Integrating Quality Control Documentation into the Open-Source Hardware Design Workflow 

Micro:bit is a physical computing device with software that allows total beginners to prototype electronic devices. It’s been successful in classrooms all over the world where an estimated 39 million young people have learned about coding and digital device prototyping. It can be paired with Jacdac, a modular electronics platform, to extend the Micro:bit’s hardware allowing users to easily prototype novel hardware and software combinations. While this technology is versatile and accessible at the prototype stage, it faces isotyping challenges which the REPLICATE project will aim to overcome.

The proposed solution is to create a web tool that enables users to create robust, replicable copies of a Jacdac-enhanced Micro:bit prototype. The web tool will provide production files for ordering necessary parts and assembly instructions, while maximising efficiency in terms of time, cost and labour. In this way it will strive to democratise the creation of digital devices by expanding the Micro:bit ecosystem of low-cost and widely accessible prototyping resources.

Project Lead

Dr Andrew Scott

Senior lecturer
School of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University

Project Partners