mb-detect 1.0.3

A smart serial port detector for BBC micro:bit

Micro:bit Detector

A lightweight Python utility to automatically detect and select BBC micro:bit devices connected via USB.

It handles cross-platform port detection (Windows/Mac/Linux) and robustly manages scenarios where multiple micro:bits are connected simultaneously.

Features

• Auto-Detection: Automatically finds the correct serial port (COM3, /dev/ttyACM0, etc.).
• Multi-Device Support: Can detect multiple connected micro:bits.
• Smart Selection:
  • If 1 device is found, it selects it automatically.
  • If multiple are found, it can prompt the user to choose one.
• Metadata: Retrieves Serial Numbers to distinguish between identical devices.

Installation

pip install mb_detect

Usage

1. The Easiest Way (Single micro:bit)

If you only have one micro:bit plugged in, the tool will auto-select it and return the port string directly.

import mb_detect
import serial

# Returns the port name as a string (e.g., "COM3")
port = mb_detect.find()

if port:
    print(f"Connected to {port}") 
    # Example output: Connected to COM3
    
    # You can pass the variable directly to pyserial
    ser = serial.Serial(port, 115200)
else:
    print("No micro:bit found.")

2. Handling Multiple micro:bits (Interactive)

If you have multiple devices connected, the find() function will automatically pause the script and ask the user to choose one via the terminal input.

# If 2 micro:bits are plugged in, this will print:
#    ⚠️  Found 2 micro:bits:
#    [0] Port: COM3 | Serial: 9900...
#    [1] Port: COM4 | Serial: 9901...
#
#    Select device number (0-9): 

port = mb_detect.find()
print(f"User selected: {port}")

3. Non-Interactive Mode (Automation)

If you are running a script in the background (e.g., a robot or server) and cannot accept user input, use interactive=False. It will default to the first available micro:bit found.

# Will not ask for input; just picks the first one found
port = mb_detect.find(interactive=False)

4. Advanced: Get All Data

If you need the Serial Number or want to connect to all micro:bits at once, use the scan() function. This returns the full data (not just the string).

all_devices = mb_detect.scan()

# Returns a list of dictionaries:
# [
#   {'port': 'COM3', 'serial_number': '99000...', 'description': 'mbed Serial Port'},
#   {'port': 'COM4', 'serial_number': '99001...', 'description': 'mbed Serial Port'}
# ]

for dev in all_devices:
    print(f"Found device at {dev['port']} with serial {dev['serial_number']}")

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• pyserial

License

MIT