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microbit Module

On this page we will learn

  • how to pause a program with sleep()
  • how to measure how long a program has been running
  • how to run code on a schedule with run_every()

Terminology

  • module – a collection of code, such as microbit, music or radio, that we can import into our program.
  • function – a named block of code that does a job and can be run whenever we call its name.
  • define – to create a new function by giving it a name and the code it runs, using def.
  • background – running code on a schedule while the main loop keeps doing something else.

The microbit module contains general functions for pausing a program, measuring time and running code on a schedule.

Possible uses:

  • timers and stopwatches
  • games with time limits
  • tasks that repeat in the background

Connect it

These functions are built into MicroPython on the micro:bit, so we don't need to connect anything.

  • Each example is a main.py file. See Your First Program for how to create, upload and run it.
  • Times are in milliseconds (ms). There are 1000 milliseconds in one second.
  • A module is a collection of code you can import into your program. from microbit import * imports everything in the microbit module, including the display, buttons and the functions on this page.

Set it up

We import the microbit module at the top of every program:

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from microbit import *

Methods

Method Parameters Returns Description
sleep(ms) ms: milliseconds none Pauses the program
running_time() none int (ms) Time since the micro:bit was turned on or reset
run_every(function, s=1) function: function to run
h, min, s or ms: how often		 none Runs a function repeatedly in the background

sleep()

Pauses the program for a number of milliseconds before running the next line.

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from microbit import *

# Setup
print("No pause between")
print("these two lines")
sleep(2000)
print("A 2 second pause before this line")

PRIMM

  1. Predict what you think will happen. Be specific.
  2. Run the program.
  3. Time to investigate the code. What does each line do?
Code explanation
  • line 1 → imports all the commands from the microbit library.
  • line 4 → prints a line in the Shell.
  • line 5 → prints the next line straight away.
  • line 6 → pauses the program for 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds).
  • line 7 → prints the last line after the pause.

running_time()

Returns how many milliseconds have passed since the micro:bit was turned on or reset.

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from microbit import *

# Main loop
while True:
    print(running_time())
    sleep(1000)

PRIMM

  1. Predict what you think will happen. Be specific.
  2. Run the program.
  3. Time to investigate the code. What does each line do?
Code explanation
  • line 1 → imports all the commands from the microbit library.
  • line 4 → starts an endless loop.
  • line 5 → prints the number of milliseconds since the micro:bit started.
  • line 6 → waits 1 second before the loop repeats.

run_every()

Runs a function over and over at a set time interval.

The function keeps running on schedule while the main loop does something else.

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from microbit import *
import music

# Setup
def beep():
    music.pitch(880, 100)

run_every(beep, s=1)

# Main loop
while True:
    display.scroll("Hello")

PRIMM

  1. Predict what you think will happen. Be specific.
  2. Run the program.
  3. Time to investigate the code. What does each line do?
Code explanation
  • line 1 → imports all the commands from the microbit library.
  • line 2 → imports the music module.
  • line 5 → defines a function called beep.
  • line 6 → the function plays an 880 Hz tone for 100 milliseconds.
  • line 8 → runs beep every 1 second in the background.
  • line 11 → starts an endless loop.
  • line 12 → scrolls Hello, while the beep keeps running every second.

Documentation

Documentation is the official guide written by the people who made the code library, and we can use it to look up every method and its parameters, including ones that aren't covered on this page.