The Adafruit CRICKIT for micro:bit is a very nifty add-on. With it, you can extend the capabilities of the micro:bit to include additional inputs/outputs, capacitive touch input, servo control and DC motor control.

These functions can be accessed via the Arduino IDE with the following tutorials:

• Micro:bit with Arduino
• Introducing Adafruit Crickit

This guide presents using CRICKIT functions via MicroPython. MicroPython was started by author Damien George to allow Python programming on microcontrollers like the micro:bit. CircuitPython is a fork of MicroPython that Adafruit started to make Python on microcontrollers easier for beginners. Unfortunately, CircuitPython will not fit onto the limited memory of the micro:bit. 

There are significant differences between MicroPython and CircuitPython. This tutorial focuses on using MicroPython on micro:bit with an Adafruit CRICKIT robotics controller attached.

Parts

A breadboard and some parts are used to demonstrate certain functions - feel free to only get the parts you may want to use for your project.