magnetic Force

Find the amount of magnetic force (the strength of a magnet) in one of the three directions.

input.magneticForce(Dimension.X);

The micro:bit measures magnetic force in microteslas.

Compass calibration

The magnetometer doesn’t automatically calibrate to the Earth’s magnetic field when reading magnetic force. This is so you can detect localized magnetic attractions in your tests and experiments. If you want to calibrate for magnetic polar alignment before measuring magnetic force, you need to first calibrate using:

input.calibrateCompass()

When you run this block you will be asked to calibrate for the compass.

Parameters

  • dimension: this is the direction the micro:bit should measure magnetic force in: either Dimension.X (the left-right direction), Dimension.Y (the forward/backward direction), or Dimension.Z (the up/down direction)

Returns

  • a number of microteslas that is the strength of the magnetic force.

Example

Create a metal detector my measuring the strength of magnetic force in the X direction. Display a bar graph to show the current level of magnetic force measured by the magnetometer.

basic.forever(function() {
    led.plotBarGraph(input.magneticForce(Dimension.X) / 2000, 0)
})

See also

compass heading, calibrate compass