How to set up the Microbit.
2 Microbits are used to send and receive data from the water rocket to measure acceleration in G force, 1 microbit acts as a sender that will be attached to the water rocket and send data to the 2nd microbit that will receive and measure the data.
The Microbit website has a user friendly interface that is simple to use for all ages so is easy to follow and create code as it can be a simple click and drag process or gives you the option to write JavaScript that does the same process.
Sender
The first step is to go to (https://makecode.microbit.org/#editor) and create a new file, the first microbit needs to be plugged into a PC and labelled “Z-SENDER” the code below should then be recreated exactly, once the code is loaded onto the microbit it can be attached to the rocket but its vital the battery pack that came with the microbit is attached and charged otherwise the sender cannot send code, make sure the radio set group number matches between the sender and receiver or it won’t connect.
Receiver
The second Microbit acts as a receiver that will be plugged into a PC while the other microbit is on the rocket, a new file should be created for the Microbit on the website and called “Z-RECIEVER” after entering the code the microbit should be measuring the acceleration in G and will measure it up to 8G, the receiver uses radio signals to receive the data and can be viewed live by clicking the “show console device” this will show the stream of data that can then be copied or downloaded and put into Excel to plot graphs showing the data’s findings.
Reference/sources
Microsoft MakeCode
Science Experiments 08 Rocket Acceleration