The micro:bit has seen a modest upgrade to version 2 without much fanfare. Used by many schools and other educational institutions, this pocket-sized programmable computer forms the basis for many robotics projects.
The new version sees an upgrade to the nRF52833 processor and features a 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 FPU, which is four times faster than its predecessor. The board comes with 512 KB of flash storage on board and 128 KB RAM. The full range of sensors is available, including a MEMS microphone, touch pads, temperature and humidity, light sensor and accelerometer/compass.
For connectivity, the pocketable computing platform features analogue and digital I/O via an edge connector, a 5x5 LED matrix, a speaker and connections to the SPI, UART and I2C ports. A Bluetooth 5.0 radio is also embedded, allowing the units to communicate with each other over user-configurable channels.
Programming is either via block coding – an excellent way for learners to begin the coding journey – or Javascript and Python are also available as programming language options directly in the programming environment. Being the same size and shape as its predecessor, the multitude of accessories and add-on boards already available will be compatible with this new version.
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