💬 ESP-LINK ESP8266 WeMos D1 Mini Adapter Board

[Nca78]

@NeverDie said:

@NeverDie

OK, I just noticed that it supports wi-fi direct (https://www.itead.cc/psf-a85.html), so perhaps that could accomplish it, since that doesn't require the lengthy wi-fi router dance.

No it doesn't. That's a claim that has been made by Espressif in the ESP8266 specs. But it has never been implemented...

Wearable ESP8266 (or 8285) is also a bold claim by iTead. The lowest power mode for radio transmit draws around 120mA, it's already over 50mA in receive mode. And if you use PWM, i2C (and I fail to see the use of wearable without them) or anything like that even when disabling the radio it will consume 15mA.

I have better hopes for the ESP32 as it's supposed to have some kind of very low power (for real) coprocessor to handle small tasks while the main cores will sleep. But it's still in development on the SDK side, and as seen with the "wifi direct" claim on the ESP8266 we should not take every promised feature from Espressif at face value ;)

[kalle]

@Nca78 Thanks for the explanation - and yes, I'm also still waiting for the ESP32

[scalz]

Hmm.. at Mysensors Team we already have our ESP32 LORA board :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

This is a LIPO charger, LORA board i did for ESP32 evaluation. With a nice LDO, I added a neopixel, and prefer bigger tactile switch :) same width as Nano32 but 1cm longer, so one row available on each side for breadboarding. ESP32 is a nice little beast :)

I have other stuff coming for esp32. i'll release ;)

[NeverDie]

@scalz
Will the ESP32 be capable of "ultra low power" in a real sense? Have you run any measurements?

[scalz]

imho, ultra low power is sub uA. Above, it's very low power :)

So, i'm not sure for ultra low power (depends also on strategy..), but very low power yes. I've not run any power consumption tests, focused on other parts. And the SDK is still not complete including the low power aspects. Some stuff is missing in ESP-IDF, but ready in Arduino, and vice versa. Docs are not complete yet, but looks good.
That said, ESP32 team is doing a great work! And Espressif is working on a revision of their sillicon die (there is an errata)...

[NeverDie]

@scalz
In that case, what's your definition of "very low power"?

[scalz]

lol, my very personal view, for battery operated devices:

• ultra low power : <= 1uA
• very low power : < 10uA
• low power : 100uA, not sure for this one :)

The same for the efficiency ;)

[NeverDie]

Will the ESP32 be able to remember its state (including all variable values) just prior to sleeping, like an atmega328p can, or like the ESP8266 do you have to explicitly store the state in flash before sleeping and then restore it upon waking up?

[scalz]

for more infos, easier to have a look at their docs but it's a lot smarter than esp8266.

[NeverDie]

@scalz
Fair enough. It's just that it's hard to know, as Nca78 points out, what parts of their documentation can be believed, and what parts are pure fantasy.

[NeverDie]

I notice Seeed Studio was selling the esp32 for $6.95, but it's presently backordered: https://www.seeedstudio.com/ESP-32S-Wifi-Bluetooth-Combo-Module-p-2706.html

Other seller are selling either the esp32 or the esp32 with an adapter board for 2-3x that amount. So, it's still early days until supply catches up with demand.

A few other things impress me about it:

1. it comes with Bluetooth Low Eenrgy,
2. 520kByte of SRAM.
3. Built in hardware support for 10 capacitive touch channels.
4. Apparently it comes with an RTC built-in
5. 240Mhz processor clock frequency
6. Two 10-bit DAC's. Quite a few 12-bit ADC's.

Sounds interesting!

[NeverDie]

@NeverDie

Which of the esp32 boards is the best one to buy? What I like about the Wemos board for the ESP8266 is that I can download a sketch without having to press any buttons on the board itself. Is there an esp32 board that works like that also?

[scalz]

yeah, it has nice specs ;)

which board to order ? Mine :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
I'm kidding, I don't really have idea on this. I made mine..and am waiting for different pcb variant now :)

But I firstly ordered a Nano32 which I like. You can have pinheader on each side of the board when breadboarding. You can't with the official Espressif board which is too large.
There is lot of esp32 board released. But all have the first ic revision of course.

[NeverDie]

@scalz said:

yeah, it has nice specs ;)

which board to order ? Mine :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
I'm kidding, I don't really have idea on this. I made mine..and am waiting for different pcb variant now :)

But I firstly ordered a Nano32 which I like. You can have pinheader on each side of the board when breadboarding. You can't with the official Espressif board which is too large.
There is lot of esp32 board released. But all have the first ic revision of course.

Uh, "first ic revision"? I haven't followed esp32 at all, obviously. Was there later a second ic revision? i.e. are all the boards currently out there saddled with obsolete ic's?

[scalz]

yes Espressif has released an Errata doc, some issues related to silicon die ic. Minor issue, depending of doing what with it.
I read the fixed version should be available at beginning of next year.

[NeverDie]

@scalz
Thanks! , I see that the next revision of the silicon is scheduled for February 2017: http://esp32.de/eco_and_workarounds_for_bugs_in_esp32_en.pdf
I'm in no rush. I'll wait until it's deemed ready for prime-time.

[NeverDie]

I've tested the board, and it works fine.

[NeverDie]

I added some photos of the lateset board version.

This project is now finished. :smile:

[NeverDie]

In case anyone is interested, I received my D1 Mini's directly from Wemos, and they are now marked directly on them as version 2.1.0:

[fets]

@NeverDie did you opened a dispute regarding your false wemos D1 V2 on aliexpress cause I have the same situation with the same seller.
Did you solve the issue ?
Thanks