Simplest way to input text without serial

micro:bit
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I need a simple and fast way to input text without using the serial.

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Hi @urassari,

Interesting challenge, but could you please be a little more specific about “without serial” and why?

I was about to suggest Bluetooth, but that is strictly speaking, if I understand correctly, also serial(UART) over Bluetooth for sending text to the micro:bit:
UARTService - micro:bit runtime Video Demonstration

I am, coincidentally, on an overlapping journey myself, looking at different ways to connect the micro:bit to a computer and/or MakeCode Arcade. Just now I was searching for a way to communicate(send e.g. text to micro:bit) via the simpler radio/gazelle protocol, but have not found it yet and starting to doubt this would work on other Bluetooth radio devices than the nRFs(?).

Here is an interesting project making the micro:bit a generic I/O device, but it has custom firmware and abandons MakeCode:

But if you want a much better answer, you should try and hope to get in touch with the experts in this field on the forum, like @bsiever.

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Thanks @Vegz78 — Although I know some aspects of the micro:bit and MakeCode well, there are people on the forum with far more expertise than me.

I’m not sure if this is simple in the way you’d want @urassari , but it is possible to enter text pretty quickly via Morse code with the Morse Code Extension and the Buttons Extensions. Here’s a partial program for that: https://makecode.microbit.org/S70021-54883-85219-23503 . There are some easy additions to make it more complete, like:

  • When a message is done (B button is selected) erase the line back to empty.
  • Use one of the unknown sequences, like …–, for a space.

As @Vegz78 said, it’s also possible to use Radio or Bluetooth to transmit text…but each has some challenges.

A few people have used the micro:bit WebUSB library to create webpages that interact with micro:bits, but this is using the UART/Serial protocol, just not through MakeCode’s console:
https://github.com/bsiever/microbit-webusb

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by “serial” i mean using serial connections and getting input from a computer. is there a way to plug a usb keyboard to a micro:bit and getting it to work?

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Like this?
(Still serial, though…)

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Thanks for chiming in, @bsiever!

By the way, if you have a minute from the top of your head. I have been searching around about using the simple radio/gazelle protocol to communicate from a computer to a micro:bit, but have only found examples suggesting using two micro:bits with one as relay, i.e. PC → USB/BT → micro:bit1 → radio → micro:bit2.

Do you by any chance now of a way(already solved/half-way solved app/driver/library?) to communicate from a computer directly over radio/gazelle to a micro:bit? Would even be possible on generic BT chips, without an NRF chip connected to the computer somehow?

I did some experiments a long time ago with seemoo-lab nexmon, where one could put the Broadcom chip on a RPi in a special mode and use as SDR and record and playback messages, not bound to any special protocols.
(I don’t remember what the mode was called and remember it was especially hard on Windows, but not impossible).

Please maximum use a minute or two of your time, if you can. Just if you ever stumbled across something like this, or resembling this(micro:bit radio/gazelle directly from a computer to micro:bit).

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Hi @Vegz78

Sorry, but I don’t know of a direct way to communicate with radio from a PC. I’m not sure, but if it is possible it may require operating system level access to the radio stack on the PC side.

The radio protocol is a broadcast protocol. It’s possible to get close to that via Bluetooth Low Energy’s advertising messages — if your interest is based on a specific type of behavior, Bluetooth may provide some reasonable alternative.

Maybe a good question is why do you want to do this? (Specific behavior, which may be possible through other approaches, or just an interest in the protocols and radio or Gazell specificially?)

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Thanks again for your insight and time, @bsiever! -Always a lot to learn from you on topics that I find interesting!

Mainly curiosity about whether this is, in fact, possible and could be achieved within reasonable efforts. If so, maybe an interesting hobby project to explore further, and in the long run maybe useful training project towards finding out how, for instance, to wirelessly power on an XBox without a controller, infrared, kinect camera or other special hardware(SDR).

Direct utility might be to control/communicate with a micro:bit wirelessly from a computer/phone without the need for a second micro:bit or other special hardware attached, and without the relatively large full Bluetooth support in the micro:bit program.