esp8266 News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by Sponsored Post - 6 Comments

A comparison of ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3 and ESP8266 modules (Sponsored)

Ai-Thinker has recently launched the ESP-S3-12K module based on the ESP32-S3 chip. It supports 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5 LE. The ESP32-S3 wireless chip is equipped with an Xtensa 32-bit LX7 dual-core processor clocked at up to 240 MHz, and features AI instructions, as well as a reliable security encryption engine, specially built for the AIoT market. ESP-32-S3 series modules bring many benefits to designers with support for Bluetooth Long Range mode, plenty of resources with 512 KB SRAM (TCM), 45 programmable GPIO pins, and rich communication interfaces. The ESP-32-S3 series modules can also handle high-speed Octal SPI flash with higher capacities, as well as off-chip PSRAM. So, what are the differences between the new ESP32-S3 module and on-sale ESP32-C3 and the ESP8266 series modules? Let’s find out. Please contact us by email for more information or if you’d like to purchase our new ESP32-S3 modules, or the previous ESP32-C3 […]

December 15, 2021December 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

RIDEN RD6012P USB and WiFi DC power supply connects to your PC or smartphone

Bench DC power supplies are usually adjusted with some buttons and rotary encoders, but RIDEN RD6012P DC power supply can be controlled from your PC via USB, and there’s RD6012P-W model that adds a WiFi module to adjust parameters from a smartphone running Android or iOS. Besides the “smart” functions, the bench power supply supports 0V to 60V voltage range and up to 12A current for a maximum of 720W output power and comes with an HD color display with 5 digits for each voltage, current, and power measurement, and a setup menu. RIDEN RD6012P(-W) power supply specifications: Display – 2.4-inch color HD display with adjustable brightness Host interface – Micro USB port and optional WiFi module (fitted to RD6012P-W model) Input voltage – 7 – 70.00V with 0.01V resolution, ±(1% + 5 digits) accuracy Output voltage – 0 – 60.000V with 0.001V resolution, ±(0.5‰ + 4 digits) accuracy Output […]

November 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Ikea PM2.5 air quality sensor’s ESP8266 hack adds WiFi, MQTT, and Tasmota support

Ikea VINDRIKTNING PM2.5 air quality sensor functionality can be augmented with an ESP8266 WiFi board or module, and open-source firmware adding MQTT, or the popular Tasmosta firmware for more features. Out of the box, Ikea air quality sensor simply shows green (good), yellow (ok), and red (not good) colors to indicate the level of pollution with PM2.5 levels. But Sören Beye (Hypfer), who also happens to have developed Valetudo firmware for smart vacuum cleaners, has added a Wemos D1 Mini board to his sensor and developed open-source firmware with MQTT support. You’ll need to open the air quality sensor, and solder three wires between the ESP8266 board and the 5V, GND, and Tx (data) pin from the Ikea VINDRIKTNING mainboard. After flashing the firmware, you still get the original LED indicator plus PM 2.5 air quality data sent over MQTT and WiFi. The update system supports Home Assistant Autodiscovery with […]

November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by Sponsored Post - 15 Comments

ESP8266 modules are still selling by the millions (Sponsored)

The ESP8266 Series WiFi modules were designed by Ai-Thinker in 2014. Since its launch, it has been widely welcomed by customers around the world due to its high cost-effectiveness and powerful performance. Even with the launch of the ESP32 a few years ago, the demand for ESP8266 has not abated, with so far, the sales volume in 2021 exceeding 30 million units with the ESP-01S/ ESP-07/ESP-12F/ESP-12S being the most popular ESP8266 modules. ESP8266 supports the standard IEEE802.11 b/g/n protocol with a complete TCP/IP protocol stack. Users can use this module to add networking functions to existing equipment or build an independent network controller. ESP8266s are high-performance wireless SoCs that provide maximum practicability at the lowest cost and provide unlimited possibilities for Wi-Fi functions to be embedded in other systems. ESP8266 Characteristics Built-in Tensilica L106 ultra-low power consumption 32-bit micro MCU, main frequency supports 80 MHz and 160 MHz, supports RTOS. Built-in 10 bit […]

August 5, 2021August 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Board for 60 ESP-01 modules that update firmware from Github, mine “Duino Coins”

When I first saw the large ESP-01 V1.0 board on Facebook, I thought it was designed to speed up firmware updates of up to 60 ESP-01 modules. The developer, Thanormsin, just explained it would take 5 to 24V DC input to power all ESP8266 attached to it. It looks cool to have so many But there was no PC interface to update the firmware, so it did not make sense to me, even if it could be used for OTA firmware updates, as the first time, one would have to manual update the firmware. So I discussed with Thanormsin, and he explains to me his initial arrangement was a cable mess. That is why he designed a board to make it neater, and easier to manage. Each ESP-01 module can update firmware from the Internet, more especially from Github, as each time a new firmware version is uploaded to Github, […]

April 24, 2021April 24, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

AI-Thinker introduces 5 ESP32-C3 modules pin compatible with ESP8266 & ESP32 modules

ESP32-C3 is the first RISC-V wireless SoC from Espressif Systems, and at the time of the initial announcement promised to cost about the same as ESP8266 but adds support for Bluetooth 5.0 LE besides 2.4 GHz WiFi, and retain software compatibility through the ESP-IDF framework. We were also told the goal was to provide ESP8266 compatible modules, and AI-Thinker has just announced five new ESP32-C3 modules compatible with earlier ESP8266 & ESP32 modules as shown in the table below. The table above is quite low resolution but that’s the best I could obtain from the company… It’s also a complete mess, not showing all alternative ESP8266 or mistaken in board sizes. So I’ll try to give a short summary of differentiating features and equivalent ESP8266/ESP32 modules: ESP32-C3F is meant to replace ESP-12F with a 24 x 16 mm form factor. It does add an IPEX connector, besides the PCB antenna. […]

April 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

The Axon platform offers WiFi & LoRa IoT messaging in a compact form factor (Crowdfunding)

Qortex (Amine Mehdi Mansouri) has developed the WiFi & LoRa IoT messaging platform to allow devices to communicate wirelessly via serial messages. The solution also includes a wireless serial port and 4 digital outputs. The tiny Axon board is based on ESP8266 WiFi SoC and can be augmented with a LoRa module for a longer range, and the solution integrates with the Axon cloud for data visualization in the cloud. There’s also a HAT expansion board for Raspberry Pi compatibility. Axon board specifications: Wireless module – ESP12-S ESP8266 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 module USB – USB Type-C port for power and programming via CP2102 Expansion – 2x 6-pin header with GPIOs, UART, 5V, 3.3V, and GND Misc – Status LED, Reset button, USB/MCU (UART) selection switch Power Supply 5V input via USB-C port 3.3V/600mA LDO PTC fuse, reverse polarity protection, ESD protection Dimensions – 30 x 25 mm The board […]

April 1, 2021April 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Tiny Tri-color E-Ink display for Wemos D1 Mini board sells for $10

tri color E-Ink display for Wemos-D1 mini ESP8266 board

Wemos D1 Mini is one of my favorites ESP8266 boards with a cheap price, tiny form factor, and support for stackable expansion boards. Lolin has now launched a small 2.13-inch tri-color E-Ink display that is compatible with D1 mini, D1 mini Pro, and D32 Pro boards, and sells for just $9.90 plus shipping. Specifications: 2.13-inchTri-Color (red/black/white) ePaper/e-Ink display with 212×104 resolution Driver IC – Good Display UC8151D Connection to D1 mini, D1 mini Pro, D32 Pro via 10-pin connector Debugging – 8-pin unpopulated header with EPD signals (SPI, Reset, Busy…) 3.3V, GND You may wonder why the PCB reads “2.13 INCH e-Paper 250×122”, while the resolution is 212×104. That’s because the company probably reused the PCB from their 2.13-inch black and white e-Paper display with 250×122 resolution (IL3897 driver). The display can be programmed with Arduino using LOLIN_EPD, Adafruit_GFX, and Adafruit_BusIO libraries as explained in the Wiki. You’ll find three […]