Monthly Archives: September 2021

micro:bit pulse oximeter

Around the same time I bought a cheap eCO2 sensor, I bought a MAX30100 pulse oximeter board for a few quid. I never got it working, partly because the protocol for making it work is very complex (way more complex … Continue reading

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CCS811 indoor air quality sensor on a micro:bit

I was clearing out my toolbox of gubbins the other day and discovered an inexpensive CCS811 air quality sensor I’d bought ages ago and never done anything with. These are small sensors that measure Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and can … Continue reading

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One moment please, while I arrange the galaxy

In 1977, the second computer I ever used was my dad’s Commodore PET 2001. This massive, sphinx-like machine of bent-steel with its terrible calculator keyboard, built-in cassette drive and ghostly white CRT monitor surrounded with a slightly IBM-ish shade of … Continue reading

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Simple machine learning abstraction for kids

Update: this also works on a BBC micro:bit, scroll down to find out more! There are some great resources for teaching machine learning to kids, but I’ve noticed a lot of them rely on some magic happening in the cloud, … Continue reading

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Easy new OLED driver for the micro:bit

I love OLED displays! The 128×64 pixel ones are really cheap and easy to interface with a BBC micro:bit, Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Here are a few things I’ve made with them: Screen for a self-contained TinyBASIC computer micro:bit compass … Continue reading

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