On 8/28/2017 8:27 PM, Derrik Walker v2.0 via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
On 08/28/2017 06:32 PM, Jeffrey Jonas via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I know it's a hard sell compared to the $5 Raspberry Pi zero, but
The BBC micro:bit is a pocket-sized codeable computer with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology, which was given free to every child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK in 2016. I won one of these a about a year before they were readily available here in the US. I've gotten to play with it a fair bit.
It's actually more like the original vision of the Raspberry Pi - an ARM based computer programmed with Python. I guess there are other options, but I only use MicroPython on my Linux box to program it.
Hardware wise, it's more like an Arduino than a Raspi. Or maybe somewhere between the two.
It's interesting and has some different features including to buttons and a 5x5 LED array, accelerator, a compass, and some wireless com options.
- Derrik
As someone who has a representation of many of the available embedded solution boards (St8m, ST32, a ton of Arduinos, several ATMEL oards, Several PIs, Beaglebone etc...) My first reaction was oh just what we need, yet another board option and form factor... but I took a closer look and I think its cool. I'll be getting one.