The Ring:bit STEM education robot is a DIY (Do It Yourself) robot based on the highly popular BBC micro:bit. The Ring:Bit micro:bit STEM education robot is designed to get kids introduced to the world of coding, electronics and robotics. The Ring:bit micro:bit STEM education robot is recommended for kids 8+ years and older.  The Ring:Bit micro:bit STEM education robot is designed from ground up to be an easy to easy to work with, easy to assemble robot and simply built with the aim of giving educators, parents and kids a great opportunity to get a taste of robotics, electronics and coding.

Experienced developers, engineers and robotics enthusiasts can build on their existing coding skills and take the knowledge of coding, robotics and electronics to a higher level. However if you are just starting with coding and robotics then you have the option to program the micro:bit Robit using the BBC micro:bit Makecode Block based programming language. If you are an experienced developer and have some prior experience working with electronics, coding, robotics then you can program micro:bit Robit using Javascript or even using MicroPython. The Ring:Bit micro:bit STEM education robot is a flexible robotics platform built around the BBC micro:bit offering different learning paths catering to different STEM learning needs and challenges.

The micro:bit Ringbit is really easy to assemble and can be put together in less than an hour. We would recommend the Ring:Bit micro:bit STEM education robot if you are keen to introduce your child to the world of STEM and are keen to get them coding, introduced to the world of robotics using the micro:bit. Overall the Ring:Bit micro:bit STEM education robot is a great way to get started with the basics of coding and robotics using a flexible, affordable and easy to work with robotic platform.

Prerequisites –

1. You will need a Ringbit Microbit STEM STEM Education Robot. You can pick one up from OzToyLib.
2. This tutorial makes extensive use of the BBC micro:bit . The BBC micro:bit is embedded into the robot and can be programmed to perform different tasks.
3. If you haven’t purchased a BBC micro:bit yet you might want to head over and pick one up now.
4. We would recommend that you pick up the BBC micro:bit, BBC micro:bit breakout board and a breadboard.
5. The BBC micro:bit breakout board and breadboard makes working with the BBC micro:bit a lot easier.
6. We will be using the official BBC Makecode Block editor to write code for all our tutorials.

About BBC micro:bit

The Micro Bit (also referred to as BBC Micro Bit, stylised as micro:bit) is an ARM-based embedded system designed by the BBC for use in computer education in the UK. The board is 4 cm × 5 cm and has an ARM Cortex-M0 processor, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a display consisting of 25 LEDs, two programmable buttons, and can be powered by either USB or an external battery pack. The device inputs and outputs are through five ring connectors that are part of the 23-pin edge connector at the bottom of the board. The micro:bit can be programmed using the Microsoft Block code program editor which is similar to the block based language Scratch ideal for 7-12 year olds. The micro:bit can also be programmed using the Makecode editor in Javascript and Python which allows for older kids to learn the Javascript and Python programming language using the micro:bit.

You can read more about the BBC micro:bit at the microbit website. Also see Kitronik’s resources here – Parents Complete Guide To The BBC micro:bit.