1.2.1 Motors make the world move around

Now that we’ve briefly explored the many features of the micro:bit and Makey:bit/bit:explorer, let’s briefly explore how to control motors with the micro:bit and makey:bit/bit:explorer

Step 1: Understand the different motor options.

Step 2: Program it the motor.

Too easy? No problem, this is just a quick overview of how to program motors, move on to the next card.

Step 1

There are many different motors available in most maker spaces. Let’s start with servo motors because they’re the most robust and easy to use for most projects.

Step 2

While Pins tab in MakeCode has blocks for controlling servos, we prefer to use the Servo extension found in the Extensions tab. Make sure you add it and program it to either Pins 0 or 2 when using the dedicated Servo banks in the micro:bit.

NOTE: If you are attaching a servo to Pin 0, remember to assign the sound to a different pin because the default pin for sound is Pin 0 and playing sound may sometimes trigger the motor in unexpected ways.

Watch the video for more details about motors and how to program them.

Now that you’ve learned how to control servos, jump to the next card.