Micro:bit Fit Bit – May 2018
Your very own Micro:Fit:Bit!
On Saturday the 19th of May I partnered with Ben and Val to mentor a Micro:bit workshop at Kingston University. The objective was to make a step-counter and count-down-timer that fits on your wrist. If you know what a Fit Bit is then you might have a rough idea of what it is. If not, don’t worry!! The Micro:fit:bit is a Microbit attached to a strap and it is coded so it displays the number of steps you have done using the shake command. Ben and Val had done this project before but not me. So we decided to add on an extra challenge which was to make a countdown timer and when you press on button A of the microbit your time increases by 10 seconds.
For the project, we used the following materials:
- A stip of denim from an old pair of jeans
- A strip of fabric from an old t-shirt
- Velcro
- Scissors
- Double sided tape
- Stickers for decoration
- Microbit
- Battery pack
- Micro USB connection lead
The workshop was fun, active and very busy!. 16 kids joined in! Next time I run it, I am thinking of making some improvements. For instance, I will link the step code and the timer code together because, in the actual instructions, the two codes are separate. I will do this by setting the timer for 10 seconds. You can then see how many steps you can do in that time. Once the 10 seconds is up, the microbit will show the number of steps you did on your step counter. With this added function you could have races or try to see how many steps you can do throughout the day. It might even encourage people to do more keep fit!
What was interesting to see, was that everyone was very focused and some tried to challenge themselves. It was a shame the kids were not allowed to take their Micro:fit:bit home but at least they could take the instructions and the craft bit. So if they had a microbit at home or were planning to buy one, they could turn it into a micro:fit :bit again and use it at home! They could also add their own code to it!
I was very pleased because everyone was jumping up and down to see how many steps they could do. Lots of people went outside (it was a very nice and sunny day by the way!) and got a bit competitive with their challenges. Overall I think everyone was very happy to have the finished the product and get it up and RUNNING!
