Microbit Robotics Teacher Training

Intermediate

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

260 points

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC
Microbit
Move Motor Car

Line Following Car

In this step-by-step lesson, you'll learn to program a Move Motor Car to follow a line track using a Microbit. You'll create a new project, add an extension, create variables, and set up LEDs. You'll then program the car to turn right, left, and move forward. Finally, you'll test your car on a track and tweak the code for optimal performance.

Learning Goals Learning Outcomes Teacher Notes Lesson Files

Warning: Your screen size is quite small for viewing this. Rotate your device into landscape mode if you can.

1 Introduction
2 Create a new project
3 Add the extension
4 Create the variables
5 Setup the LEDs
6 Turn right
7 Turn left
8 Go forwards
9 Test it on a track
10 Tweak the code
Challenge
Quiz

1 - Introduction

In this project we will be programming the Move Motor Car to follow a line track.

You will need the following:

A Microbit
A Move Motor Car (with 4 AA batteries)
A USB cable
A track drawn on paper or printed out using the attachment 'mbmmlfc tiles.pdf'

If you are drawing your own track make sure you use a thick black marker with clear lines.

mbmmlfc tiles.pdf

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

done | 10 points

2 - Create a new project

Go to the https://makecode.microbit.org website and create a new project.

Microbit: How to create a new Microbit project

Go to the Makecode.com Microbit website using the link below and click on the 'New Project' button underneath the 'My Projects' heading.

https://makecode.microbit.org/

Install the micro:bit app on your iPad or tablet.

Open the app, tap 'Create code' and then create a new project.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

done | 5 points

3 - Add the extension

We are going to programming a Microbit to act as the brains of the Move Motor car. To do this we will need to add the kitronik-move-motor extension to our project. This has custom blocks that let us program the Move Motor car.

Add the kitronik-move-motor extension to your project. Once you add it you will notice that there is a new set of 'MOVE Motor' blocks in your toolbox.

Microbit: How to add an extension

To add an extension follow these steps:

Click on 'Advanced' in the toolbox
Click 'Extensions'
Type the name of the extension in the search box
Click on the extension in the search results
The extension and all it's blocks will be added to your toolbox

done | 10 points

4 - Create the variables

We need to create the following 3 variables:

left - this will store the value of the left line sensor (how dark or bright it is).
right - this will store the value of the right line sensor (how dark or bright it is).
difference - this will store the value of the difference between the left and right variables.

Create the 3 variables and then add the following code to your project.

Microbit: How to create a variable

In the Variables toolbox, create a new variable by clicking the 'Make a Variable' button.

Once you click this button a box will appear asking what you want to call your variable. Give it a name that reminds you what you will be using it for. For example, if you wanted to keep track of your score in a game, you would create a variable called 'score'.

done | 40 points

5 - Setup the LEDs

To make the car look even better and to give us some extra feedback, we are going to use the LEDs on the Move Motor car to light up different colours depending on if it's going straight, left or right.

Add the following code to your project to setup a variable for the LEDs.

done | 20 points

Unlock the Full Learning Experience

Get ready to embark on an incredible learning journey! Get access to this lesson and hundreds more in our Digital Skills Curriculum.

Get started

Line Following Car

Live Class Feed

1 - Introduction

2 - Create a new project

Using the makecode website

Using the micro:bit app

3 - Add the extension

4 - Create the variables

5 - Setup the LEDs

Unlock the Full Learning Experience

Learning Points