Sensors: accelerometer

core
radio
microphone

basic.forever(function () {
    
})

basic.forever(function () {
    
})

Step 0 @showDialog

Hello! Today we’ll learn how to measure movement with the Micro:bit.

Step 1

Accelerometer

An accelerometer is a motion sensor that can tell you the acceleration or movement of the Micro:bit. To learn more, watch this video.

Step 2 @showHint

Accelerometer

All the code blocks for sensors are located inside the ||input.input|| category of your toolbox. To detect movement, we can add an ||input.on gesture|| block to our code. As you can see, this block is the same shape as the ||basic.forever|| block, so it is also used to launch a program.

It looks like this:

input.onGesture(Gesture.Shake, function () {
    
})

Step 3 @showHint

Let’s make a dice cube!

The ||input.on gesture|| block allows you to choose one of 11 gestures to start your program. We’ll turn the Micro:bit into a dice cube that shows a random number when shaken. Assemble the code as shown and try shaking your Micro:bit!

input.onGesture(Gesture.Shake, function () {
    basic.showNumber(randint(1, 6))
})

Step 4 @showDialog

What are the gestures?

As you already know, the shake gesture happens when you shake the device.

• screen up, screen down, logo up, logo down, tilt left and tilt right refer to the different orientations of the Micro:bit.
• free fall happens when your device is being dropped.
• 3g, 6g and 8g are the levels of acceleration. These gestures occur when you move the device fast enough.

Step 5 @showHint

A rotating face

You can add different programs to start on different gestures. Let’s make a face that turns upside down when we turn the Micro:bit upside down. Download the code to your Micro:bit and try flipping it!

input.onGesture(Gesture.LogoUp, function () {
    basic.showLeds(`
        . . . . .
        . # . # .
        . . . . .
        # . . . #
        . # # # .
        `)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.LogoDown, function () {
    basic.showLeds(`
        . # # # .
        # . . . #
        . . . . .
        . # . # .
        . . . . .
        `)
})

Step 6

Now it’s your turn!

Here’s a challenge for you! Use the ||input.on gesture|| block to make an earth pointer that displays an arrow that points towards the ground no matter the orientation of the Micro:bit.

The earth pointer in action:

Step 7 @showDialog

Answers: Earth pointer

input.onGesture(Gesture.LogoUp, function () {
    basic.showArrow(ArrowNames.South)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.TiltLeft, function () {
    basic.showArrow(ArrowNames.West)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.TiltRight, function () {
    basic.showArrow(ArrowNames.East)
})
input.onGesture(Gesture.LogoDown, function () {
    basic.showArrow(ArrowNames.North)
})

Step 8

Congratulations, this lesson is complete! Now you know how to track the motion and orientation of the Micro:bit!