Beating heart

Step 1: Make it

What is it?

Make your micro:bit’s heart beat using loops to create an animation.

These two videos show you what you'll make and how to code it:

How it works

• The program shows a beating heart using two built-in pictures, a large and small heart, on the micro:bit's LED display.
• Different images shown in a sequence create the illusion of movement: a heart getting larger and smaller.
• After showing each image, the program pauses for half a second (500 milliseconds) before showing the next image.
• The animation is kept going forever using an infinite loop: it repeats the sequence of showing these two images and pausing until you unplug the micro:bit.
• Using loops to keep things happening is an important idea in computer programming: we have created an animation that will keep running for as long as the micro:bit has power using only a small amount of code. This is also called iteration.
  

What you need

• micro:bit (or MakeCode simulator)
• MakeCode or Python editor
• battery pack (optional)

Step 2: Code it

1from microbit import *
2
3while True:
4    display.show(Image.HEART)
5    sleep(500)
6    display.show(Image.HEART_SMALL)
7    sleep(500)
8
9

Step 3: Improve it

• Make the heart beat faster or slower by changing the delay time.
• Try animating other built-in images like the small and large diamond or square.
• Create your own animations using your own designs.