Magnetic Fields 93

What You'll Need 93

Construction 94

Code 97

Things to Try 98

How It Works: The Strength of Magnets 99

Project: Magnetic Door Alarm 99

What You'll Need 100

Construction 101

Code 102

Things to Try 103

Summary 104

5 Amazing Acceleration 105

Experiment 5 Gestures 106

What You'll Need 106

Construction 107

Code 107

Things to Try 109

How It Works: Force, Acceleration, and Gravity 109

Experiment 6 Real-Time Acceleration Plotting 112

What You'll Need 112

Construction 112

Code 114

How It Works: Calculating Net Acceleration 114

Project: Toothbrushing Monitor 116

What You'll Need 117

Construction 117

Code 118

Things to Try 121

Experiment 7 Logging Acceleration to a File 121

What You'll Need 122

Construction 122

Code 125

Things to Try 126

Project: Acceleration Display 127

What You'll Need 128

Construction 128

Code 129

Summary 130

6 Mad Movement 131

Experiment 8 Making a Servomotor Move 132

What You'll Need 133

Construction 133

Code 135

How It Works: Servomotors and Pulses 137

Project: Animatronic Head (Mike the Micro:bit Robot) 139

What You'll Need 140

Construction 141

Code 151

Things to Try 155

Project: Robot Rover 155

What You'll Need 156

Construction 157

How It Works: Motors and the Flow of Electricity 163

Summary 164

7 Time Travel 165

Experiment 9 Keeping Time 166

What You'll Need 167

Construction 167

Code 168

How It Works: Keeping Time 169

Project: Binary Clock 169

How to Read the Binary Clock 171

What You'll Need 171

Construction 172

Code 172

How It Works: Telling the Time in Binary 176

Project: Talking Clock 178

What You'll Need 178

Construction 179

Code 179

How It Works: Teaching the Micro:bit to Speak 182

Summary 182

8 Mad Scientist Mind Games 183

Experiment 10 How Fast Are Your Nerves? 184

What You'll Need 185

Construction 185

Testing Your Nervous System 186

Code 188

Things to Try 191

How It Works: Measuring Your Reaction Time 191

Project: Lie Detector 193

What You'll Need 194

Construction 194

Code 195

How It Works: Detecting Lies Through Sweat, Voltage, and Resistance 197

Summary 198

9 Environmental Madness 199

Experiment 11 Measuring Temperature 200

What You'll Need 200

Construction 201

Code 202

How It Works: Why Does a Processor Heat Up? 203

Project: Temperature and Light Logger 204

What You'll Need 205

Construction 206

Code 208

How It Works: Sensors 210

Project: Automatic Plant Waterer 212

What You'll Need 213

Construction 215

Code 218

Things to Try 222

How It Works: Measuring Soil Dampness 222

Summary 223

10 Radio Activity 225

Experiment 12 Finding the Radio Range 226

What You'll Need 226

Construction 227

Code 228

How It Works: Radio Signals 231

Project: Wireless Doorbell 231

What You'll Need 232

Construction 233

Code 233

Things to Try 235

How It Works: Sending and Receiving 235

Project: Micro:bit-Controlled Rover 236

What You'll Need 236

Construction 237

Code 238

Things to Try 241

How It Works: Motor Driver Blocks 241

Summary 243

Appendix: Get the Parts 245

Useful Tools 246

Common Parts 247

Powering Your Micro:bit 248

Micro:bit Accessories 249

Miscellaneous 250

Editorial Reviews

Packed with projects and experiments for young, mad scientists . . . an excellent resource to take curious kids on a journey into physical computing.”
—Andrew Gregory, HackSpace

“Simon Monk has been teaching folks how to learn to code and make for many years, so he knows exactly the kinds of projects that any beginner can make, and all the trouble spots to avoid. . . . It’s a STEAM adventure for students of all backgrounds!”
—Limor Fried, Adafruit

“Fun for all Ages. Great book with very fun experiments. . . . Colorful pictures and instructions will help you create many interesting projects and the rest is up to your imagination.”
—Marco, Amazon reviewer

From the Publisher