Connecting the Keyestudios Ultrasonic Sensor to the Microbit
Tinkerer: Lory Livezey
The Keyestudios Ultrasonic Sensor uses sound waves to determine the distance between it and the nearest object. You can use this sensor to keep your robot from hitting the wall or tumbling down the stairs!
Previous Step
Using the Keyestudios 37 Sensor Kit with the Microbit
What you will need
Plug the Microbit into the Breakout
The breakout board gives you an easy way to connect the smaller pins on the Microbit. You could use alligator clips, but connecting them to the sensor can be a bit of a challenge. I am using a Kitronik Motor Board as a breakout. There are several others that will basically work the same way.
Plug the Microbit into the Raspberry Pi
You can also use a Windows PC or Mac and the instructions are essentially the same. Once you plug it in, the Microbit should show up as a drive in Windows Explorer or Finder.
Hook Up the Sensor
First, we'll hook the lead wires to the sensor and the Microbit. Hold the sensor with the back toward you and move from right to left:
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Red
Next, plug the other end into these pins:
- Black to Ground
- Red to 3V
- Blue to Pin 15
- Green to Pin 16
Open MakeCode
Open the browser to makecode.microbit.org.
Install the Sonar Plugin
Open a new project, and click the gear icon in the upper right. Type sonar and click the search icon. Click on the box to install.
Copy/Paste the Code or Build the Blocks
Either copy/paste the following code into the window after selecting Javascript...
input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {
basic.showNumber(sonar.ping(
DigitalPin.P15,
DigitalPin.P16,
PingUnit.Inches
))
})
basic.forever(() => {
})
Or build the blocks like so:
Their location:
Input > On Button A Pressed
Basic > Show Number 0
Sonar > Ping
Give the sketch a name and click Download.
Open your Downloads directory and drag the file (it will have a hex extension) over to the drive that was created when you plugged in the Microbit.
On the Rasbperry Pi, it's located here:
Media > Pi > Microbit
Once the Microbit reboots, the Microbit should display the number of inches between it and the nearest object when you click the A button!
You have successfully programmed the Microbit to work with the Ultrasonic Sensor. Subscribe to our channel if you'd like to be notified when we post a subsequent video about how to hook it up to a wheeled robot.
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