One of the advantages of the new ESP32-S2 processor is that it offers a USB OTG interface. So far few boards took advantage of the extra interface, and one of the rare ones is Cucumber ESP32-S2 board with a USB-C OTG port.
There’s another option with a slightly unusual form factor thanks to Stetel Things’ Maia ESP32-S2 development board with the typical USB-C port for power and debugging, plus a micro USB OTG port, and a small prototyping area.
Maia ESP32-S2 development board specifications:
- SoC – Espressif System ESP32-S2 single-core LX7 processor at up to 240 MHz with an ultra-low-power (ULP) RISC-V CPU, 320KB RAM
- Storage – 4MB flash
- Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 with on-board PCB antenna
- USB
- 1x Micro USB OTG port for data and power
- 1x USB-C port for programming (virtual UART) and power
- Expansion
- 24-pin I/O header
- “Playground” prototyping area with 4x 18 through holes including columns for GND and 3.3V
- Debugging – Console via USB-C port, 6-pin 2.54mm pitch JTAG header
- Misc – Dual-use user/power button, Boot button, RTC clock, RGB LED, power/charging LED
- Power Supply
- 5V via micro USB or USB Type-C port
- Unpopulated 2-pin battery connector for 3.7V LiPo battery, plus integrated Lithium battery charger IC
- Dimensions – 5.9 x 4.9 cm
- Weight – 13.6 grams
The board should be programmable with the ESP-IDF SDK, Arduino, MicroPython, but the developer did not provide examples for those, and instead provided instructions for ESP RainMaker and DFU web flasher in a Github repository.
Maia ESP32-S2 development board is sold for $19.70 on Tindie, and will soon be available on Amazon DE/IT as well.A plastic enclosure kit with lithium battery, power button, micro USB port, and light-guides for RGB and charging LED is also in the works, but not for sale just yet.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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I find that it’s a pretty good idea to include the prototyping area. It’s not that common anymore nowadays but can help, even to slightly adapt the board when a few extra components are needed (e.g. optocoupler, MOSFET, TRIAC, etc). I think the should have made half of it with a 1.27mm pitch in order to solder SOIC, though, as many chips are available in this form factor, and larger ones can still be adapted (bend the pins and solder them flat). This area would possibly have been better placed close to the GPIOs but it’s not easy as everyone… Read more »