DWA8 ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module Features a 10-bit ADC, Up to 8 GPIOs, 4 PWM Outputs, and More (Crowdfunding)

Espressif ESP8266 based ESP-01 module may now cost $3, but it’s limited to only two GPIOs, so a Dooao, a Chinese company based in Beijing, has decided to make a new ESP8266 module with more GPIOs, PWM signals, SPI, UART. and a 10-bit ADC.

Dooao_DWA8Dooao DWA8 module specifications:

  • SoC – Espressif Systems ESP8266 32-bit RISC processor @ 80 MHz with 120KB RAM (40KB usable), built-in 802.11 b/g/n support.
  • Wi-Fi – 802.112 b/g/n, STA/AP/STA+AP modes, WEP/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK security
  • Interfaces:
    • Up to 8x GPIOs
    • Up to 4x PWM
    • SPI (master & slave) up to 40MHz
    • UART with hardware FC up to 4Mbps
    • 1x channel 10bit ADC
  • Power supply – Single 3.3V  (2.8 to 3.6V)
  • Power consumption – Max: 70 mA @ 3.3V (230 mW); typical: 12mA; standby < 200 uA; “soft power off” < 10uA.
  • Dimensions – 27.13 x 17 x 2.3 mm (a bit larger than ESP-01)
  • Temperature Range – Operating: -40 °C to – 85 °C; storage -45 °C to 125 °C

The company will provide an “open SDK platform” (no details), and plans to release the schematics and PCB layout for the mode, but the latter does not also happen based on previous project (from other companies) on crowdfunding platforms. They are also working on Dooao Cloud services, and a corresponding API.

Dooao A8-X Demoboard with DWA8 Module
Dooao A8-X Demoboard with DWA8 Module

They’ve launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise at least $5,000 (fixed funding) for mass production. But before I go to the perks which are not 100% clear, let’s go to their Taoboa website where they are two products: DWA8 module (35 RMB ~ $5.7 US), and A8-X demoboard (58 RMB ~ $9.5 US) pictured above. DWA8 is the module featured in the Indiegogo campaign, and A8-X demoboard is a baseboard including DWA8 module, that’s not mentioned at all on Indiegogo.

Back to the perks… A $10 “Early bird” pledge will get you ” 1 DWA8 module +1 Baseboard and SDK and HDK”, and they have options with different quantities of baseboards and modules, up to $200 for 30 DWA8 modules, and two “free” baseboards. Shipping costs are not even mentioned at all either, and they did not bother talking about the delivery schedule either, so the whole campaign is quite messy. I would expect the $10 pledge to be DWA8 module + A8-X board as shown above, but it could also be A8 Wi-Fi module (squared module) that you’d have to solder to DWA8 board. If it’s indeed $10 for A8-X board, then they’ve probably forgot to include shipping costs. I’ve asked a private question on Indiegogo about the perks and shipping, and hopefully they’ll make things clearer soon. The campaign ends in January 2015, so there’s still plenty of time, and I’d dare to assume delivery should take place in February 2015.

Thanks to Paul for the tip.

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22 Replies to “DWA8 ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module Features a 10-bit ADC, Up to 8 GPIOs, 4 PWM Outputs, and More (Crowdfunding)”

  1. I love how you always investigate on the product. That’s why I really like this blog.
    I’m waiting for the answers you ‘might’ get because 10$ is something I would gamble on this kind of product.

  2. you can get all the gpios and adc on ALL of current modules, you just need to solder directly to the chip because they are not routed out

    and ADC is pretty useless, it doesnt work when radio is working (firmware uses this adc for calibration or something)

  3. > you can get all the gpios and adc on ALL of current modules, you just need to solder directly to the chip because they are not routed out

    Thanks god you don’t propose to open up a chip, put an ADC crystal inside and close it down ;-).

    > and ADC is pretty useless, it doesnt work when radio is working (firmware uses this adc for calibration or something)

    Not really a big surprise, even on AVR if you want to make a good ADC reading, you need to shutdown all the other hardware, schedule a reading, put CPU to sleep, and then let it be woken up by interrupt when ADC is done.

    But yeah, campaign seems to be shady, as expected. I now feel bad that I brought it to attention. Hope nobody’s blocking more than $10 on their card ;-).

  4. Well, I agree about it being shady but I’m really curious to see what comes out of this so I started sharing this link.
    I’d be curious to see how it goes, 5k is not much to reach and $20 is not a big economical involvement for most of us.

  5. IMO we should not support dodgy project. Even if the investement is tiny, people that want to be entrepreneur should learn how to be serious. And especially in crowdfunding, when you want a community to support you, you should at least answer the basics questions. This is why even if I’m really interrested by the idea, I won’t back the project.

  6. > IMO we should not support dodgy project.

    The problem is that it’s not always easy to see what projects are “dodgy” – there’re by now ~ hundreds of well-PRed “western” projects which collected $100Ks and didn’t deliver. Not excuse for this project, and the rule “if there’s no good PR, don’t go with it” is a nice basic heuristic. I use that too. Well, maybe once-in-lifetime exception with $10 on bet :-E

  7. @FergusL
    No answer. I guess they just considered Indiegogo as a selling platform, like Alibaba maybe, and they thought people would just buy. Seeing nobody was interested, they decided not to “waste their time”. It’s also possible nobody speaks English in that company.

  8. @cnxsoft
    We are working on the development and production, we will take care of to the attention of all the users to ensure the success of the project.

  9. @cnxsoft
    English is not my mother tongue, we understand the Indiagogo ways, also know us at the beginning of the project is difficult, through the contact with espressif, we have the biggest support, and also get more software information. But we are not a public relations team, we are a group of technology enthusiasts, so we did not have very good method to sell.

  10. @XavierChen
    Your English reads fine to me. Thanks for posting an update here, even though it’s quite late.
    Anyway, I’m looking forward to getting clarification on the Indiegogo page to find out exactly what’s included with the perks.

  11. @XavierChen
    Of course I want your demo board because on the paper it looks very nice! But you have to understand that people are a bit weary of fake/wrong crowdfunded project. Once you are clearer on your Indiegogo page, I’ll back your project.

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