microbit motors

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Katie Topper

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Apr 1, 2026, 3:39:03 AMApr 1
to K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
Good afternoon, everyone!

I am launching a hack a toy project with Middle Schoolers this week. 

We have some V2 Microbits and I'd like each student to have the opportunity to use and code at least one motor to make part of each toy (think stuffed animal arm, leg, etc.) move.

Any recommendations? 

Thank you,
Katie

Keith G Braafladt

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Apr 1, 2026, 7:09:33 AMApr 1
to Katie Topper, K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
Seems like if you are hacking (and the toys are still working) you might get some relays to hack into the toy motor circuits to control them... here is  a nice resource:
Keith

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Lee Jones

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Apr 1, 2026, 7:28:50 AMApr 1
to Katie Topper, K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
It might be a bit more than you need, but use robot:bits to control old LEGO NXT motors (and other DC motors). They are pretty handy additions for the micro:bit.


Sincerely, 
Lee Jones
Emporia State University


Jacob Lingley

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Apr 1, 2026, 7:33:13 AMApr 1
to Lee Jones, Katie Topper, K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
Our b.Board is designed for the micro:bit and includes an ESP32 and a whole ecosystem of expansion. Awesomely accessible. 



-----------

Jacob Lingley  MEd, BEd, BSc

Director of Instructional Design

Directeur de la Conception Pédagogique

ja...@brilliantlabs.ca

+1 (506) 261-3540

http://brilliantlabs.ca





Adam Singer

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Apr 1, 2026, 10:54:52 AMApr 1
to Jacob Lingley, Lee Jones, Katie Topper, k-12-f...@googlegroups.com
Keeping access to movement as simple as possible, I would highly encourage you to consider a hobby servo (sometimes called a servo motor or microservo).

Most motors require far more power than the power ports on a microbit can supply on its own. Also, controlling direction on a motor also requires some kind of motor controller, as is available on so many breakout boards, but that would necessitate another separate purchase.

Although I have never personally controlled servos without a breakout board and separate power supply, I have seen other teachers connect a hobby servo with alligator clips directly to the clip attachments on the bottom of the microbit (microbit powered by batteries, not just usb).

Hobby servos can be coded easily to move to specific angles, with a range up to 180 degrees.

I see that Adafruit sells servos with alligator clips and Sparkfun sells adapters from standard servo connectors to alligator clips.


Adam Singer (he/him)
Technology / Maker Educator
Maker Tech Lab
Davidson Middle School
Twitter: @DavidsonMakers
Instagram: DavidsonMakers

On Apr 1, 2026, at 4:33 AM, Jacob Lingley <ja...@brilliantlabs.ca> wrote:



Kimberly Gerardi

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Apr 1, 2026, 11:00:23 AMApr 1
to Jacob Lingley, Lee Jones, Katie Topper, K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
I use FT90R servo motors with my micro:bits and I bought hummingbird robotics kits which come with motors. I find that the motors function better with the continuously rotating servo library in the advanced library. 

We also used arduino with servos and LED's for animatronic toys and loved it. We even used joysticks to control them. 
 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/k-12-fablabs/CAG0oBsvAKG9wR54FS6fk1FmMhQ-OGH3f5M8qbQYKmiJCqzUjwg%40mail.gmail.com.


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Keith G Braafladt

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Apr 1, 2026, 10:47:11 PMApr 1
to Kimberly Gerardi, Jacob Lingley, Lee Jones, Katie Topper, K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
When recycling/reusing we have found most moving toys use DC motors - so a relay or an additional board to supply the relay circuits (and supplemental power for the circuits if they dont already have power) work great 

If building from scratch, instead of hacking, the suggestion to use hobby servos with Microbits is a super fun idea. We find we can use with batteries or just with USB for power. We use hobby servos to build programmable Automata - Really engaging without the additional cost of an add-on board. And if using V.2 Microbits, you can create music to play with automata movements...
- if interested I can share video of projects...

We base our automata on the Exploratorium's Cranky Contraptions, replacing hand cranking (which we build earlier in middle school,  with the servos, Microbits and coding
Keith

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