This module will show you how to set up your Finch to program in Java.

Slide the micro:bit into the Finch tail. Make sure your micro:bit is facing the correct direction, with the A and B buttons facing up and the five holes towards the bottom. Push the micro:bit into place. The five holes will be partially covered when the micro:bit is correctly in place.

Optional step: If your micro:bit is already flashing 3 or 10 characters when powered on, you can skip this step.

Download this file and drag it onto the micro:bit. Your device should start to flash ten characters on its display. You will only need to complete this step once for each Finch – as long as your device is flashing its initials, you are ready to connect via Bluetooth.

After dragging the file onto the micro:bit, remove the USB cord. You won’t need it to use Java.

Download Hex File

To turn on the Finch press and hold the power button on the bottom of your Finch until until one or more of the LEDs in the tail turn on. This should take about 2 seconds. Ten characters should now be flashing on the micro:bit.

When you turn on your Finch the color of the tail LEDs will indicate the battery charge level.

– If all 4 tail LEDs are GREEN this means your Finch is fully charged.

– If 3 tail LEDs are GREEN this means your Finch is partially charged.

– If tail LEDs are YELLOW this means you have about 2 hours of charge left on your Finch. 

– If 1 tail LED is RED this means you should charge your Finch immediately. You may lose Bluetooth connection at this point.

If the Finch battery becomes very low while you are programming, all the tail LEDs will quickly blink RED 5 times, once per minute until you plug the Finch in for charging.

To charge the Finch, plug the USB-C cable (micro-USB on older models) into the charging slot beneath the Finch’s tail.

Plugging the micro USB into the micro:bit will NOT charge the Finch!

Fully charging the Finch takes 7 hours. We suggest charging the Finch overnight.

The micro:bit is not needed to charge the Finch.

To turn off the Finch after you are done using it, hold down the power button until the beak turns red. 

The Finch will turn itself off to save battery power if it is inactive for 10 minutes without connecting to Bluetooth, or for 20 minutes while connected to Bluetooth.

When turning off, the Finch will play a disconnecting sound and the beak LED will be red. The Finch will also show its battery status using the tail LEDs.

Next, install the BlueBird Connector. This software will handle the Bluetooth connection with the Finch. You must run it in the background while you are programming the Finch in Java.

Download the BirdBrain Java Library.

Open the BlueBird Connector. It will begin finding the robots around you. Click on the name of the robot that matches the initials on your device. The initials are the three letters that flash before the # symbol.

When you connect to your Finch, you will hear a series of tones, and the robot will show up in the purple “CONNECTED” section of the BlueBird Connector.

You can minimize the BlueBird Connector, but you should leave it open the entire time that you are using the Finch. If at any point you have trouble with your robot, you should come back to the BlueBird Connector, check your Bluetooth connection, and reconnect if necessary. You can also check your battery level in the BlueBird Connector.

Create a new Java Project in Eclipse.

Name the project finch.

Eclipse will ask you if you want to create module-info.java. Click Don’t Create.

Next, right-click on the new project and select Import.

Select File System under General. Then click Next.

Click Browse and navigate to the BirdBrainJava folder. Make sure to click the checkbox next to the folder name to select all of the files. Then click Finish. If Eclipse asks you to overwrite files, answer Yes.

Eclipse will copy six files into your project: the classes for the Finch, Hummingbird and micro:bit (Robot.java, Finch.java, Hummingbird.java, and Microbit.java) and two test files (FinchTest.java and HummingbirdTest.java). Select these files in Eclipse and drag them into the src folder.

Greenfoot is a version of Java that includes visual tools. Its goal is to make it easy for beginners to incorporate graphics into their programs.

This module contains information about using Greenfoot with Finch 2. If you are using any other development environment for Java, please use the the Download Software section instead.

This project demonstrates one way to use the Finch with Greenfoot. It contains sliders to control the Finch lights and visual displays of Finch sensors. You can move and turn the Finch using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

Use this blank project to create your own Greenfoot project with the Finch.

You can use all of the Finch methods described in the lessons and the library document. Use getFinch() to get the Finch object, and then use any Finch method. For example, use getFinch().getDistance() to find the distance from the Finch distance sensor to the closest object.