Microbit Turtles

Turtle graphics are a time-honoured way to teach algorithmic thinking and are supported in regular python.

Here's a small implementation of a turtle, complete with animation speed and pen support, for the microbit.

from microbit import *
import radio

Direction_Up = 0
Direction_Down = 1
Direction_Left = 2
Direction_Right = 3
    
class Turtle:
    
    def __init__(self):
        self.direction = Direction_Up
        self.x = 2
        self.y = 2
        self.speed = 500
        self.pen = False
        
    def home(self):
        self.goto(2, 2)
        
    def forward(self, steps = 1):

        x_delta, y_delta = 0, 0
        
        if self.direction == Direction_Up:
            y_delta = -1
        elif self.direction == Direction_Down:
            y_delta = 1
        elif self.direction == Direction_Left:
            x_delta = -1
        else:
            x_delta = 1

        for i in range(steps):
            self.goto(self.x + x_delta, self.y + y_delta)
            sleep(self.speed)

    def goto(self, x, y):
        
        if not self.pen:
            display.set_pixel(self.x, self.y, 0)
            
        self.x = min(max(0, x), 4)
        self.y = min(max(0, y), 4)
        
        display.set_pixel(self.x, self.y, 9)
        
    def left(self):
        if self.direction == Direction_Up:
            self.direction = Direction_Left
        elif self.direction == Direction_Left:
            self.direction = Direction_Down
        elif self.direction == Direction_Down:
            self.direction = Direction_Right
        else:
            self.direction = Direction_Up
        
    def right(self):
        if self.direction == Direction_Up:
            self.direction = Direction_Right
        elif self.direction == Direction_Right:
            self.direction = Direction_Down
        elif self.direction == Direction_Down:
            self.direction = Direction_Left
        else:
            self.direction = Direction_Up
    
    def pendown(self):
        self.pen = True
        
    def penup(self):
        self.pen = False
    

The turtle always starts off in the centre of the screen, facing up. We can draw a tiny 1 pixel square using dots that disappear when a new one appears:

turtle = Turtle()

# square

for i in range(4):
    turtle.forward(1)
    turtle.right()
    

Or we can use the pen to draw an outline around the screen from the top left corner.

turtle = Turtle()

turtle.goto(0, 0)
turtle.right()

turtle.pen_down()

for index in range(4):
    turtle.forward(4)
    turtle.right()