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BBC micro:bit BBC Microbit

Real Time Clock Collapse All Expand All

Introduction + Block Editor - The Basics

A real time clock (RTC) allows your micro:bit to know the time. The internal timing of the micro:bit isn't good + Block Editor - Components
enough if you need to time something accurately over long periods of time.
+ Kodu - micro:bit Worlds
Many of the RTC breakout boards that you can buy online are wired up with 5V logic in mind and won't work
with the micro:bit without more tinkering than I am prepared to do. This DS3231 breakout board works + JavaScript Blocks
comfortably at 3V logic and is easy to interact with. This board cost me under £3 and came with the battery.
+ Blocks - Bit:Bot
+ Blocks - Bit:Commander
+ MicroPython - Starting Off
+ MicroPython - Examples
- MicroPython - Components
Introduction
Buzzer With MicroPython
LEDs With MicroPython
Connecting micro:bits Together
Extra Buttons
Knock Sensor
Water Sensor
Vkey Voltage Keypad
Rotary Encoder
Potentiometer
Soft Potentiometer
Most RTCs communicate using the inter-integrated circuit protocol (i2c). There is a MicroPython library that Flex Sensor
gives us access to a minimal set of functions for working with i2c. Tilt Sensor
Reed Switch
Circuit More Buttons
Temperature Sensor
You will need an edge connector breakout to be able to set up this circuit. The i2c protocol is hardware specific 7 Segment Display
and only works on pins 19 and 20. You need a reliable connection and these are small segments on the edge Reflectance Sensor
connector. Driving A Motor
Look again at the image of the RTC breakout board. Shift Register
Shifting In
You will need to connect 4 of the pins on the left of the image. Neopixels
Connect GND on the breakout to GND on the microbit. IR Break Beam Sensor
Connect VCC to 3V. PIR Motion Sensor
Real Time Clock
Connect SDA to pin 20.
DIY MIDI Out
Connect SCL to pin 19.
Nokia 5110 LCD
Programming - Testing & Setting The Time Bluetooth Mouse & Keyboard
VS1053 Codec Breakout - MIDI
The purpose of this program is to set the time and to read from the RTC. Output will be printed and can be 16x2 Character LCD Display
viewed in the REPL terminal. Dot/Bar Graph LED Driver
Wii Nunchuck Controller
from microbit import *
PS3 Dualshock Controller
def bcd2dec(bcd): MPR121 Capacitive Touch
return (((bcd & 0xf0) >> 4) * 10 + (bcd & 0x0f)) IS31FL3731 LED Matrix Driver
Adafruit I2C FRAM
def dec2bcd(dec): SNES Controller
tens, units = divmod(dec, 10) Sparkfun moto:bit
return (tens << 4) + units Multiplexer 74HC4051
USB Keyboard
def get_time():
i2c.write(addr, b'\x00', repeat=False) PCF8574A Port Expander
buf = i2c.read(addr, 7, repeat=False) 16x2 Serial LCD
ss = bcd2dec(buf[0]) HT16K33 7-Segment Display
mm = bcd2dec(buf[1])
+ MicroPython - Pi Accessories
if buf[2] & 0x40:
hh = bcd2dec(buf[2] & 0x1f) + MicroPython - Bit:Bot
if buf[2] & 0x20:
hh += 12 + MicroPython - Bit:Commander
else:
hh = bcd2dec(buf[2]) + MicroPython - Projects
wday = buf[3]
DD = bcd2dec(buf[4]) + MicroPython - Visual Basic
MM = bcd2dec(buf[5] & 0x1f)
+ Other - Odds & Ends
YY = bcd2dec(buf[6])+2000

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print(DD,MM,YY,hh,mm,ss,wday)
return

def set_time(s,m,h,w,dd,mm,yy):
t = bytes([s,m,h,w,dd,mm,yy-2000])
for i in range(0,7):
i2c.write(addr, bytes([i,dec2bcd(t[i])]), repeat=False)
return

addr = 0x68
buf = bytearray(7)
#set_time(0,0,12,5,1,4,2016)
sleep(1000)

while True:
get_time()
sleep(1000)

If you run this code as it is and look in the REPL terminal, you will see 7 numbers with a space between each
one. The first 3 are the day, month and year. Then you get hours, minutes and seconds. Finally you get a
number from 1 to 7 representing the day of the week.

If you haven't previously set the time, this will be incorrect. You will see the time change logically though.
If you remove the # from the line that reads #set_time(0,0,12,5,1,4,2016), you can set the time and date.
The order of the numbers should be seconds, minutes, hours, week day, day, month, year. You only do this
once and then remove the line of code. The battery will keep the time for a few years, even if you don't
provide any power to the board.

Programming - Using
Now for a simpler program that uses our time reading to turn the micro:bit into a watch. The two lines that set
the variable str_time are not meant to end with line breaks, this is the code box wrapping the text that is too
wide.

Press the A button to see the time scroll across the screen, the B button for the date.

from microbit import *

def bcd2dec(bcd):
return (((bcd & 0xf0) >> 4) * 10 + (bcd & 0x0f))

def dec2bcd(dec):
tens, units = divmod(dec, 10)
return (tens << 4) + units

def get_time():
i2c.write(addr, b'\x00', repeat=False)
buf = i2c.read(addr, 7, repeat=False)
ss = bcd2dec(buf[0])
mm = bcd2dec(buf[1])
if buf[2] & 0x40:
hh = bcd2dec(buf[2] & 0x1f)
if buf[2] & 0x20:
hh += 12
else:
hh = bcd2dec(buf[2])
wday = buf[3]
DD = bcd2dec(buf[4])
MM = bcd2dec(buf[5] & 0x1f)
YY = bcd2dec(buf[6])+2000
return [hh,mm,ss,YY,MM,DD,wday]

addr = 0x68
buf = bytearray(7)

while True:
if button_a.is_pressed():
tm = get_time()
str_time = '{0:02d}'.format(tm[0]) + ":" + '{0:02d}'.format(tm[1]) + ":" +
'{0:02d}'.format(tm[2])
display.scroll(str_time)
elif button_b.is_pressed():
tm = get_time()
str_time = '{0:02d}'.format(tm[5]) + "/" + '{0:02d}'.format(tm[4]) + "/" +
'{0:04d}'.format(tm[3])
display.scroll(str_time)
else:
display.clear()

Challenges
1. The clock could have more features than this. An alarm would be a good thing to have on a watch.
Add a buzzer. Store a time you want the alarm to go off. Check every second or half second if the
alarm time has been reached. If it has, play an alarm tune a couple of times. You can have the
alarm go off until a button is pressed or have it automatically stop after a time.
2. Make it so the user can set the time, alarm and date from the micro:bit.
3. A time-based animation would be nice.

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4. Any project needing accurate timing would be possible. A kitchen timer, making the micro:bit do
something for a specific period of time and then stopping. Consider what you might do now that
you have the time.
5. You could make a binary clock display on the micro:bit matrix itself. You would have to think
carefully about how you represent the binary values visually on the matrix but it is possible. Some
hints are shown below,
We need at least 4 place values for the hour (12hr format), 6 place values for the minutes, and 6 for the
seconds. With 16 LEDs, you could do,

So the following pattern...

... makes the time, 8+2 = 10 hours, 16 + 4 + 1 = 21 minutes, 4+2+1 = 7 seconds.

The problem is only having 5 LEDS in a row on the matrix. So, how about having the first row for the hours,
using two rows each for the minutes and then seconds. You only need one extra place value, so use the
leftmost LED of the second and fourth rows of the matrix.

This micro:bit is showing 17:35 and 59 seconds.

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