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> Please use a Wemos D1 Mini It's actually the ESP8266 chip inside that you're after. It runs Arduino code, although you must tell your IDE you're targeting a

by Alupis 10y ago

> Please use a Wemos D1 Mini It's actually the ESP8266 chip inside that you're after. It runs Arduino code, although you must tell your IDE you're targeting an ESP8266 (it has special libraries for wifi use, etc...). ESP8266's come on many boards, including the bare-boned ESP-01 [1], which is even cheaper at $1.53 per each. The only problem with ESP8266's, is they are very power hungry, requiring 500mA-1A for doing wifi related things. Although, when not using WiFi, you can shut down the antenna and save on power consumption. [1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP8266-Serial-Esp-01-WIFI-Wireless-Transceiver-Module-Send-Receive-LWIP-AP-STA/32278773466.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP8266-Serial-Esp-01-WIFI-W...

JosephRedfern 10y ago
1A? Do you have a source for that? It could have an impact for a project I'm working on. Most documentation I've seen seems to state a typical max draw of <250mA (for instance, http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133 http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133) -- I guess there will be some spikes, but I was never aware of anything approaching 1A.
- Alupis 10y ago
  The 1A figure might be more of a precaution - can't find anything "official" from Espressif (ESP8266 manufacturer), although most people on forums seem to agree 500mA is as low as you want to go. Seems you can expect ~250-300mA to be normal when using wifi. Anecdotally, I've experienced reliability issues when running off 500mA, but that could just be my setup + accessories. It's funny how it works - last time I went down the rabbit hole on the tail end of a late night session, everything pointed at 1A being considered "safe", and anything lower was "iffy". If you put the chip into any of the Deep Sleep modes, power consumption goes way down to just a few mA's, making battery operation much easier. http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?p=57788#p57788 http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?p=57788#p57788
- StavrosK 10y ago
  I use a PSU with an ammeter and it shows around 250mA in everyday use.
- michaelt 10y ago
  Here's a graph of current consumption of an esp8266, which I measured with a 2 ohm resistor between my power supply and an rt9013 regulator https://imgur.com/a/c30mL https://imgur.com/a/c30mL (At one point I de-soldered the status LEDs from the module - I can't remember if this was before or after that) There are several spikes approaching 500mA - and you might see even higher current consumption if you're further from your wifi AP, or if you have extra components, a different voltage regulator, or different capacitors. Many beginners only have a basic multimeter (if that) so they might have a hard time diagnosing problems caused by spikes in current consumption. So I think it's good for beginners to get at least a 500mA power supply, even though the average on state current consumption only hovers around 70mA.
blhack 10y ago
>It's actually the ESP8266 chip inside that you're after. No, it isn't, just like most arduino users aren't actually "after" the Atmega328p.
- Alupis 10y ago
  > No, it isn't, just like most arduino users aren't actually "after" the Atmega328p. Every one of the boards we're discussing has an ESP8266... the specific board itself doesn't matter really. You found the chip you need, now you just find the board that has the features you want. In the case of the arduino, there's a plethora of microcontrollers they can have, ATmega328p being only one of them. The microcontroller on the arduino dictates it's maximum capabilities - for example, ATmega328p only has one set of hardware serial TX/RX pins, whereas the ATmega2560 has two sets. In the case of boards/modules built using the ESP8266, the board/module dictates the maximum capabilities. It either exposes GPIO ports or it does not, some boards build in power regulators or battery connectors, or other nice-to-have-features that do not exist in the ESP8266 chip itself. It's the same chip under the hood. So, yes, in this case, it is indeed the ESP8266 chip you're after.
  - blhack 10y ago
    >So, yes, in this case, it is indeed the ESP8266 chip you're after. No, it isn't. You're after a chip with wifi, that you can program using the arduino IDE, that has a programmer on it, and that has the pins broken out. The thing people want here is the Atmos D1, which uses a ESP8266 to cover some of those wants, and itself to cover more of them. When I am buying, for instance, a bean (basically an arduino variant with a BLE radio on it), I am not buying an AVR. Bluntly: I spend about 100% of my time working from a hackerspace, and a good chunk of that time is spent teaching people to program microcontrollers. The D1 is by far the best ESP8266-based board I have seen so far. THAT is the thing that people have been wanting, the ESP part of it is irrelevant to people. They want something that does the things I outlined. The ESP just happens to do half of them. If tomorrow, wemos swapped that chip out for an identical one, people would STILL want the D1, and wouldn't be missing the ESP at all.

by Alupis 10y ago

JosephRedfern 10y ago

1A? Do you have a source for that? It could have an impact for a project I'm working on. Most documentation I've seen seems to state a typical max draw of <250mA (for instance, http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133 http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133) -- I guess there will be some spikes, but I was never aware of anything approaching 1A.

Alupis 10y ago
The 1A figure might be more of a precaution - can't find anything "official" from Espressif (ESP8266 manufacturer), although most people on forums seem to agree 500mA is as low as you want to go. Seems you can expect ~250-300mA to be normal when using wifi. Anecdotally, I've experienced reliability issues when running off 500mA, but that could just be my setup + accessories. It's funny how it works - last time I went down the rabbit hole on the tail end of a late night session, everything pointed at 1A being considered "safe", and anything lower was "iffy". If you put the chip into any of the Deep Sleep modes, power consumption goes way down to just a few mA's, making battery operation much easier. http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?p=57788#p57788 http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?p=57788#p57788
StavrosK 10y ago
I use a PSU with an ammeter and it shows around 250mA in everyday use.
michaelt 10y ago
Here's a graph of current consumption of an esp8266, which I measured with a 2 ohm resistor between my power supply and an rt9013 regulator https://imgur.com/a/c30mL https://imgur.com/a/c30mL (At one point I de-soldered the status LEDs from the module - I can't remember if this was before or after that) There are several spikes approaching 500mA - and you might see even higher current consumption if you're further from your wifi AP, or if you have extra components, a different voltage regulator, or different capacitors. Many beginners only have a basic multimeter (if that) so they might have a hard time diagnosing problems caused by spikes in current consumption. So I think it's good for beginners to get at least a 500mA power supply, even though the average on state current consumption only hovers around 70mA.

blhack 10y ago

>It's actually the ESP8266 chip inside that you're after. No, it isn't, just like most arduino users aren't actually "after" the Atmega328p.

Alupis 10y ago
> No, it isn't, just like most arduino users aren't actually "after" the Atmega328p. Every one of the boards we're discussing has an ESP8266... the specific board itself doesn't matter really. You found the chip you need, now you just find the board that has the features you want. In the case of the arduino, there's a plethora of microcontrollers they can have, ATmega328p being only one of them. The microcontroller on the arduino dictates it's maximum capabilities - for example, ATmega328p only has one set of hardware serial TX/RX pins, whereas the ATmega2560 has two sets. In the case of boards/modules built using the ESP8266, the board/module dictates the maximum capabilities. It either exposes GPIO ports or it does not, some boards build in power regulators or battery connectors, or other nice-to-have-features that do not exist in the ESP8266 chip itself. It's the same chip under the hood. So, yes, in this case, it is indeed the ESP8266 chip you're after.
- blhack 10y ago
  >So, yes, in this case, it is indeed the ESP8266 chip you're after. No, it isn't. You're after a chip with wifi, that you can program using the arduino IDE, that has a programmer on it, and that has the pins broken out. The thing people want here is the Atmos D1, which uses a ESP8266 to cover some of those wants, and itself to cover more of them. When I am buying, for instance, a bean (basically an arduino variant with a BLE radio on it), I am not buying an AVR. Bluntly: I spend about 100% of my time working from a hackerspace, and a good chunk of that time is spent teaching people to program microcontrollers. The D1 is by far the best ESP8266-based board I have seen so far. THAT is the thing that people have been wanting, the ESP part of it is irrelevant to people. They want something that does the things I outlined. The ESP just happens to do half of them. If tomorrow, wemos swapped that chip out for an identical one, people would STILL want the D1, and wouldn't be missing the ESP at all.