BBC micro:bit

Celebrating 12 months of BBC micro:bit!

messages@element14.com — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 11:43:22 GMT

This time last year, the first batch of BBC micro:bit devices was being delivered to one million high school students across the UK. Twelve months later, the initiative continues to go from strength to strength. Already available across Europe, the device was officially launched in the USA and Canada at the ISTE Conference in San Antonio last month, with roll out in the Asia Pacific region coming in August. The device has also been incorporated into hundreds of exciting projects around the world, and is available for use with a wide range of programming languages and platforms.

To mark the first anniversary of the project, the BBC commissioned some audience research into how the micro:bit has been received by students and teachers so far. The results were highly encouraging, with 90% of respondents agreeing that BBC micro:bit helped to show them that anyone can code, and 88% claiming that the BBC micro:bit helped them to see that coding was not as difficult as they had previously thought.

Similarly, 45% said they would definitely consider ICT/Computer Science as a study option in the future, up from 36% before they used BBC micro:bit. This spike was even more significant for girls, with a 70% increase from 23% before using the BBC micro:bit to 39% afterwards.

Among teachers who responded to the survey, 75% say they have used or are intending to use the BBC micro:bit by the end of the summer term. 85% agreed that the BBC micro:bit made ICT/Computer Science more enjoyable for their students and 80% found that it helped students to see that coding wasn't as difficult as they imagined. More than half of the respondents said that the BBC micro:bit had helped them to feel more confident in their abilities to teach ICT and computer science.

As a key manufacturing partner, Farnell element14 has helped to design, manufacture and supply one million micro:bit devices, plus one million battery holders, one million USB's and two million batteries. We've packed the devices into over 50,000 boxes and shipped them to one million year 7 students across the UK. Now we're supporting the micro:bit foundation in rolling out the device across the global market. Jonathan Smith, element14's Global Strategic Alliance Business Manager, welcomed the new data...

"We knew that the micro:bit was a special project when we first started working with the BBC" he explains. "These statistics just show how special it is. The micro:bit devices, the coding platforms, the teaching resources and the wider eco-system are all there to encourage children to take the next step forward in STEM education, and we can now show what a real difference our hard work has made to teachers and children around the UK."

"We're also proud to be the exclusive manufacturing and distribution partner for the micro:bit Education Foundation, and we have launched the micro:bit in Europe, USA, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong already, with many more countries following over the next few months. In countries as diverse as Iceland, Croatia, Singapore and Lithuania, the micro:bit has already been chosen for large scale STEM engagement, and we expect more to follow shortly. The micro:bit is truly changing the face of STEM education around the world - and we're very proud to be playing our part."

The BBC has also released a special video filmed at Eastlea Community School in London, based on the premise of micro:bit-controlled robots replacing teachers...

Image and video: bbc.co.uk

BBC micro:bit US Launch at ISTE Conference, San Antonio - Part Two

messages@element14.com — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:18:00 GMT

Over a hectic four days, members of the element14 team have been present at the ISTE Conference in San Antonio, where the BBC micro:bit was officially launched in the USA and Canada.

The event was packed with a constant stream of interested and knowledgable students, teachers and parents, plus representatives from major global tech companies and initiatives, all showcasing their latest products and collaborations. Global educational leaders gave inspiring talks on the importance of providing the next generation with the tools they need to thrive in coding and programming. Initiatives such as Fair Chance Learning and also delivered keynote presentations on providing better, more effective training for teachers.

One of the most exciting aspects of the conference was seeing just how many different tools and platforms are available to all age groups, from small children through to parents, educators and adults who wish to improve their own coding and programming skills. These are the tools that are going to help the next generation to shape our future, and it's crucial that people at all stages of life have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in technologies that have the potential to benefit us all.

At element14, we're proud to be part of this exciting technological eco system through our work with companies such as micro:bit, Raspberry Pi, Beagleboard and much more. Events like ISTE aren't just good networking opportunities - they're a healthy reminder that collaboration and partnership between global tech leaders and independent startups and initiatives are crucial to delivering resources and support to the education sector.

"As the lights dimmed on the final day of the event, our stand was still inundated with visitors right down to the wire" reflects Adam Hurst, element14's Global Business Development Director.

"It's been a truly memorable, exhausting, informative and uplifting four days, and we left the event filled with confidence about our future in the world of education and STEAM. There is still a lot to be done, but we are highly encouraged by the success of ISTE and looking forward to what the next year will bring - including even more advances in technology to help accelerate STEM growth in education and secure a brighter future for our children."

You can read part one of our ISTE report here.

BBC micro:bit US Launch at ISTE Conference, San Antonio - Part One

messages@element14.com — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 18:31:00 GMT

The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference is one of the biggest events of its kind in the world – a meeting of education and technology thought leaders, companies, teachers and students. It’s currently being held in the beautiful city of San Antonio in Texas and the Element 14 team are there supporting several products, projects and partners.

The exhibition and conference is huge with thousands of attendees and hundreds of exhibitors discussing how to best use technology to teach kids - and adults - the skills they need to thrive in an ever changing world. Many of these challenges are common the world over: lack of budget, a widening skills gap and not enough young people growing up wanting to be engineers.

Jonathan Smith - element14's Global Strategic Alliance Business Manager - was in attendance at ISTE to support the official US and Canada launch of the BBC micro:bit. A combination of specifically designed cost effective hardware, free coding editors, free lesson plans and support materials for teachers, plus a rapidly expanding eco system means micro:bit is a highly effective and accessible learning tool for teachers and students.

The Micro:bit Education Foundation's dedicated booth and was exceptionally busy throughout the first day of the conference, with plentiful support from other partners and collaborators; Microsoft, Sparkfun, SEEED, Binary Bots and DF Robot are just a few of the companies that were showing and demoing micro:bits on their stand.

Microsoft recently launched MakeCode – their coding platform product aimed at STEM education which was created as part of the micro:bit project. At ISTE they have announced a 14 week micro:bit curriculum helping teachers with projects and ideas. Microsoft have been holding presentations on their main stand showcasing micro:bit and MakeCode and also running ‘maker’ style sessions with hands-on learning for teachers, including an exercise in creating a micro:bit ‘watch’.

Exciting developments included Project Lead The Way - a not for profit organisation which provides transformative learning for teachers and students across the US - announcing that micro:bit is being included in a new unit for Computer Science for Innovators and Makers within their Middle School Gateway Program. There was also good news for Scratch users, as the micro:bit foundation announced that micro:bit is now compatible with the popular visual programming platform.

Alongside element14's Global Business Development Manager Adam Hurst, Jonathan will be posting updates from the ISTE conference throughout the week. If Day One is anything to go by, micro:bit looks set to be right at the centre of an amazing collection of ways to inspire and stimulate young minds...

Microsoft hold a talk about their work with micro:bit

A Microsoft maker session featuring micro:bit

Rachel Zhang of DFRobot checks out the micro:bit stand

15 year old Trashbots co-founder Sidharth Srinevasan meets the team

Binary Bots is another company working closely with micro:bit on future projects

Coding in action at the micro:bit stand...

BBC micro:bit takes centre stage in Dutch programming in education drive

messages@element14.com — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 17:41:00 GMT

A group of Dutch students were given a crash course in programming at this year's Girlsday event in Eindhoven, Netherlands - with a little help from BBC micro:bit and the Dutch semiconductor manufacturer NXP.

On Thursday 13 April 2017, more than 10,000 girls aged between 10 and 15 were offered an introduction to various science and technology disciplines as part of 'Girlsday', an annual initiative by Dutch organisation VHTO aiming to encourage more young women to participate in STEM subjects. Local and international technical companies including NXP opened their doors to the students, offering a wide range of workshops and special events.

Together with their parents, fifteen students from Heerbeeck College in Best visited NXP's Next Experience Lab in Eindhoven for a guided lab tour and introductory programming workshop featuring the BBC micro:bit. Assignments included creating a 'smiley' that would appear on the micro:bit's LED display and programming the device to act as an electronic dice. With the support of the NXP team, the girls were able to master these challenges well in time for a special lunch, in which female employees at NXP shared their career stories and advice with the girls.

NXP has played a leading role in using the BBC micro:bit to introduce programming to Dutch schools, in collaboration with Brainport Eindhoven and Stichting DevLab Academy, a foundation for the promotion of technology in education. Last month, NXP's EVP and Netherlands Country Manager Guido Dierick presented 100 micro:bit devices to the Huygens Lyceum High School in Eindhoven, with an expansion to other schools in the Brainport region planned for September 2017.

BBC Micro:Fit Pt. 2

messages@element14.com — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 20:12:00 GMT

Hello All,

I want to apologize for the long lapse between Pt. 1 and Pt. 2, finals have been a handful. But anyways to the content we go!

Unfortunately it does not look like the Micro:Fit will have a watch/clock component, as I can not find any module for the Micro:Bit to act as one. But I was able to make a fancy little bracelet for the Micro:Fit to be worn.

If you go to this link you will see the tutorial I followed to make my Micro:Fit wearable!

I first got an old shirt, you can use any old clothing, in the tutorial they used jeans, or you could also just buy some fabric from a local store. You want to measure out how wide the Micro:Fit is and cut one strip wide enough to support the board (~ 5cm), and long enough to completely envelope your wrist (~ 22-26cm). Add a strip of heavy duty double sided tape to this fabric and place both the board and the batter pack on the tape. Next you will want to cut two pieces of fabric to cover the rest of the double sided tape and fabric on either side of the board (you will want to cover the batter pack with one of the two strips as well). Now once you have completed all of this, you will add Velcro on either end of the bracelet in order for it to allow to attach onto your wrist. See the images of the final product below!

If you missed Pt. 1 you can find it here. It will show you how to program a steps counter, a compass, and a thermometer into your Micro:Fit for a basic activity tracker!

A much prettier version of a wearable Micro:Bit from the tutorial on the BBC micro:bit page.

My version of my wearable Micro:Fit displaying how inactive I was during the entire process.

BLE controlled crossbow blot-Control of Pins

messages@element14.com — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 03:56:00 GMT

1、Here is the Pin mapping diagram

2、Those pins are available as attributes on the module : microbit.pin0 - microbit.pin20.

Pin 0, Pin 1, Pin 2 are used to control the servo,

Test with the following code:

from microbit import *

while True:

if pin0.read_digital():

display.show(Image.HAPPY)

else:

display.show(Image.SAD)

This will show different pic when Pin 0 is applied with digital input.

3. The principle of servo

This servo can is controlled by 20ms PWM cycles, 0.5-2.5ms is period of HIGH corresponding to 0-180 degree rotary status, is. 2.5% to 12.5% ratio.

with 0-1023 value for write_analog value. That is 26 - 127.

0.5/20+1023=25.575

2.5/20+1023=127.875

4. Use of Radio

Since there BLE　are not supported by Micropython in MicroBit for larger stack, Radio is proposed for wireless control.

First radio shall be imported and radio.on() is called , the radio.receive() can trace message sent by mobile APP with text message sent to control.

5. Proposed codes

# Radio controlled servo

import radio

from microbit import *

# Set start parameters and start Radio

display.scroll('Hello, Motors!')

sleep(2000)

radio.on()

set_analog_period(200)

angleAstep=0

angleBstep=0

angleA =0

angleD =0

display.scroll('Ready')

while(True):

incoming = radio.receive()

if incoming == 'up1':

angleAstep= 1

elif incoming == 'up2':

angleBstep= 1

elif incoming == 'down1':

angleAstep=-1

elif incoming == 'down2':

angleBstep= -1

'''

Move servo according to direction of angleAstep and angleBstep,

with value +1 or -1,

the data reset to 0 after each move

'''

if (angleA>26 and angleA < 127):

pin0.write_analog(angleA)

angleA +=5*angelAstep

sleep(200)

if (angleB>26 and angleB < 127):

pin1.write_analog(angleB)

angleB +=5*angelBstep

sleep(200)

angleAstep=0

angleBstep=0

#Coding on Python editor

#With referrence to Radio — BBC micro:bit MicroPython 0.0.1 documentation

6. Pin0 and pin1 are output pins for PWM control with servo. It can move up and down and ready for cotton button arrow to fly. For this servo, 5V power shall be needed. Therefore, extra power pack conntected with Vcc and GND to drive the servo.

BLE controlled crossbow blot-Development Platform

messages@element14.com — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 07:20:00 GMT

1. In normal case, there will be kinds of development platform like MDK or IAR, but for MicroBit, that is totally different, It is easy to use and understand even for kids,

Here are 5 proposed development environment, both with Graphic Interface, Drag and Pull.

2. It can easily to know what is it with 5 screen shots,

Microsoft PXT (Beta)

Our new micro:bit Programming Experience Toolkit (PXT) editor provides a programming experience supporting both a block-based editor and JavaScript, along with great new features like peer-to-peer radio.

Python

MicroPython is a completely text-based editor, perfect for those who want to push their coding skills further.

Microsoft Block Editor

The Block Editor is a visual editor and provides an introduction to structured programming via drag and drop coding blocks that snap together.

Javascript

Code Kingdoms is a visual JavaScript editor. It has a drag-and-drop interface making it accessible to beginners.

Microsoft Touch Develop

With its touch-based interface, Touch Develop has been designed for mobile devices with touchscreens.

BLE controlled crossbow blot-Parts of Servo-Controlled Platform.

messages@element14.com — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 02:27:00 GMT

1、Parts of Servo-Controlled Platform has been ordered and shown as follows, it will be the rotary platform for Crossbow.

and here is the SG90 servo to be controlled by MicroBit.

BLE controlled crossbow blot-Micro:Bit received.

messages@element14.com — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 03:24:00 GMT

1. Micro:Bit is one unique board, not for its fully function and powerful feature, but for its easy to use and easy to learn even for Kids. My propose is to use minimum resources for a fun toy. A BLE controlled crossbow blot to fire a cotton ball stick with paints on head. The crossbow blot is fixed on one SG90 steering driven platform. Try to use only 3 Digital/Analog pins to control 2-D angle and fire-button to let off the cotton ball stick. Just try to amuse some naughty kids.

2. The Micro:Bit has just received in a box shown below.

The board is small in size as follows,

3. For better documentation, the official website is The Micro:bit Foundation is a global non-profit organisation making invention with technology fun for everyone!

This is new .org website hyperlink instead of old .uk site.

I am on it now.

Checking out BBC micro:bit | First Look

messages@element14.com — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 11:35:00 GMT

BBC Micro:Fit Pt.1

messages@element14.com — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 17:25:01 GMT

Saturday I arrived to a very pleasant surprise, my Micro:Bit had arrived! I was so excited that I did a whole photo shoot of the unboxing and jumped right into getting some code up and running on it.

THE PHOTO SHOOT:

After this lovely display, it was to the code I went. Since I was doing an activity monitoring bracelet, I decided to stand on the shoulders of giants rather than reinventing the wheel, so I used the code already provided as a reference point. I created a mode variable which can be toggled up or down using the A and B button and switches through a step counter, a mode which shows the current temperature in Fahrenheit, and a compass. I am looking into making a clock mode which shows the current time (will be EST since that is my timezone, but I will look into expanding this). Below are some screenshots of the code and pictures of it flashed onto the micro:bit:

Step Counter

Compass

Temperature Gauge

Watch out for part 2, where I will be making a housing for the Micro:Fit and give an update on the clock module I am hoping to implement!

BBC Micro:bit Line Follower Robot Tutorial

messages@element14.com — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 12:33:00 GMT

Introduction
Reading the Lines.
Getta moveon

Introduction

The BBC Microbit is a small ARM based, user friendly, micro controller targeted towards computer education in the UK. It has been developed by the partnership of a long list of organisations including Microsoft, Element14, Nordic, NXP and many more. (Click here for the wikipedia link)

The intended audience is school children and there are four official ways to write programs for the BBC Micro Bit. They are.

CodeKingdoms, using JavaScript;
Microsoft Block Editor, based on Blockly;
Microsoft TouchDevelop;
MicroPython.

In addition to these, it is possible to really go deep with mBed at mbed.org for access to the underlying runtime and system code. For the most part, the TouchDevelop Editor from Microsoft is a good balance between programming language and user friendly IDE.

Reading the Lines.

Element14 was kind enough to provide me with one of these boards and I though I would do something with the board beyond the blinking LED. So the simplest mechanical project I could think of was a simple line follower robot. The objective is to have a machine follow a line- thats it! I did two videos for this and in part one, I start with introducing the BBC Micro bit and then making a small circuit that can be used to detect a black line on a white flat sheet. This is accomplished using some IR LEDs and photodiodes.

We go on ahead and write a small piece of code to read the sensors and then display the movement direction on the matrix display. Here is the video for a more in detail lesson.

Getta moveon

In Part 2, we go through the concept of a motor driver, the basic circuit and controlling DC motors with the BBC microbit. We then move to add the motors to a chassis and then write the basic routine to make the robot follow a simple line.

The Motor Driver

The L293D is a dedicated motor driving chip with 4 half H-bridges or two full H-Bridges which can be employed to control the direction two connected motors. You may choose to make an H-Bridge using transistors or even MOSFETs on a strip board etc but the single chip solution is simpler and quicker. The pin diagram and connection diagram for the L293D is shown below.

The GPIOs in the BBC Micro:bit can be used to set the speed and direction of the motors however for this exercise, we will only be interested in modifying the direction of the motors. Since the GPIOs available on the breakout board also include the ones used for onboard peripherals such as the matrix display, we must select the ones that are unused. Take a look at the pinout diagram below. We need four IOs out of which two are used for direction and two are used for speed or turning the motors ON and OFF.

Forming a chassis

After connecting the motor driver and motors, we need to put everything together along with a chassis, wheels and our sensor board. I have made a simple chassis, but you can create something more elaborate and used different parts according to preference. The sky is the limit. Add batteries and we are good.

Write the program

We will continue using touch develop to make the program and i order to make the decision to turn right or left or move straight, we will add an IF-THEN-ELSE ladder within the loop we created the last time. The program can be downloaded as a file using the link provided at the bottom of this page. Compile the code and upload the hex file to the BBC Micro:bit.

Create a track and test

In order to follow a line, we need a line for which we use some black water colours and a white paper sheet. Draw a simple circle initially to test out the functionality. Make sure that the line is not too thick else the sensor will have problems detecting turns and will get stuck easily. We just need the line to thick enough that it is detected by each of the sensors individually.

Test her out.

Let me know what you think in the comments section and give a like and subscribe to the youtube channel for more.

Happy hacking.

BBC micro:bit - Submit your Big Ideas: Alert Button (Unboxing, Brief Intro)

messages@element14.com — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 01:15:37 GMT

Just when I thought Friday couldn't get any better, a gift, for me, in the mail!

IT'S HEEEEERE! My second BBC Micro:Bit, the "official" one that will be used in my alert button project. Thanks, element14, for sending it!

This is the Micro:Bit "Go" starter kit which contains the following:

a Micro:Bit (of course),
a battery pack,
a set of batteries, and
a micro-USB cable

Basically, everything a person would need to get starting with Micro:Bits other than development tools. Simple first-run instructions are printed inside the box lid, and some basic documentation and safety information is included.

The Micro:Bit itself comes in what I can only describe as a tiny, flat coffee bag. It's a simple and cool idea, and evidently it's sustainable packaging which is an added bonus. The graphic design side of my brain appreciates the attention to tiny details.

And behold, this one's yellow!

My first Micro:Bit (obtained at a Micro:Bit workshop at a local Mini Maker Faire) has a slightly different appearance, I assume because it was an early test unit? Maybe? Note the check mark in the upper-left corner and the different thicknesses and proportions in the Micro:Bit logo (oval w/ dots):

The screws on my first Micro:Bit are holding a MI:Power board that I purchased for two reasons:

to prevent touching the back of the Micro:Bit (a known problem, often resulting in a dead Micro:Bit), and
to make it easier to use the device untethered

I personally dislike the battery packs that come with Micro:Bits because they're awkward and gangly, just a black box hanging from the device by a couple of thin wires, and there isn't even an on/off switch. The MI:Power board has a holder for a 3V coin battery and a built-in piezo speaker on its inner surface, and a tiny on/off switch is included on the top edge. It connects to the 3V and GND contacts through the screws that pass through those two holes, and a third screw holds the 0 contact to make it all stable. I highly recommend getting one of these boards if you plan to carry around your Micro:Bit. Mobility is an important detail in my project which I will describe later. For now, I'm only using the board for its protective properties (the coin battery is saved for a later date). Before moving ahead with the project, I plan to switch the MI:Power board to the new, element14-provided Micro:Bit.

The last piece of my project's hardware puzzle is my Raspberry Pi 3:

That thing that's wired to it is an NRF24L01 2.4GHz wireless transceiver. Why is it there? Well, as a backup plan mostly. My project features a Micro:Bit communicating with a Raspberry Pi, and currently there are only two ways to do this without a cable:

via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), or
via the plain ol' 2.4GHz radio

The 2.4GHz radio does double duty by allowing simple radio communication with other simple 2.4GHz radio devices (like other Micro:Bits) and also by providing a radio for BLE. I have been experimenting with BLE between Micro:Bits and Raspberry Pis and so far I'm underwhelmed with my success rate. I'll go into that in detail as these blog posts pile up. As a backup, I want to see if I can get a Micro:Bit to communicate with the Raspberry Pi via a simple 2.4GHz radio. That's allegedly provided by the NRF24L01 module. I have gotten two of these modules to communicate using two Raspberry Pis (works like a charm) but I have not tried it with Micro:Bits yet. Soon, soon.

Okay, enough hinting. Here's a brief rundown of my project:

Alert Button Project

User story: A person in distress pushes a button on the Micro:Bit which signals the Raspberry Pi to send a notification message to Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service), and that message is sent to one or more individuals via SMS text message, or email, or whatever protocol is designated in SNS for the notification. Basically, think of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" emergency systems that people use to notify a service that an ambulance needs to be called and you'll be close to my goal.

Please note that this is just a user story, an excuse to experiment with wireless (preferably two-way) communication between Micro:Bits and Raspberry Pis and have it activate a notification via Amazon SNS. This project should not be used as an actual distress notification system! I promise it will not have the same reliability as a "real" distress notification system and thus should not be depended upon for anything involving health and wellness. This could just as easily be used to send "where are you" messages from a party, or "server looks like it's down" messages from a server room, or any of a number of other mundane but useful notifications that do not involve life or death. This is for fun, folks, not for profit.

As a bonus, I already have the basics of Amazon SNS worked out. Setting up a REST API for notifications requires lots of steps that I'm sure element14 does not want to see posted in the Micro:Bit blog section, so instead I'll point you here and ask that you follow those instructions if you wish to implement an API on your own. It's a decent first step for you while I'm working out how to get wireless communication between Micro:Bits and Raspberry Pis, which unfortunately is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. I'll repost the link to the API instructions a number of times, I'm sure, so don't sweat it if you forget which tiny link in this post takes you there. We're just getting started.

Okay, enough. I'll probably reformat this post, edit it down to a more reasonable length (it needs it!), and formalize things a bit. For now, I wanted to post something saying I have the Micro:Bit and I'm excited to start making this all work.

1 Micro:Bit + 1 Raspberry Pi 3 + 1 Bluez Upgrade = 1 Huge Headache

messages@element14.com — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 04:49:00 GMT

Updated 9/21/2016 to include an image and Bluez/BLE setup instructions for Raspbian "Jessie" on Raspberry Pi 3.

Oh deary dear...this is not what I wanted to do on a Thursday afternoon.

Some background:

I recently won an opportunity to build an "alert button" project using a Micro:Bit and a Raspberry Pi (thanks again, element14!). The Micro:Bit will be shipping soon, and the Raspberry Pi (not supplied by element14) is sitting in my office humming very warmly under a table, waiting to be put to work.

Coincidentally, a Mini Maker Faire took place last weekend in my city, and one of the workshops at the event was about Micro:Bits. I made sure I was first in line, and lucky me, the first 20 people got a free Micro:Bit. That was a very nice surprise! So, all week I've been playing around with a Micro:Bit while I wait for the element14 Micro:Bit to arrive.

Communication between a Micro:Bit and my Raspberry Pi is central to my project. Both devices support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), so I figured I'd be in good shape communication-wise. What I didn't consider was how well BLE is supported on Raspbian, which is the version of Linux running on the Raspberry Pi. And by "how well BLE is supported," I actually mean "how little BLE is supported." In fact, I'm pretty sure there is no distribution of Linux for Raspberry Pis that supports BLE out of the box. BLE support is experimental at best, and you can't even get the experimental support without replacing a tricky software package/suite called "Bluez". The version of Bluez in the latest Raspbian (Linux on Raspberry Pi) is 5.23, but you need at least version 5.40 to get BLE. And folks, let me tell you, this is one BEAR of a package to replace. It's ugly, very ugly, and even when it's installed and allegedly running it does not always work as expected. To make things even more fun, there are many forums and webpages that discuss upgrading Bluez, but none of them describes 100% of the process.

I managed to upgrade Bluez today. I took detailed notes as I upgraded, and they are shared below. The problem is, like anything that sporadically works on Linux, good instructions can get you 95% of the way to a solution but that last 5% is going to resemble throwing spaghetti at a wall. Maybe that's why none of the online help takes you 100% of the way toward a solution? Once the software is installed and running, nothing short of a series of random power on/off cycles, scan sessions, connect and pairing attempts, reboots, etc will get the Micro:Bit seen and paired. Once paired, the pairing seems to stick at least for a while. Sometimes the pairing mysteriously drops and the process begins again. And even when the Micro:Bit is paired and connected, experimenting with its GATT attributes is sometimes effective, sometimes not so effective. After a few hours of experimenting, I felt like a caveman banging two rocks together trying to get them to talk.

Anyway, here are the steps and/or commands that I executed to get Bluez/BLE set up on my Raspberry Pi so my Micro:Bit could at least pair and connect to it:

sudo apt-get install bluetooth

sudo apt-get install bluez-tools

sudo apt-get install build-essential

sudo apt-get install autoconf

sudo apt-get install glib2.0

sudo apt-get install libglib2.0-dev

sudo apt-get install libdbus-1-dev

sudo apt-get install libudev-dev

sudo apt-get install libical-dev

sudo apt-get install libreadline-dev

Download and extract the latest Bluez source code (v5.41 is the latest as of 9/21/2016):

wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/bluetooth/bluez-5.41.tar.xz

tar xf bluez-5.41.tar.xz

Change into the directory created by the tar command above, then configure, build, and install Bluez:

cd bluez-5.41

./configure --prefix=/usr \

--mandir=/usr/share/man \

--sysconfdir=/etc \

--localstatedir=/var \

--enable-experimental \

--enable-maintainer-mode

make

sudo make install

You may want to play with gatttool at some point. It is part of Bluez and is built in the make step above, but it is not installed by default. You will need to manually install it (optional):

sudo cp attrib/gatttool /usr/local/bin

Enable experimental support in the bluetooth daemon (this enables BLE). Put this all on a single command line:

sudo sed -i '/^ExecStart.*bluetoothd\s*$/ s/$/ --experimental/' /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service

Raspbian installs bluetooth firmware in directory not recognized by Bluez, so make a symbolic link (it's like a Windows alias) that references the firmware directory in the location Bluez expects it to be in (/etc/firmware):

sudo ln -s /lib/firmware /etc/firmware

Now, enable bluetooth to load during system boot, then reload daemons to load it without rebooting, or just reboot after enabling it.

sudo systemctl enable bluetooth

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

The following seems to be needed every time the Raspberry Pi boots. This should go in a startup script somewhere, but I have not figured out which one yet. For now, every time the Raspberry Pi reboots, just run this command:

/usr/bin/hciattach /dev/ttyAMA0 bcm43xx 921600 noflow -

At this point, you should be able to run bluetoothctl as root (sudo bluetoothctl) and start playing. If you wish to do bluetoothy things as user pi, allegedly you can make this happen by duplicating the entire policy for user root and changing root to pi in /etc/dbus-1/system.d/bluetooth.conf. Just copy/paste the entire section from the opening root policy tag to its closing policy tag and edit the username. I suspect you need to be root to do other things so I won't promote this as a solid path to follow. It's best to stick with root (sudo command).

Some people think it's best to set the bluetooth system to be BLE-only. If you want to do this, ensure that /etc/bluetooth/main.conf contains the following line:

ControllerMode = le

I tried this and did not notice any difference, but your mileage may vary.

One last thing. Be sure to suspend updates to the Bluez package in Raspbian, otherwise you'll overwrite your hand-built version of Bluez next time you update/upgrade:

sudo apt-mark hold bluez

To remove the hold at a later date:

sudo apt-mark unhold bluez

WHEW, that's a lot of steps just to get one package updated. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that the Raspbian folks use such an outdated version of Bluez in "Jessie" considering that bluetooth is one of the Raspberry Pi's bigger selling points.

As a backup plan, I took a shot in the dark and ordered two 2.4GHz transceivers via eBay in case the vanilla 2.4GHz radio support in the Micro:Bit works better without being clogged with BLE. Something tells me the Micro:Bit radio protocol relies on Micro:Bits speaking only with other Micro:Bits, but the transceivers were dirt cheap so I won't be upset if they don't work like I want them to. I'll do something else with them, I guess. The transceivers have arrived, and as soon as I come up with a method by which Micro:Bits can chat with Raspberry Pis via a transceiver, I'll write another post. This one's long enough.

I was inclined to write this off as a Raspberry Pi + Bluez issue more than a Micro:Bit issue, but my two Roku boxes have had no problems being seen by Bluez while Micro:Bits have been more finicky, so the issues I've experienced are probably a combination of Bluez, Raspberry Pi's bluetooth hardware, and Micro:Bit's bluetooth hardware. Don't know. It will work eventually, I just know it.

Onward.

BBC micro:bit - Submit your Big Ideas

messages@element14.com — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 10:26:28 GMT

Introduction

Our 10 BBC micro:bit Projects in 10 Days series introduced the incredible creative potential of this unique pocket sized computer system. But we've really only scratched the surface. Now we want to hear your ideas.

The BBC micro:bit is currently only available for sale in the UK through Farnell element14, CPC and our approved re-sellers, but we've managed to secure ten devices to give away to members of our global community.

How to Enter

For your chance to get hold of one of these sought-after devices, simply read our 10 BBC micro:bit Projects in 10 Days series and 'like' your two favourite projects to earn the BBC micro:bit badge. Then, leave a comment under this blog telling us about a project you'd like to try out using the BBC micro:bit.

The ten participants who submit the best, most creative project ideas will each receive a BBC micro:bit and will be invited to write about their project here on element14.

Submissions are open until 23:59 (BST) on Sunday 31st July 2016. Full terms and conditions can be in the attached PDF.

To find out more about the BBC micro:bit initiative and the unique functionality of the device, visit the official BBC micro:bit website or read our exclusive interview with Premier Farnell's Strategic Alliance Director Richard Curtin.