REPLICATE

The Challenge

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 sought to overcome.

A diagram representing the 'Replicate' project. From left to right it shows images with text below, beginning with a Micro:bit circuit board, a Jacdac prototype, a laptop displaying the text 'REPLICATE' and 'web tool' below, a circuit board with text 'custom design below,' and many circuit boards with text 'replicable copies' below.

The Solution

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

‘REPLICATE’ stands for ‘Rapid and Economical Prototype dupLICATion for Electronics’. The project was successful in responding to the pro2 network’s 2023 funding call ‘Replicability‘ which aims to solve challenges related to the replication of digital devices for testing or production purposes.