5 ms·

I really don't see the point of the arduinos when you can buy an esp8266 that is arduino compatible (you can use the arduino IDE and sketches). You can get the

by SEJeff 10y ago

I really don't see the point of the arduinos when you can buy an esp8266 that is arduino compatible (you can use the arduino IDE and sketches). You can get the bare esp8266 chips for $1-$2 from aliexpress, or buy a tricked out one from adafruit (the huzzah) for $9. They have a full wifi stack, support micropython, etc. I think we're in a post-arduino age for microcontrollers. There are simply better options out there, of which the esp8266 is just one of the current better choices.

jpindar 10y ago
It's a brand name people recognize. And some of them don't realize they have options. I've heard stories of people who had built several Arduino projects, but when someone mentioned microcontrollers and working with embedded systems, responded with "what's a microcontroller?"
archimedespi 10y ago
The reason someone serious about embedded development would want to buy Arduino boards is that they're convenient Atmel-architecture microcontroller boards. The ESP8266 may be "arduino compatible", but a large number of those Arduino libraries running on it had to be rewritten. If you want convenience and ISA/peripheral-register compatibility with existing low-level Arduino code, you're locked in to atmegas unless you want to do some fun porting work ;)
- Animats 10y ago
  The next step up was the Arduino Due, which is a low-end ARM system supported by the Arduino toolchain. But it seems to have been retired. (Now I find this out. I built something on a Due because I needed more memory and CPU speed.)
  - archimedespi 10y ago
    It may be retired, but Sparkfun still sells it[1]. If you're looking for other faster microcontrollers with Arduino toolchain support, there's a bunch of stuff out there. See the Wikipedia page on non-atmega Arduino-supported boards: [2]. Additionally, if you're willing to learn how to use the ARM CMSIS HAL and write raw C++, there's the STM32 series of microcontrollers. Those also support Mbed, if you want to learn that instead (it's much easier than using CMSIS with C++, it's basically the equivalent of arduino for many 32-bit ARM microcontrollers). [1]- https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11589 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11589 [2]- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arduino_boards_and_compatible_systems#Non-ATmega_boards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arduino_boards_and_com...
ohitsdom 10y ago
I don't understand the comments that ESP8266's can replace Arduinos. Don't you still need to wire the ESP8266 to a microcontroller? I'm a hardware novice, and I love Arduinos. I'd appreciate any info to help me learn, seems like I'm missing something. To me the ESP8266 is a superior alternative to Arduino wifi shields, not the Arduino itself.
- mkarr 10y ago
  When the ESP8266s were first introduced, they came with a closed firmware that simply responded to AT commands over a serial port. To do anything with the chip, you had to have another micro controlling it. However, sometime after the hobbyist/maker market started to take notice of the devices, an SDK was released, allowing for code to be run natively on the devices without a separate micro. Nowadays, there are multiple options for running code on the devices. You can do it natively via C/C++ with the SDK, or you can try out one of the other firmwares that various parties have produced, like NodeMCU (Lua) or MicroPython. The chips are actually pretty damn powerful compared to the Atmega series micros used with the classic Arduinos. And cheap too. You can get a NodeMCU module that already has a voltage reg. and USB->UART controller on it for around $3. Very hard to beat.
- Renaud 10y ago
  While it is saved as a wifi module with a basic serial interface to be controlled from, The ESP8266 actually has a powerful microcontroller that can now easily be programmed using the Arduino IDE (and other stacks). There are different firmwares that allow programming in Lua, Basic, Javascript... or just compile directly from C/C++
- SEJeff 10y ago
  Nope, the esp8266 is a microcontroller featuring a 32-bit Tensilica Xtensa LX106 running at 80 MHz. It can be overclocked to 160 Mhz, but that sucks for power.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Also, don't you need weird hardware to drop the voltage and connect it to the PC? I've only managed to do anything with NodeMCU so far, which is basically ESP8266 glued to the aforementioned weird hardware.
alex_hitchins 10y ago
I don't think it's better, just different. There are things I'd use an Arduino clone for that wouldn't be achievable on an esp.
Sanddancer 10y ago
Depends on what you need. The ESP8266 has a lot of limitations depending on what you want to do. It doesn't have any internal memory, so is dependent on an external flash device. It only has a single adc channel, so if you're doing an sort of measurement operations, you'd need a breakout board of some sort. It requires an external clock crystal, again increasing the BOM. It's also not 5v tolerant, which is useful in some applications. There are definitely a lot more compelling micros out right now, but AVRs still have a lot of tricks up their sleeve that other micros can't meet yet.

by SEJeff 10y ago

jpindar 10y ago

It's a brand name people recognize. And some of them don't realize they have options. I've heard stories of people who had built several Arduino projects, but when someone mentioned microcontrollers and working with embedded systems, responded with "what's a microcontroller?"

archimedespi 10y ago

The reason someone serious about embedded development would want to buy Arduino boards is that they're convenient Atmel-architecture microcontroller boards. The ESP8266 may be "arduino compatible", but a large number of those Arduino libraries running on it had to be rewritten. If you want convenience and ISA/peripheral-register compatibility with existing low-level Arduino code, you're locked in to atmegas unless you want to do some fun porting work ;)

Animats 10y ago
The next step up was the Arduino Due, which is a low-end ARM system supported by the Arduino toolchain. But it seems to have been retired. (Now I find this out. I built something on a Due because I needed more memory and CPU speed.)
- archimedespi 10y ago
  It may be retired, but Sparkfun still sells it[1]. If you're looking for other faster microcontrollers with Arduino toolchain support, there's a bunch of stuff out there. See the Wikipedia page on non-atmega Arduino-supported boards: [2]. Additionally, if you're willing to learn how to use the ARM CMSIS HAL and write raw C++, there's the STM32 series of microcontrollers. Those also support Mbed, if you want to learn that instead (it's much easier than using CMSIS with C++, it's basically the equivalent of arduino for many 32-bit ARM microcontrollers). [1]- https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11589 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11589 [2]- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arduino_boards_and_compatible_systems#Non-ATmega_boards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arduino_boards_and_com...

ohitsdom 10y ago

I don't understand the comments that ESP8266's can replace Arduinos. Don't you still need to wire the ESP8266 to a microcontroller? I'm a hardware novice, and I love Arduinos. I'd appreciate any info to help me learn, seems like I'm missing something. To me the ESP8266 is a superior alternative to Arduino wifi shields, not the Arduino itself.

mkarr 10y ago
When the ESP8266s were first introduced, they came with a closed firmware that simply responded to AT commands over a serial port. To do anything with the chip, you had to have another micro controlling it. However, sometime after the hobbyist/maker market started to take notice of the devices, an SDK was released, allowing for code to be run natively on the devices without a separate micro. Nowadays, there are multiple options for running code on the devices. You can do it natively via C/C++ with the SDK, or you can try out one of the other firmwares that various parties have produced, like NodeMCU (Lua) or MicroPython. The chips are actually pretty damn powerful compared to the Atmega series micros used with the classic Arduinos. And cheap too. You can get a NodeMCU module that already has a voltage reg. and USB->UART controller on it for around $3. Very hard to beat.
Renaud 10y ago
While it is saved as a wifi module with a basic serial interface to be controlled from, The ESP8266 actually has a powerful microcontroller that can now easily be programmed using the Arduino IDE (and other stacks). There are different firmwares that allow programming in Lua, Basic, Javascript... or just compile directly from C/C++
SEJeff 10y ago
Nope, the esp8266 is a microcontroller featuring a 32-bit Tensilica Xtensa LX106 running at 80 MHz. It can be overclocked to 160 Mhz, but that sucks for power.
TeMPOraL 10y ago
Also, don't you need weird hardware to drop the voltage and connect it to the PC? I've only managed to do anything with NodeMCU so far, which is basically ESP8266 glued to the aforementioned weird hardware.

alex_hitchins 10y ago

I don't think it's better, just different. There are things I'd use an Arduino clone for that wouldn't be achievable on an esp.

Sanddancer 10y ago

Depends on what you need. The ESP8266 has a lot of limitations depending on what you want to do. It doesn't have any internal memory, so is dependent on an external flash device. It only has a single adc channel, so if you're doing an sort of measurement operations, you'd need a breakout board of some sort. It requires an external clock crystal, again increasing the BOM. It's also not 5v tolerant, which is useful in some applications. There are definitely a lot more compelling micros out right now, but AVRs still have a lot of tricks up their sleeve that other micros can't meet yet.