BREAKOUT BOARDS - ADDING INPUT/OUTPUT TO THE MICRO:BIT

      Even though the Micro:bit has several input - output options on the board, at some point you'll want to add more devices such as sensors and motors.  The row of GPIO pins at the bottom of the board provides access to those devices.  You could pretty easily add a wire connection to the five labeled pins, but what about the 20 other pins?  One solution is to use a breakout board.  Simply put, you plug the Bit into the breakout board, and it provides easily accessed connections to the GPIO pins.  Let's take a look at one such board, the SparkFun Micro:bot breakout, or moto:bit.  (This board is part of a SparkFun kit that lets you use your Bit to control a robot.)

     The Micro:bit plugs into the slot at the top of the breakout board, and as you can see, the GPIO pins are "broken out" for various devices: sensors, servo motors, and regular motors.  The board also has some led's, a power input jack, and an on-off switch for the motors.  

     There are many Micro:bit project kits available now: for building weather stations, arcade games, and a variety of robots.  Each kit would have its own breakout board with input-output that matches the needs of that kit.