Compass Heading

Find which direction on a compass the Calliope mini is facing.

The Calliope mini measures the compass heading from 0 to 359 degrees with its magnetometer chip. Different numbers mean north, east, south, and west.

input.compassHeading();

Returns

• a number from 0 to 359 degrees, which means the compass heading. If the compass isn’t ready, it returns -1003.

Example

This program finds the compass heading and stores it in the degrees variable.

let degrees = input.compassHeading()

Example: compass

This program finds the compass heading and then shows a letter that means whether the Calliope mini is facing north (N), south (S), east (E), or west (W).

let degrees = 0
basic.forever(() => {
    degrees = input.compassHeading()
    if (degrees < 45) {
        basic.showIcon(IconNames.ArrowNorth)
    } else if (degrees < 135) {
        basic.showIcon(IconNames.ArrowEast)
    } else if (degrees < 225) {
        basic.showIcon(IconNames.ArrowSouth)
    } else if (degrees < 315) {
        basic.showIcon(IconNames.ArrowWest)
    } else {
        basic.showIcon(IconNames.ArrowNorth)
    }
})

Calibration

Every time you start to use the compass (for example, if you have just turned the Calliope mini on), the Calliope mini will start a calibrate compass (adjust itself). The calibration step will ask you to draw a fill pattern on the screen by tilting the Calliope mini.

If you are calibrating or using the compass near metal, it might confuse the Calliope mini.

input.onButtonEvent(Button.AB, input.buttonEventClick(), () => {
    input.calibrateCompass();
})

See also

acceleration, calibrate compass