blocks - rendering graphics

An introduction to graphics for the Block Editor.

Before we get started

Ensure you have completed the 'Hello, world!' and Loop tutorials and tested them on a simulator or on BBC micro:bit.

basic.showString("HI!");

The BBC micro:bit has a grid of 25 LEDs, so we can use these to display images.

We’ve already experimented with the show string block that displays a string (some text) that we program it to. However we can use more blocks from the Images drawer to render or display images in different ways.

Pixel Art

We can draw little images from the LEDs by ticking boxes. Drag a show image block from the Images drawer and connect in a create image block. You can customize this image by clicking boxes to tick whether the LED will turn on or off. For example, if we were creating a music player we may want to the show the play block:

Plotting points

We can also code our bug to plot a point by giving an x (horizontal) and y (vertical) coordinates, from 0 to 4. Click the LED drawer and drag a plot block. Try changing the coordinates and see the effect this has on the BBC micro:bit.

We can also unplot a point (turn the LED off again) using the unplot block. So we could create a flashing LED program, using the pause block to create a delay.

basic.forever(() => {
    led.plot(2,2)
    basic.pause(100)
    led.unplot(2,2)
    basic.pause(100)
})

We can also use the basic.clearScreen block to turn off all LEDs.

Tip

The pause block is in milliseconds, so setting it to 1000 will have a pause of a single second.

Devising algorithms for shapes

An algorithm is a set of steps to follow to solve a problem. We can begin to draw shapes on the BBC micro:bit using an algorithm. For example, we could draw a straight line with this code:

for(let i = 0; i <=4; i++) {
    led.plot(i, 0);
    basic.pause(200)
}

Our algorithm is: increase i by 1 from 0 to 4, and plot the point x=i, y=0. The pause block allows this line to be animated (drawn frame by frame).

Try devising an algorithm for a diagonal line using the code above and the variable i.

basic.forever(() => {
    for(let i = 0; i <=4; i++) {
        led.plot(i, i);
        basic.pause(200)
    }
    basic.clearScreen();
})

Animations

Animations are changes happening at a certain rate. For example, we could add the pause block from the Basic drawer with our square algorithm – this will slowly draw a square (as an animation).

We could create more complex animations, for example we could make our BBC micro:bit display an explosion or fireworks.

Image variables

We can create image variables so we can easily display an image at a later point. For example:

This uses the blocks from the Variable drawer, and the create image block from the Image drawer. This means our image can be displayed without having to replicate the create image block each time.

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