In the coming months, we will be releasing a minor revision of the BBC micro:bit that uses a different compass and accelerometer. If you’re a user of micro:bit and you create scripts in one of our supported online editors, and then copy (flash) them onto your micro:bit, you won’t need to change anything that you’re doing.
…
Why are you making the change?
Unfortunately, the compass component used on the BBC micro:bit is no longer being manufactured.
One of the reasons that the compass is reaching ‘end of life’ is that many new designs are choosing combined magnetometer and accelerator chips, rather than standalone devices. Having reviewed all of the possible replacement compasses we could choose, it’s clear that the best way to make sure we don’t have to make another change again any time soon is to move to one of these combined devices too.
We’re telling you about this as early as we can so that we have as long as possible to minimise the impact for people using the micro:bit.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
