The BBC micro:bit is a small microcontroller board designed by the BBC for use in computer education. In 2016 as part of the BBC's Make It Digital campaign one million devices have been handed out to pupils in the UK so that they could learn about programming at an early age. It is hoped that this will lead to more people choosing a career in software development. The future will tell if the campaign was successful or not.

The BBC micro:bit has become quite popular and all sorts of extension boards, kits and accessories have seen the light of day. It measures about 5 by 4 cm and features two pushbuttons, a 5x5 LED matrix, and a touch sensor. There is also a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis magnetometer, and it has a microphone and a small loudspeaker. The brain of the board is an nRF52833 ARM Cortex-M4 processor from Nordic Semiconductor with Bluetooth built in.

Easy to Use

A lot of effort has gone into making the BBC micro:bit as easy to use as possible. The board can be programmed in several languages like MicroPython, MakeCode and JavaScript and this can be done online, without installing anything.

For more advanced users the BBC micro:bit is a low-cost, small yet powerful microcontroller board with Bluetooth and sensors suitable for e.g. IoT applications.

Watch this video for more information about the BBC micro:bit.