Jump straight to read about the competition or continue reading to find out more about XinaBox and what the XK05 can do.
Connect to IoT with Wi-Fi:
IoT for beginners: |
Our MakeCode extension has been tailored to ensure first time users find it as easy as possible to connect their micro:bit to the Internet of Things (IoT). |
IoT for enthusiasts: | Our MQTT MakeCode blocks were developed in close consultation with one of the co-authors of the MQTT standard (thanks @AndySC). Find out more |
IoT for AI / ML: | Connect to IBM Watson with the MQTT blocks, or to Azure ML Studio with the Azure blocks, and build Machine Learning into your IoT applications. Find out more |
Add huge storage capacity with Persistent Memory:
With the IM01 and a microSD card you have access to up to 32 Gigabytes of memory, which opens up a huge range of use cases.
Most significantly it allows the micro:bit to be used as a data gathering tool in situations where it is not practical or possible to use existing solutions, such as Wi-Fi, radio, BLE or a serial cable / tether.
Data gathering, and subsequent analysis, is the basis of data science and is useful across the curriculum:
- Natural Science: get students to gather a few days worth of data then demonstrate Gay-Lussac and / or Charles' Laws.
- Physics / PE: gather acceleration data over the course of a PE lesson, or from a swing, or roundabout, or roller coaster.
- Maths / Stats: what better way to learn Mathematical concepts and statistics than by using data sets you have collected?
- Remote monitoring. Put the kit in a remote location and record hours, days or even weeks of data - your batteries will run out long before the capacity of the microSD card.
Reading and writing to the memory card is as easy as reading and writing to a screen or serial port with our MakeCode extension.
What have other people done with their XK05?
- An IoT enabled air quality monitor (link is to a Wakelet)
- An IoT enabled 2 player punch-the-punch-bag game (links to an XinaBox blog)
- A project showing how nine year old Oscar used IoT to investigate the how heat radiates from a fireplace (link is to a Google Slide Show)
- Logging data from a pendulum to microSD card (link is to a Hackster project)
- Use IoT to control a Gloworb (link is to a MakeCode project)
- Connect a BBC micro:bit to Microsoft Azure (link is to a Hackster project)
- Build a weather station that uses Machine Learning (via Azure ML Studio) to predict the likelihood of rain (link is to the book in which this example is presented)
- An e-reader (links to a tweet by @Ivanbosnic)
All these and more are showcased on this Wakelet (which is a pinboard you can view without signing up for anything).
Who are XinaBox?
We are the only micro:bit peripheral maker with an active and successful space program:
- We spent 2 months in the first half of 2020 on the International Space Station.
- Last year we went into space in a constellation of thinsats that probed Low Earth Orbit for 9 days.
- We are proud partners in an exciting national challenge announced by the U.S. Department of Education to bring space missions to high school students
- This YouTube video is an article that BBC World Service did on our activities in space in Africa.


Why XinaBox?

Rules and details of the Competition:
What would you do with your micro:bit if you had access to Wi-Fi (and therefore IoT) and / or persistent memory? Perhaps use it in an invention or a monitoring device? Maybe a lesson plan or tutorial? Or an experiment? Or something else altogether.
We'd love to hear about it and we'll give away at least 5 XK05s to ideas that are interesting / useful / funny / creative, subject to the terms below:
- The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18. Our apologies to younger people for this necessary limitation. By entering you are confirming that are over 18 and accept the terms outlined.
- Write your idea on Facebook or Twitter. Tag it with #MadeWithXinaBox. We may not be able to consider incorrectly tagged entries.
- Your idea does not have to be limited to just the XK05 - you can include other functionality too. But it must include a micro:bit and Wi-Fi and / or persistent memory.
- The idea can be realistic or outlandish. We encourage real-world and simple applications as well as sci-fi stuff :)
- We'll look through these on an ongoing basis and we will award at least 5 prizes throughout August and September. The competition closes on 30th Sept.
- Please remember to follow us, so that we can send you a DM if your submission wins. We are @xinabox
- We don't want any of your personal data. If you win you will need to provide us with a postal address though. The highest standard of data protection (GDPR) will be applied throughout.
- The competition is open to everyone around the world. There are some countries that we cannot service though. If you win, and if you live in a country that we cannot service, you may nominate someone in a different country to receive the prize on your behalf.
- Judges decision is final.
- After the competition we will blog about the ideas. We will seek your permission to tag your social media IDs in the blog.
- Winners are invited to build their idea, and we will provide technical support and help. If you choose not to build your idea we may go ahead and build it ourselves.
- If you are unable to use Twitter or Facebook to submit your entry you may contact us via our help desk.
Thanks!
Going Further with XinaBox:
- Buy an XK05 here.
- Our XK04 STEM kit is a great way to power-up your micro:bit.
- The are loads of great projects on our projects portal.
- Find out what we are up to on our blog - from orbiting in space to surviving a fall from 30km there's always something exciting happening at XinaBox! We try to publish new blogs whenever we can, so pop back or bookmark us.
- Check out the full range of xChips, including some great kits.