Kitronik ZIP Halo HD for the BBC Micro:bit

The BBC micro:bit Kitronik Halo HD board includes 60 individually addressable full-colour ZIP LEDs.  It breaks out P1 and P2 to a standard 0.1” footprint. Features MEMS microphone for detection of sound, and a piezo buzzer to play sound. And also an onboard real-time clock (RTC) controlled by I2C lines from the microbit. The board has two M3 mounting holes.

The Kitronik ZIP Halo HD board has plenty of useful features, aside from the list mentioned, it also features;

• Plug n Play - simply plug the micro:bit ( sold separately) into the onboard edge connector and you are good to go! No tools required, not even a screwdriver.
• On-board Power - The board has a 3xAA battery holder mounted on the back and a power switch on the front. On the board, a regulated supply is generated and fed into the 3V and GND connections to power the connected BBC micro:bit, eliminating the need to power the BBC micro:bit separately. For more information, please see the datasheet.
• MakeCode Blocks - You can code it with MakeCode blocks via custom blocks or with MicroPython.

Kitronik has created custom blocks for the Halo HD for use with MakeCode. To add these blocks, first go to makecode.microbit.org and start a new project. Under the “Advanced” section click on “Extensions”. In the next window search for “Halo HD”. Then, click on the tile to import it into MakeCode. You will see that the blocks are split across three categories; ZIP LEDs, Microphone, and Clock. You can find more information on the MakeCode editor and also on how to write code for it with MicroPython in the datasheet.

Requires:

• 1 x micro:bit
• 1 x USB Type-A to Micro-B USB Cable