software resources for science and technology education

Mr Bit Downloads for Kitronik Inventor’s Kit Experiments


The Kitronik Inventor's Kit for the BBC micro:bit is a popular product for learning how to connect external components and use the BBC micro:bit as a controlling device. The kit contains all the components you need to complete 12 experiments building circuits using LEDs, motors, light sensors and capacitors.  The micro:bit program required to make each experiment work can be created using the Mr Bit ‘Plain English’ method.  The ready-made files below offer solutions for each experiment.  They may be downloaded directly into Insight Mr Bit.

   

1 - Say Hello to the BBC micro:bit

Two buttons on the breakout board duplicate the action of the onboard buttons A and B.

The program creates displays on the LEDs when the buttons are pressed: One button shows a smiley face image, the other shows the message “Hello”.







2 - Using an LDR & Analogue Input

An LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) is connected in series with a resistor to make a potential divider which creates a voltage that varies with the amount of light shining on the LDR, thus indicating ‘light level’.  Connecting the voltage to one of the input pins allows the micro:bit to control the LED display to show a different image for bright and dark.


IMB Kitronik hub Inventors Kit Experiments text.pdf

Download notes about the Mr Bit programs for the experiments

Inventor expt 01.isc Inventor expt 02.isc

3 - Dimming an LED using a Potentiometer

A potentiometer provides an input voltage which can be varied as you turn the control spindle. This voltage is used to alter the brightness of an LED when it is turned on by pressing button A.  The higher the voltage from the potentiometer the brighter the LED shines.








4 - Using a Transistor to Drive a Motor

The amount of current available from the output pins of the micro:bit is nowhere near large enough to activate a small electric motor.  The problem is solved by connecting a transistor to the output and using the tiny current to the transistor to control a much bigger current through the motor.


Inventor expt 03.isc Inventor expt 04.isc

5 - Using the Accelerometer to Control Motor Speed

The BBC micro:bit has a built in accelerometer which detects the motion of the micro:bit or the strength of gravity in three directions.  In this example the accelerometer data is used to measure the tilt angle as the micro:bit is tilted forward and backwards.  







6 - Setting the Tone with a Piezo Sounder

The Piezo sounder makes a sound when it is connected to a rapidly alternating voltage (between 0V and 3V).  The frequency of the alternating voltage determines the pitch of the tone; pitch increases with frequency.



Inventor expt 05.isc Inventor expt 06.isc

7 - Wind Power

Wind turbines contain a dynamo which converts the kinetic energy of air into electrical energy. In this experiment the motor is used in reverse like a dynamo to generate a voltage which can be measured and displayed by the BBC micro:bit.








8 - Making a Game using the Compass

The BBC micro:bit comes with a built in compass so it can tell which way is north. It does this using a chip that is very sensitive to magnetism and can detect earth’s magnetic field. In this game a secret compass heading is selected randomly and an LED blinks faster or slower depending on how close to the correct heading the BBC micro:bit is facing.



Inventor expt 07.isc Inventor expt 08.isc

9 - Capacitor Charge Circuit

This experiment uses the analogue input of the BBC micro:bit to measure the voltage at the positive leg of a capacitor. The capacitor circuit allows the capacitor to be charged through a variable resistor. As the capacitor charges, the micro:bit LEDs show the voltage whilst the external coloured LEDs light up according the the magnitude of the voltage.








10 - Using an RGB LED

An RGB LED is a special LED that contains three separate LEDs (Red, Green and Blue) in one capsule. By controlling the brightness of these LEDs, their light mixes together to create many different colours.



Inventor expt 09.isc Inventor expt 10.isc

11 - Making a Pedestrian crossing

The Traffic control program lights the red, yellow and green LEDs in the UK traffic light sequence when button A gets pressed.  When the Red LED is on, pedestrian light changes from red to green and the buzzer bleeps.

12 - Making Random Dice

The marking on the six faces of a die are here represented by seven LEDs arranged in the usual pattern on the breadboard.  The throw of the die is simulated by pressing button which generates a random number from 1 to 6.

Inventor expt 11.isc Inventor expt 12.isc IMB Experiment Box IMB Experiment Box

EXPERIMENT BOX

Have fun connecting sensors and LEDs to your micro:bit.

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