REPLICATE

The Challenge

The micro:bit is an easy-to-code physical computing device that allow beginners to create interactive digital systems. It’s been successful in classrooms all over the world and an estimated 60 million children have used it to learn about coding digital devices. The micro:bit’s hardware capabilities can be extended with Jacdac, a modular plug-and-play electronics platform, allowing users to easily prototype novel hardware and software combinations. While this technology is a versatile and accessible way to prototype digital devices, when it comes to replicating multiple copies – a process we call isotyping – it can become tedious.

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 REPLICATE project team are working to overcome the replication challenge by extending a web app called MakeDevice. This quick and easy-to-use tool empowers users to create robust, replicable copies of a Jacdac-enhanced micro:bit prototype; it does this by generating production files suitable for manufacturing a more integrated version of the prototype based on a custom printed circuit board. In this way, the team is striving to democratise the creation of digital devices.

‘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.