{"id":20181,"date":"2020-05-16T16:46:57","date_gmt":"2020-05-16T15:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=20181"},"modified":"2020-05-16T16:48:53","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T15:48:53","slug":"the-4tronix-really-useless-box-for-microbit-a-quick-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=20181","title":{"rendered":"The 4tronix Really Useless Box for micro:bit – a quick review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi everyone. I’ve just returned from my shed where I’ve been putting together the 4tronix Really Useless Box<\/a>. This is a kit for the micro:bit made out of 7 PCBs, a nice switch and has a servo which tells you “No, you may not open this box!” in no uncertain terms!<\/p>\n

The kit comes in an anti-static bag and there are a\u00a0lot<\/em> of parts to make the end project. You start out by screwing on mount fittings and then you add the servo to one of the side walls. You then build up the rest of the box around that part. The instructions that are available online<\/a> are clear enough, although sometimes I did wonder which way round things went. There are a\u00a0lot<\/em> of screws in the kit, and sometimes it’s not quite clear which ones go where, but I worked it out based on how many of each there were and didn’t make any mistakes the whole way through, so that must speak to how good the instructions are.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the end of the build, you are left with a box with a micro:bit as one of the end walls. You flick the switch to open the box and then the servo controls an arm which politely, but resolutely, flicks the switch back again to close the lid. It’s entirely pointless<\/strong> (hence the name), but it is great fun to build<\/strong>. It’s also very good value (at \u00a312) and took me about an hour and a half to put together. You could probably assemble it in a lot less time than I did – maybe 45 minutes – but I was enjoying myself \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

It also comes with all the code you need to calibrate the servo and program the full box in Makecode. This means it’s an ideal project for beginners, or for someone who fancies a bit of fun \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

You can buy the Really Useless Box from 4tronix<\/a>. You’ll need to provide your own micro:bit<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone. I’ve just returned from my shed where I’ve been putting together the 4tronix Really Useless Box. This is a kit for the micro:bit made out of 7 PCBs, a nice switch and has a servo which tells you…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The 4tronix Really Useless Box for micro:bit - a quick review","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[227,900],"class_list":["post-20181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-4tronix","tag-really-useless-box"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 4tronix Really Useless Box for micro:bit - a quick review - Raspberry Pi Pod<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=20181\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 4tronix Really Useless Box for micro:bit - a quick review - Raspberry Pi Pod\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hi everyone. 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a GPIO robot controller plugin board. It has the following features: 5V 1.5A regulator to power the robot and the Pi\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GPIO boards"","block_context":{"text":"GPIO boards","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19652,"url":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=19652","url_meta":{"origin":20181,"position":1},"title":"Review of the 4tronix Pi2Go Mk 2 – an exquisite Raspberry Pi robot packed with features and fun","author":"Michael Horne","date":"31 July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in 2014, robotics specialist 4tronix released the Pi2Go and the Pi2Go Lite, great robotics kits using PCBs as the robot chassis, surrounding a Raspberry Pi. 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I'm almost to the bottom of the pile now - just one book to go. In the meantime, however, I tried out two motor controller boards from 4tronix. Introduction At the moment, there is a certain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GPIO boards"","block_context":{"text":"GPIO boards","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/piconzeroinaction.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/piconzeroinaction.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/piconzeroinaction.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/piconzeroinaction.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7621,"url":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7621","url_meta":{"origin":20181,"position":3},"title":"New #RaspberryPi budget motor controller boards available from @4tronix_uk","author":"Michael Horne","date":"28 January 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"4tronix are now offering a new motor controller board called the MicRoCon. I got one of these in the post the other day and I've soldered it together (very easy) but not had the chance to play with it yet. Here's a list of features (quoted from the 4tronix site):\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GPIO boards"","block_context":{"text":"GPIO boards","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/store\/resources\/image\/18\/91\/6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/store\/resources\/image\/18\/91\/6.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/store\/resources\/image\/18\/91\/6.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/store\/resources\/image\/18\/91\/6.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10621,"url":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=10621","url_meta":{"origin":20181,"position":4},"title":"4tronix gives an update on their Raspberry Pi robotics kit","author":"Michael Horne","date":"4 August 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Online retailer 4tronix has been working on a robotics kit for some months now and they've just provided an extensive update as to their progress. They've recently been featured on RasPi.Today\u00a0and now Gareth has published a blog post telling us how they're getting on with bringing the kit to market.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Robotics"","block_context":{"text":"Robotics","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?cat=45"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cf01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cf01.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cf01.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cf01.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4tronix.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cf01.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16684,"url":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?p=16684","url_meta":{"origin":20181,"position":5},"title":"4tronix launches Playground system for the Raspberry Pi","author":"Michael Horne","date":"31 March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Gareth, over at 4tronix, has been busy of late, developing the Playground system. Playground is an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi, Crumble and micro:bit that allows you to quickly and easily connect up various inputs and outputs using cables with 3.5mm plugs on the end. These inputs and outputs,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/?cat=54"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/playground_for_raspberry_pi-2.jpg?fit=800%2C650&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/playground_for_raspberry_pi-2.jpg?fit=800%2C650&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/playground_for_raspberry_pi-2.jpg?fit=800%2C650&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/playground_for_raspberry_pi-2.jpg?fit=800%2C650&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20181"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20185,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20181\/revisions\/20185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recantha.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}