I set up a hackaday project page in '16 for the competition that year, but didn't make enough progress to get anywhere. But I'm back! This year I started to use the BBC Micro:bit. The microbit is a single board aimed at 11-12 year old school students. I think of it as a gateway drug to embedded hardware. It is designed to be a stepping stone to give somebody who has no interest in computers or programming the chance to realise how empty their life is without these interests. I imagine the developers have a different description.

The microbit has an embedded microcontroller and a few sensors including an accelerometer. The 'killer feature' is the board to board radio. It 'just works'(TM). As the boards have been tested and deemed safe to use at schools, this means that I can use them without worrying about the reprisals that follow after inflicting my own kludges onto unsuspecting victims.

I did prove the HandShake idea with a custom kludge of an xbee, accelerometer, battery and regulator. If you go down my project page, you can read of my many, many failures. How I failed. I failed Mightily. I'd like to say I emerged a better person for the struggle, but I suspect it all contributed to the bitter, introverted, golem like creature I am today.