Physical Computing with BBC Micro:bits

About

In this session you will learn about Physical Computing by creating a variety of different projects that run on BBC Micro:bit devices. Physical Computing usually refers to designing and developing computer hardware and software that involves some physical interaction or the use of sensors. This physical interaction could be a different way of interacting with the computer, which may not involve using a mouse and keyboard.

In this session we will focus on making programs that involve alternative forms of physical interaction (i.e. not using a keyboard and mouse).

Physical computing often involves alternative forms of interaction that don't involve using keyboard and mouse.


A diagram that summarises Physical Computing - there is no keyboard and mouse input - sensors are used instead.

You may have heard of Arduinos or Rasbperry Pis. These are both small and cheap computers that can be used in a variety of Physical Computing projects. We will use Micro:bits in this session’s activities, which you could say are a simpler version of these devices.

In this session’s activities, you will create a variety of programs that run on Micro:bit devices by Coding projects in Microsoft’s MakeCode. MakeCode is an example of a Hybrid Coding Environment, like Pencil Code, which allows you to switch between Blocks and Text Coding (using JavaScript). There are other options for Coding projects on Micro:bits, which allow you to use Python (another Text language), but we will focus on using MakeCode today.

When Coding the projects in MakeCode and running them on the Micro:bit devices, you will apply several of the computational concepts that you have learned about in the other workshop sessions, such as: Sequences, Loops, Events and Operators. You will also learn about and apply two new computational concepts: Data and Conditionals.

Key Terms

algorithm, computational thinking, computational concept, computational practice, computational perspective, coding, visual programming, general-purpose programming, hybrid coding environments sequences, loops, events, operators, debugging, testing, random

Materials

Presentations

Activities

Finished Project Files

Micro:bit Editors

Micro:bit Resources

Session Outcomes