[chbot] BBC Micro::bit - Just buy one

[Mike Field]

Hi,

Today I got a Micro:Bit from https://learningdevelopments.co.nz for 
$24.95 + p+p, including USB cable, batteries and battery box. It is 
very, very, very, very slick and accessible.

To me it seems to be what Arduino promises to be (".. electronics 
platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software...")

Specs are:

- Nordic Semiconductor nRF51822, 16 MHz ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller,
- 256 KB Flash, 16 KB RAM.
- Connectivity: Bluetooth LE, MicroUSB, edge connector.
- Physically it is about half the size of a credit card.
- An accelerometer and compass, two buttons, and 25 LEDs in a matrix.

No local software is needed on your PC - no drivers, no SDK, no flashing 
tools, not even Putty. Zero. Zip, Nada.

You write on a web page, and then flash it over-the-air via iOS or 
Android app, or plug it into a PC with USB. It presents as a USB mass 
storage device onto which you save your downloaded 'hex' files.

You can program it in nice, simple, accessible ways:

- Blocks. Very similar to MIT's Scratch. It has a simulator built in so 
you can test your code before flashing it.

- JavaScript (yes, I know - WTF?). But what is really neat is that you 
can switch between Javascript and Blocks, and you can use the simulator 
too . Here is some code originally written in Blocks converted to 
Javascript:

letPressed = 0
input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {
Pressed = 1
})
basic.showLeds(`
. # . # .
. . . . .
. . # . .
# . . . #
. # # # .
`)
Pressed = 0
basic.forever(() => {
basic.pause(100)
if(Pressed == 1) {
basic.showLeds(`
. . # . .
. . # . .
. . # . .
. . . . .
. . # . .
`)
}
})

- In MicroPython (no simulator to test on though). e.g:

   from microbit import *

   while True:
       display.scroll('Hello, World!')
       display.show(Image.HEART)
       sleep(2000)

It is so easy it makes Arduino look like rocket surgery.

There is also an nice range of inexpensive options like breakouts & 2WD 
robots, motor drivers and so on.

It is super-neat!

Mike