It is wonderful of you to take the time and pain, (and generosity) to make this video, saving all of us, out here, the time and money, to buy and test these devices, and learn what they can and cant do, the hard way. Thank you sir, sincerely.
watched lots of esp videos already and this one year old one is still the most useful for the beginners! (an update mentioning about the powerful and newer ESP 32 would make it even more perfect. :-)
+Andreas Spiess Yeah i can get like that. New bit of gear or tech and I get absorbed by it until i have a good grasp . LOL I have a ESP8266 home automation project waiting on a part , but soon I will be making use of some of your earlier ESP videos to have ESP 01 and all its sensors in I2C buss .
in my projects I prefer to use a pure ESP 12 module, without any support board, and soldering wires directly to the module, make things even more cheap ;-) just using a USB to serial converter and supplying a good and clean 3.3v voltage.
@c0r0y, Yes, a board and voltage converter and the circuitry for the USB interface. Difference price about $2, not a big deal. But for sure it takes more space and power, and that can be of importance if You are housing it in a small box with battery.
Hi Andreas, thanks again a very good video, I am using the NodeMCU from LoLin and it is so easy to use with the Arduino IDE. I have just ordered the NodeMCU Base, thanks for the tip!
Hi Andreas - Just a quick thank you for your very informative and explanatory video. I only watched it as I was passing and I have learnt a great deal about the two nodemcu boards that I have and the one that I will buy in future (with the prototype board from Lolin). Dankeshurn. Joe :¬)
Cool Video, over the time, I seem to have collected more then my share of these little gadgets, one i serving me as a electronic thermometer, and others are simply toys for experimenting with when boredom overcomes me...
problem with these boards and some small arduino boards is that the can often fail on 12v supplys as its at the limit of the small regulator, using them in a vehicle with the 14v car supply (yes thats right, cars are 14v with the engine running!) they often die easily
This is quite obvious as (14-3.3)V*0.1A = 1.07 Watt *90 C/W = 96 C. So, the regulator heats up to at least 96 C over ambient temperature. If you connect anything else to the board, the temperature will be even higher because the current is higher. You can avoid this easily by putting a resistor in line with the plus wire. The resistor could be e.g. 60 Ohm. With 0.1A current it will reduce the input voltage by 60 *0.1=6 volts. Then, the resistor will dissipate 6V*0.1A = 0.6 W and the regulator the rest.
Dear Andreas, your videos are always excellent. One idea I had watching your ESP8266 comparison is that the Witty Cloud Module still has still one advantage for beginners that are not so familiar with soldering. If you want to work in low power scenarios but are not abled to do the fine soldering of a naked 12F (like me) a Witty Cloud Module could be used. In this scenario I would remove the RGB-LED with a tong and I think the Pins GPIO12, GPIO13 and GPIO15 could be used then as normal input Pins. For a scenario powered with AA-Cells I would also desolder the voltage regulator and use a HX7333. Am I correct with these thoughts?
Please be careful with the Witty Cloud Development board, Andreas. You state that the bottom part can be used to program a breakout boards. But the USB cable's Vcc (5+ volts) is passed directly up to the Vcc pin for the upper board. The Witty has this header pin connected to a linear voltage regulator on the top board and not connected directly to the Vcc pin of the 8266. I have a collection of breakout boards that connect Vcc directly to the Vcc pin of the 8266 expecting that the circuit is providing well regulated 3.3v power. You would likely fry any ESP8266 chip on a breakout board that is directly connected to the Witty's programmer. BY the way. Love most of your content.
Thanks for the hint. I do not use the bottom PCB for other uses than the Witty board. I have other USB to Serial adapters where I exactly know what they do...
This was a good one. I still don't know the significance of NodeMCU, but I'll figure it out eventually. This video raised a good point about a board I was considering... the sensors & leds are hard wired, taking up valuable pins.
NodeMCU was the first development environment for ESP8266 (except the native Espressif one). It uses LUA as language. They delevoped a board with an ESP module plus all necessary parts to easily program these modules (USB to serial converter, flash signalling). Then the Arduino IDE was enabled to program the ESPs. Because of the origin, the name of the board was not changed. So, if you want to have a hassle free development board, buy a NodeMCU board. Then you can decide whether you use Arduino IDE or NodeMCU development environment to program. You can switch forth and back, because each environment deletes everything in the module before it starts with its programming.
I wasn't aware I could switch back and forth. I actually thought the the "node" part of the name referred to the board, not the environment. Lots to learn yet. I am looking at a couple of items on FastTech for starters. I am looking at one of the NodeMCU boards, a Witty board (a pretty witty name), and they have an ATTiny USB board that is very very tiny. I have to start somewhere, and I might as well start connected! I appreciate your series.
+fatih berk muslu Sorry for that. I got it also only last week. I think, the Wemos D1 can be used as a "normal" ESP8266 board, no problem. As I said, it is just not, what it is intended to do: Arduino compatible. So, your expense is not lost. You just overspend a little because a D1 mini has more or less the same functions.
Hi Andreas. Thank you for your excellent videos! Now a year later, wich ESP8266 board would you recommend today? Or would you go for the ESP32? Thanks.
Hello Andreas, I would like to know a bit more about the second board on the far left in the miniature of the video, the esp8266 chip directly soldered on the pcb , It appears to be more breadboard friendly ! Thank You for your videos :-)
Here is a hint how to make any NodeMCU board breadboard friendly. This works for ESP32 boars as well, of course. I simply use two breadboars and remove one of the power rails of one of them. The two bradboards can then be combined to be covered by a NodeMCU board. I try to add a link to a photo... not sure whether RUclips allows to place this link: www.dropbox.com/s/tmtqggk0bzvfykh/2018-03-20%2012.27.34.jpg?dl=0
You are right. I do not like it very much because it is not very stable to put it away. But one day I will build one with a sheet of something below it to fix the two breadboards.
Andreas, as you know the Arduino IDE with the package_esp8266com_index.json has some nice examples and one of them I find really interesting. The CaptivePortal example, maybe you could enlighten us as I could only find one example on RUclips (from AReResearch).
+Javier Palla Lorden Looked now at this captive portal. Unfortunately, internet protocols are not my strength. So, this will not be on my list for the near future. Sorry!
Nice instructional video. I was confused about the right esp8266 to use on my next project (word clock) and now I'm inclined to use the wemos or nodemcu v3. Which one do you prefer? I red that the last board (two parts with a ldr on top) have a poor wifi reception if you use the bottom board (maybe some shielding of the bottom PCB).
+Sam C I have no preference other than the differences mentioned in the video. I did not do any tests with the Witty board. If you watched the video, you know, why.
Interesting video. However, I noticed an error at 3:30s (ruclips.net/video/YQadLyBwz3M/видео.htmlm30s ) where you say the D1 mini makes all GPIO pins available. None of the connectors opposite the aerial on the esp8266 module are brought out to pins on the D1 mini. These include GPIO9 and GPIO10 as well as SPI bus pins. Also, you contrast DOIT and Lolin boards and at 5:43 are purportedly showing the DOIT board but it has Lolin written on the board which leaves me confused. I wasn't sure whether this meant DOIT is one version of a Lolin board or something else.
+Ken Taylor You are the first discovered my mistake with hte boards! Thank you! There are two boards available. One from Lolin and the other from Doit. I put two annotations in the video where I mixed the pictures. Concerning the pins: I said, that it has all NodeMCU pins. The nodeMCU buards use different pin definitions (D0 to D10) than the ESP modules. To my knowledge there is no definition availabde (Dxx) for GPIO9 and 10. However, I was able to address GPIO9 with my sketch using just the port number. GPIO10 did not react. Maybe you have different experience if you use these pins frequently. Maybe it depends also on the development environment.
Irgendwie kommt mir die stetig wachsende Größe der Boardsammlung bekannt vor. NodeMCU ist gerade das Board der Stunde. Einfach bequem. Für die ESP-01 hab ich einen neuen Oshboard-Programmer der noch nicht läuft. Sobald sich das ändert gen ich Dir Bescheid :D
+norm1124 Ich verwende ebenfalls dieses Board. Für's -01 hatte ich mal einen Progammer mit einem ATtiny gemacht. Dieses Board brauche ich allerdings im Moment nicht. Nachdem man jetzt in der IDE immer das NodeMCU Programmierverfahren wählen kann werde ich mir mal diesen Programmierer bauen. Der funktioniert ja i. d. R. sehr gut. Was ist das für ein Board, das Du verwendest?
+Andreas Spiess oshpark.com/shared_projects/3EzzOydZ Der Author hat es auf Twitter gepostet. 4$ inkl. Versand. Braucht einfach eine FTDI-Board als Adapter und scheinbar ist die Stromversorgung beim Author kritisch. Ich habe noch keine Ahnung woran es gerade scheitert, evtl. die Baudrate o.ä.
+norm1124 Habe schnell mit meinem ESP-01 versucht. Baudrate 115k und 921k laufen beide ohne Probleme. Habe auch keine externe Stromversorgung. Hast Du schon mal versucht, die Program Taste zu drücken, bevor du dem Board Spannung gibst? Hintergrund: Wenn dein momentan im Modul vorhandener Sketch das WLAN braucht, reicht der Strom des FTDI nicht aus. Der ESP zieht dann fast 300 mA und er könnte in einen undefinieren Zustand kommen. Wenn Du GPIO0 vorher runter ziehst sollte das nicht passieren. Nur so eine Idee.
Hi Andreas, I love your videos, very good quality! I bought a few Lolin and D1 mini from Aliexpress but I can't get them to work with the Arduino IDE. I know they all use a CH340 for the USB connector but I don't manage to find a proper driver for it ! The boards do not appear in the list in the IDE Do you have a link to one that worked for you? Any platform is ok, Windows, Linux or Mac... Thanks so much in advance!
I use windows 10 and have no problems with the driver. But I am no more sure if I had to install one at the beginning. Check once in device manager if you see a unknown serial adaptor device. There, you should be able to install the device driver. I googled and found this link: www.arduined.eu/ch340-windows-8-driver-download/. My device driver also comes from wch.cn
i have exactly the same problem...i tried 10 usb cables and none doesnt work with wemos, but all works with arduino...i use windows 10 and 7 and have no luck all im getting is "Unknow device" in device manager...
but when board is powerd on usb it create some sort of wifi (AI-THINKER) i have wemos d1 mini and nodemcu esp2866 12-e v3 and with both boards is the same.... :(
+Idan Ben-moshe Both boards are very similar. The differences are described in the video (6:22 Lolin and 5:22 Doit). The text ois ok, just one picture is wrong. The CP2102 chip of the Doit is square, the CH340 is rectangular. So, they are easy to distinguish.
I have a Wemos mini. It has worked great. I use it with Blynk app to control via the cloud. My trouble now is I would like to add an Ultrasonic distance sensor to my project but the board does not support it! Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for all the great videos. They are very helpful
+Brian Fox You should be able to use pulseIn() which measures length of pulses. The command should also work on ESP, but I did not try. Otherwise you could try a while ("Echo pin is high") ; and read the micros() before and after this while. This could give at least a result and you have to test its accuracy.
+Andreas Spiess Well, I did not have any luck, so far! I tried this code as well which the author claims that it worked. I got a Serial.print of 0 Centimeter. However, I am not sure if that is because of the use of the sensor with the Wemos or the fact that he has wired the Vcc of the sensor to the 3V3 on the Wemos. My understanding is that the sensor would not work with a voltage that low. Anyway, if you have a link to a sketch that works with the HC-Sr04 and Wemos mini, it would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time and this is the link to what I have tried: www.14core.com/wiring-esp8266-nodemcu-with-hcsr04-ultrasonic-sensor/ Brian
+Brian Fox This is well possible, because the HC-SR04 is 5V rated and the ESPs rund on 3.3V. Your source was lucky. If you use the Wemos mini, you also have a 5V pin. If you put VCC of the HC.SR04 to that pin, this device should work, but you have to protect the input pin of your Wemos because usually, they do not like 5V. You can either use a level shifter like this one: www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Promotional-IIC-5-3V-system-compatible-with-the-I2C-level-shifter-module-the-sensor-module/834205_32425888659.html or like this one: www.hobbytronics.co.uk/schottky-logic-level-conversion. I quickly tested the second one with a Wemos mini and your sketchand it worked. (I replaced the defines with the D1/D2 pin description and used the nodeMcu 1.0 board definition)
+tablatronix I do not know. There are some rumors around. I do not use NodeMCU LUA, I use the Arduino IDE, and there is no official Arduino IDE extension. This extension is developed by some interested private persons.
Hello Mr Spiess, I have just ESP module shown in 1:11 as in video and no white adapter as shown in 2:08, any idea how to connect it to Arduino or breadboard without USB-UART converter using Arduino TX and RX pins as COM?
+Maciej Klimas The module you have has no serial interface. You can connect it to an arduino. But I think, you cannot program it this way because Aruinos usually have only one serial interface. And if you have a Mega with two interfaces you would need a program which transfers all trafic from one serial to the other and back. It is much, much easier to buy a really cheap USB-to-Serial adapter. A good one costs 2$ www.aliexpress.com/store/product/High-quality-FT232RL-FTDI-USB-3-3V-5-5V-to-TTL-Serial-Adapter-Module-for-Arduino/425591_32373474263.html It has to be 3.3V! Another problem with these boards is, that they do not fit into any breadboard, because they have 2mm between the pins. You have to solder cables directly to the pins. And you have manually to switch GPIO0 to program the chip. In my opinion, the easiest way to start with ESP8266 is to buy a NodeMCU module. It has all on board and usually they work fine.
+Andreas Spiess Thanks, I purchased it and Witty ESP as well, because I'm not sure I burned this one, LED isn't blinking but it was when I first connected it. Will be waiting for shipping and after I receive adapter I will test the one I got now and Witty can be used to continue if first will be really broken.
Hi Andreas, Thanks for the such an informative video. I have one question. I am right now confused between WeMos d1 min and NodeMCU board. On WeMos forum, people are saying that only WeMos d1 mini is an official board and NodeMCU board is a clone. But, in most of your and other videos, NodeMCU board is being used. Which board should i buy and from where? Links below :- WeMos Forum: forum.wemos.cc/topic/909/what-is-the-latest-version-of-the-wemos-d1-mini/5 WeMos D1 mini: www.aliexpress.com/store/product/D1-mini-Mini-NodeMcu-4M-bytes-Lua-WIFI-Internet-of-Things-development-board-based-ESP8266/1331105_32529101036.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.Oguzq9 NodeMCU: www.amazon.in/dp/B00UY8C3N0/ref=pd_luc_rh_sbs_01_02_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Thanks in advance.
NodeMCU is just a name without a manufacturer behind. There are a few boards available as pointed out in the video. The first who created such a board gave it the name. The same is true with the Wemos mini. Wemos created such a board, which is very similar to the NodeMCU, just smaller. Because the board was successful, others, like with the nodeMCU boards, started to copy. That is, how business is done in China. So, you can buy whatever you want. I have many different boards and did not find particular quality issues. If you want a small one, buy a Wemos mini like one, if you want a big one, a nodeMCU like one
Hi Andreas, I have a problem with my Wemos D1 mini board (it's a copy from Aliexpress): It's very nice and small and I can talk Lua to it via CoolTerm or ESPlorer. However , I can't get it to work in the Arduino IDE - all I get is: warning: espcomm_sync failed error: espcomm_open failed error: espcomm_upload_mem failed although I have dowloaded the correct board settings. Can you help me? Many thanks in advance!
I use the NodeMCU 1.0 board with 115200 (save) or 921600 (fast). And the ESP8266 Community version 2.3.0-rc2 Board definition file. I just tried, it works also with Wemos D1 R2 & Mini.
There are two completely different environments to work with the ESPs: The LUA and the Arduino IDE. If you use one or the other, they erase the flash completely. So, you do not need anything than just upload.
Yes, I know that, it just doesn't work. I did work fine with the Feather Huzzah board from Adafruit but not with my WeMos copy (I hadn't checked that it was missing the official label when I ordered it, my mistake). Anyway, I ordered an ''official' WeMos D1 mini board for Aliexpress, maybe it behaves differently.
Do you see the Serial connection in your IDE? It has the name USB-Serial CH340 in windows (check with device manager). Try also to reset the device when the IDE waits for upload (several trials). And make sure, that you have no other cables connected to your board pins. Does the ESP-12 blue LED flash when you connect the board to the serial? If it still does not work, it is probably defective.
+Andreas Spiess Thanks. I asked you because so far I have tried two nodemcu v2 boards: 1) it.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-NodeMCU-development-board-for-ESP-12E-from-ESP8266-esp-12E-Lua-IoT-programable-wifi/32357301146.html?adminSeq=221155680&shopNumber=1264329 2) it.aliexpress.com/item/Update-Industry-4-0-New-esp8266-NodeMCU-v2-Lua-WIFI-networking-development-kit-board-based-on/32358722888.html I program both with Arduino IDE. The first one works perfectly, while the second one does not connect to wifi. Since you also use Aliexpress a lot, I was hoping that you could share with me some products that you have tried.
+mark So, you had bad luck. About quality, I can say, that I am always prepared for devices which do not work. This is why I try to test them before I confirm (if I have the time). But I had only a few problems. I shared the link of my suppliers in th comment in the video, without "guarantee" that you get a good one ;-). So far, I had more problems with "non-compliance to stated specifications" than with qoality of products. In the next mailbag you will see, that I purchased ESP-07 "new version" boards where the supplier stated they have 4M flash. But in reality, they only had 1M.
+Andreas Spiess So far I had very good experiences with Aliexpress, but recently I have started to have some disappointments. Based on your experience, is it easy to receive a refund by stating that the device does not work properly? Are we required to send pictures and/or videos of the product?
+mark If you can prove teh things are physically defect it is easy. If they do not work as they should usually you end with a 50/50 agreement. If the supplier does not agree you can escalate it to aliexpress and the do a judgement. Your case has to be well documented by pictures or other things. I am not sure if video works, but pictures generally are necessary. I have disputes for about 2% of all orders, which is not a lot.
hi, great video. I have one problem with te 12E chip (it has 4Mbytes flash memory) but in Arduino IDE I get only 1Mbyte. Do you know why? (with Nodemcu Lua i can see the 4Mbytes)
+Babo Babic which board did you chose? If you chose SPIFFS 3M then you only get 1M for your sketches. Try 1M SPIFFS and you should get 3M for your sketch. Goggle SPIFFS if you do not know what it is.
+Andreas Spiess the board is NodeMCU 1.0, the board is LoLin v3. it does not make any difference witch SPIFFS I choose. If you make it so do you get: Maximum is 3Mbyts whenuploading?
+Babo Babic No. You tell the IDE just how you want to partition the memory. Because so far I did not use SPIFFS i always cose 1M SPIFFS and get 3M for my code.
Sehr informativ! Gut zu wissen, das die Arduino-Like-Boards (da gibts ein paar Variaten von) keinen wirklichen praktischen nutzen haben. Die NodeMCU Boards von DoIT gibts recht günstig im 3er Pack bei Banggood. goo.gl/it7uE1 Von diesen Witty Boards mit RGB-LED und Fotowiderstand habe ich auch noch andere Varianten gesehen, wo alles auf einem Board war, teilweise sogar ohne serielle Schnittstelle und LEDs an fast allen IOs. Für Projekte die nachher in ein Metallgehäuse kommen sollen und nicht viele IOs brauchen, nehme ich noch gerne die alten ESP-02 Boards mit externem Antennenanschluß. Die bekommt man auf Ebay für etwas über 2,-€. Kabel und Antenne für jeweils 1,-€. Eine NodeMCU Board mit Antennenanschluß ist mir leider noch nicht begegnet.
Da ist ein EN25Q80A 8 Megabit Serial Flash Memory with 4Kbyte Uniform Sector drauf. Den kann man notfalls austauschen. Die ESP-02 Teile sind halt super klein. Kleiner als ein blankes ESP-12e Modul.
Hello Andreas! Thank you for great videos! Recently I've started NodeMCU related project: espsky.com/ its online IDE with OTA update for lua files. You may find it useful!
Unfortunately, I do not use the LUA programming language (I use C++ from the Arduino IDE). So, this is not for me. However, if you program in LUA, it seems a good thing.
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Love your channel no background music no introduction and to the point make it very nice thank you bob
+Bob Wareham Thank you for your nice comment!
This is really help me to choose a ESP8266 Board, and i choose Wemos D1 Mini because it small and have 5v output...
Excellent run down!! Keep the ESP8266 videos coming and I bet you pack on subscribers quickly... there's not enough ESP8266 content out there
+mnelson10000 Thanks! Let's hope that my work will be useful for many people...
It is wonderful of you to take the time and pain, (and generosity) to make this video, saving all of us, out here, the time and money, to buy and test these devices, and learn what they can and cant do, the hard way. Thank you sir, sincerely.
You are welcome.
watched lots of esp videos already and this one year old one is still the most useful for the beginners! (an update mentioning about the powerful and newer ESP 32 would make it even more perfect. :-)
+eduardfc I made an introduction to the ESP32. For the moment the Arduino IDE is still not mature
@01:09, esp-12e or 12f has 22 pins (8+6+8). Mainly all the useful ones (for hobbyist) of the esp-8266ex chip. ;-)
great job on the overview , as usual we get more detail then expected .
+XerotoLabs Thank you. You seem to be pretty occupied with your new printer ;-)
+Andreas Spiess Yeah i can get like that. New bit of gear or tech and I get absorbed by it until i have a good grasp . LOL I have a ESP8266 home automation project waiting on a part , but soon I will be making use of some of your earlier ESP videos to have ESP 01 and all its sensors in I2C buss .
in my projects I prefer to use a pure ESP 12 module, without any support board, and soldering wires directly to the module, make things even more cheap ;-) just using a USB to serial converter and supplying a good and clean 3.3v voltage.
+eduardfc That is a good idea,especially if you want to deep-sleep your modules
Isn´t The Wemos D1 mini just a board with micro-USB-connection? There is not much more on it.
@c0r0y, Yes, a board and voltage converter and the circuitry for the USB interface. Difference price about $2, not a big deal. But for sure it takes more space and power, and that can be of importance if You are housing it in a small box with battery.
Hi Andreas, thanks again a very good video, I am using the NodeMCU from LoLin and it is so easy to use with the Arduino IDE. I have just ordered the NodeMCU Base, thanks for the tip!
+Javier Palla Lorden Welcome. I also use the Arduino IDE without problems so far. I am sure you also will like this base.
Thank you for the video, Nice overview. Nice to hear that I did not buy any yet that are in your no-buy list. :)
+Pierre Gorissen That was my intention!
This was very helpful, as usual on this channel!
+pepper669 Thanks!
This is a great overview of the boards out there!
+Travis Hardiman Thank you!
Thank you very much sir for this demonstration, has given me a lot of clarity.
May God grace and lead you, sir.
You are welcome
Hi Andreas - Just a quick thank you for your very informative and explanatory video. I only watched it as I was passing and I have learnt a great deal about the two nodemcu boards that I have and the one that I will buy in future (with the prototype board from Lolin). Dankeshurn. Joe :¬)
You are welcome! Have fun with your LoLin board.
Thank you Andreas. An extremely helpful video. I thought they were all similar before watching, wow was i wrong.
You are welcome!
Cool Video, over the time, I seem to have collected more then my share of these little gadgets, one i serving me as a electronic thermometer, and others are simply toys for experimenting with when boredom overcomes me...
Thanks! I think, the purpose of Gadgets is exactly that!
problem with these boards and some small arduino boards is that the can often fail on 12v supplys as its at the limit of the small regulator, using them in a vehicle with the 14v car supply (yes thats right, cars are 14v with the engine running!) they often die easily
This is quite obvious as (14-3.3)V*0.1A = 1.07 Watt *90 C/W = 96 C. So, the regulator heats up to at least 96 C over ambient temperature. If you connect anything else to the board, the temperature will be even higher because the current is higher. You can avoid this easily by putting a resistor in line with the plus wire. The resistor could be e.g. 60 Ohm. With 0.1A current it will reduce the input voltage by 60 *0.1=6 volts. Then, the resistor will dissipate 6V*0.1A = 0.6 W and the regulator the rest.
Dear Andreas, your videos are always excellent. One idea I had watching your ESP8266 comparison is that the Witty Cloud Module still has still one advantage for beginners that are not so familiar with soldering. If you want to work in low power scenarios but are not abled to do the fine soldering of a naked 12F (like me) a Witty Cloud Module could be used. In this scenario I would remove the RGB-LED with a tong and I think the Pins GPIO12, GPIO13 and GPIO15 could be used then as normal input Pins. For a scenario powered with AA-Cells I would also desolder the voltage regulator and use a HX7333. Am I correct with these thoughts?
I think you are right. Just I never saw GPIO12-15 on a ESP8266
Please be careful with the Witty Cloud Development board, Andreas. You state that the bottom part can be used to program a breakout boards. But the USB cable's Vcc (5+ volts) is passed directly up to the Vcc pin for the upper board. The Witty has this header pin connected to a linear voltage regulator on the top board and not connected directly to the Vcc pin of the 8266. I have a collection of breakout boards that connect Vcc directly to the Vcc pin of the 8266 expecting that the circuit is providing well regulated 3.3v power. You would likely fry any ESP8266 chip on a breakout board that is directly connected to the Witty's programmer.
BY the way. Love most of your content.
Thanks for the hint. I do not use the bottom PCB for other uses than the Witty board. I have other USB to Serial adapters where I exactly know what they do...
This was a good one. I still don't know the significance of NodeMCU, but I'll figure it out eventually. This video raised a good point about a board I was considering... the sensors & leds are hard wired, taking up valuable pins.
NodeMCU was the first development environment for ESP8266 (except the native Espressif one). It uses LUA as language.
They delevoped a board with an ESP module plus all necessary parts to easily program these modules (USB to serial converter, flash signalling).
Then the Arduino IDE was enabled to program the ESPs. Because of the origin, the name of the board was not changed.
So, if you want to have a hassle free development board, buy a NodeMCU board. Then you can decide whether you use Arduino IDE or NodeMCU development environment to program. You can switch forth and back, because each environment deletes everything in the module before it starts with its programming.
I wasn't aware I could switch back and forth. I actually thought the the "node" part of the name referred to the board, not the environment. Lots to learn yet. I am looking at a couple of items on FastTech for starters. I am looking at one of the NodeMCU boards, a Witty board (a pretty witty name), and they have an ATTiny USB board that is very very tiny. I have to start somewhere, and I might as well start connected! I appreciate your series.
+Ramix Nudles ATtinys are great devices, but probably not very good to begin with.
Awesome video. I learnt a lot. Good work. Keep it up.
+Graham Gillett Thanks for the nice comment! Wilco
I am grateful for your lessonsزز
You're welcome!
Uhhh, nooo! I ordered wemos D1 last week. Why u didn't upload this video earlier :(( Anyway thanks a lot for the informative video!
+fatih berk muslu Sorry for that. I got it also only last week. I think, the Wemos D1 can be used as a "normal" ESP8266 board, no problem. As I said, it is just not, what it is intended to do: Arduino compatible. So, your expense is not lost. You just overspend a little because a D1 mini has more or less the same functions.
I think i'll be use mine as a normal ESP8266 board, too. Thx for the answer!
+fatih berk muslu you should get arduino prototype shield, for your wimos, then you can make easy final products
Thank you Glychee for the advice! :)
Hi Andreas. Thank you for your excellent videos! Now a year later, wich ESP8266 board would you recommend today? Or would you go for the ESP32? Thanks.
In my recent videos you should see the development of my opinion about the ESP8266 and the ESP32 boards
Hello Andreas, I would like to know a bit more about the second board on the far left in the miniature of the video, the esp8266 chip directly soldered on the pcb , It appears to be more breadboard friendly ! Thank You for your videos :-)
This is an old video. So I do no more remember the details. BTW: In the description you find a link to an update video.
Here is a hint how to make any NodeMCU board breadboard friendly. This works for ESP32 boars as well, of course. I simply use two breadboars and remove one of the power rails of one of them. The two bradboards can then be combined to be covered by a NodeMCU board.
I try to add a link to a photo... not sure whether RUclips allows to place this link: www.dropbox.com/s/tmtqggk0bzvfykh/2018-03-20%2012.27.34.jpg?dl=0
You are right. I do not like it very much because it is not very stable to put it away. But one day I will build one with a sheet of something below it to fix the two breadboards.
Andreas, as you know the Arduino IDE with the package_esp8266com_index.json has some nice examples and one of them I find really interesting. The CaptivePortal example, maybe you could enlighten us as I could only find one example on RUclips (from AReResearch).
+Javier Palla Lorden I will have a look ito it. Maybe next week...
+Javier Palla Lorden Looked now at this captive portal. Unfortunately, internet protocols are not my strength. So, this will not be on my list for the near future. Sorry!
Nice instructional video. I was confused about the right esp8266 to use on my next project (word clock) and now I'm inclined to use the wemos or nodemcu v3. Which one do you prefer?
I red that the last board (two parts with a ldr on top) have a poor wifi reception if you use the bottom board (maybe some shielding of the bottom PCB).
+Sam C I have no preference other than the differences mentioned in the video.
I did not do any tests with the Witty board. If you watched the video, you know, why.
Quite helpful
Thank you!
very worthwhile. I think I will pick the Wemos
If you talk about the Minis, it is a good solution. I will do a video about them in the next future
yes, ordered the Mini, and also a NodeMCU V3. Thanks for making it easy
Interesting video. However, I noticed an error at 3:30s (ruclips.net/video/YQadLyBwz3M/видео.htmlm30s ) where you say the D1 mini makes all GPIO pins available. None of the connectors opposite the aerial on the esp8266 module are brought out to pins on the D1 mini. These include GPIO9 and GPIO10 as well as SPI bus pins.
Also, you contrast DOIT and Lolin boards and at 5:43 are purportedly showing the DOIT board but it has Lolin written on the board which leaves me confused. I wasn't sure whether this meant DOIT is one version of a Lolin board or something else.
+Ken Taylor You are the first discovered my mistake with hte boards! Thank you! There are two boards available. One from Lolin and the other from Doit. I put two annotations in the video where I mixed the pictures.
Concerning the pins: I said, that it has all NodeMCU pins. The nodeMCU buards use different pin definitions (D0 to D10) than the ESP modules. To my knowledge there is no definition availabde (Dxx) for GPIO9 and 10. However, I was able to address GPIO9 with my sketch using just the port number. GPIO10 did not react. Maybe you have different experience if you use these pins frequently. Maybe it depends also on the development environment.
Thanks for the comparison
You are welcome!
@Andreas Spiess
Can you pl update this to involve current board and revisions upgrades.
The ESP8266 is now quite old. So I do not think I will do an update. I mainly use ESP32 boards now.
Great tutorial, Thank you very much.. John :) ..............
+karen berry You are welcome!
Irgendwie kommt mir die stetig wachsende Größe der Boardsammlung bekannt vor. NodeMCU ist gerade das Board der Stunde. Einfach bequem. Für die ESP-01 hab ich einen neuen Oshboard-Programmer der noch nicht läuft. Sobald sich das ändert gen ich Dir Bescheid :D
+norm1124 Ich verwende ebenfalls dieses Board. Für's -01 hatte ich mal einen Progammer mit einem ATtiny gemacht. Dieses Board brauche ich allerdings im Moment nicht. Nachdem man jetzt in der IDE immer das NodeMCU Programmierverfahren wählen kann werde ich mir mal diesen Programmierer bauen. Der funktioniert ja i. d. R. sehr gut.
Was ist das für ein Board, das Du verwendest?
+Andreas Spiess oshpark.com/shared_projects/3EzzOydZ Der Author hat es auf Twitter gepostet. 4$ inkl. Versand. Braucht einfach eine FTDI-Board als Adapter und scheinbar ist die Stromversorgung beim Author kritisch. Ich habe noch keine Ahnung woran es gerade scheitert, evtl. die Baudrate o.ä.
+norm1124 Habe schnell mit meinem ESP-01 versucht. Baudrate 115k und 921k laufen beide ohne Probleme. Habe auch keine externe Stromversorgung. Hast Du schon mal versucht, die Program Taste zu drücken, bevor du dem Board Spannung gibst? Hintergrund: Wenn dein momentan im Modul vorhandener Sketch das WLAN braucht, reicht der Strom des FTDI nicht aus. Der ESP zieht dann fast 300 mA und er könnte in einen undefinieren Zustand kommen. Wenn Du GPIO0 vorher runter ziehst sollte das nicht passieren. Nur so eine Idee.
+norm1124 Sonst sehe ich nicht, wieso das nicht gehen sollte. Das Board scheint ok zu sein.
Hi Andreas,
I love your videos, very good quality!
I bought a few Lolin and D1 mini from Aliexpress but I can't get them to work with the Arduino IDE.
I know they all use a CH340 for the USB connector but I don't manage to find a proper driver for it !
The boards do not appear in the list in the IDE
Do you have a link to one that worked for you?
Any platform is ok, Windows, Linux or Mac...
Thanks so much in advance!
I use windows 10 and have no problems with the driver. But I am no more sure if I had to install one at the beginning. Check once in device manager if you see a unknown serial adaptor device. There, you should be able to install the device driver. I googled and found this link: www.arduined.eu/ch340-windows-8-driver-download/. My device driver also comes from wch.cn
i have exactly the same problem...i tried 10 usb cables and none doesnt work with wemos, but all works with arduino...i use windows 10 and 7 and have no luck all im getting is "Unknow device" in device manager...
but when board is powerd on usb it create some sort of wifi (AI-THINKER) i have wemos d1 mini and nodemcu esp2866 12-e v3 and with both boards is the same.... :(
did you try to install the CH340 driver (see last comment)? Do you have another device with a CH340 USB to serial chip? Does this one work?
The ESPs sometimes come with pre-installed software which create a WiFi cell. This software will be replaced with your code if you manage to upload.
I did not understand the difference between the LoLin board and the DoIt board, can you please explain again? (:
+Idan Ben-moshe Both boards are very similar. The differences are described in the video (6:22 Lolin and 5:22 Doit). The text ois ok, just one picture is wrong. The CP2102 chip of the Doit is square, the CH340 is rectangular. So, they are easy to distinguish.
+Andreas Spiess Who's better? Lolin or doit?
+Idan Ben-moshe You chose. Depends on what you need. They are different not better or worse. The price might also be different.
error compiling for board nodemcu 1.0 (esp-12e module) with arduinojson all sketch
+vikas sumbria Your comment is too unspecific to help
Andreas, will the NodeMCU board accommodate the ESP32 DevKit v1 board from DoIt? Like the Lolin board, it is also a 30-pin board.
I do not understand your question
I would like to use the NodeMCU expansion board accommodate the DoIt ESP32 Devkit v1 board?
So far, I did not find any expansion boards for the ESP32.
I have a Wemos mini. It has worked great. I use it with Blynk app to control via the cloud. My trouble now is I would like to add an Ultrasonic distance sensor to my project but the board does not support it! Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for all the great videos. They are very helpful
+Brian Fox You should be able to use pulseIn() which measures length of pulses. The command should also work on ESP, but I did not try. Otherwise you could try a while ("Echo pin is high") ; and read the micros() before and after this while. This could give at least a result and you have to test its accuracy.
Thanks for your reply, I will give your suggestion a try
+Andreas Spiess Well, I did not have any luck, so far! I tried this code as well which the author claims that it worked. I got a Serial.print of 0 Centimeter. However, I am not sure if that is because of the use of the sensor with the Wemos or the fact that he has wired the Vcc of the sensor to the 3V3 on the Wemos. My understanding is that the sensor would not work with a voltage that low. Anyway, if you have a link to a sketch that works with the HC-Sr04 and Wemos mini, it would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time and this is the link to what I have tried:
www.14core.com/wiring-esp8266-nodemcu-with-hcsr04-ultrasonic-sensor/
Brian
+Brian Fox This is well possible, because the HC-SR04 is 5V rated and the ESPs rund on 3.3V. Your source was lucky.
If you use the Wemos mini, you also have a 5V pin. If you put VCC of the HC.SR04 to that pin, this device should work, but you have to protect the input pin of your Wemos because usually, they do not like 5V. You can either use a level shifter like this one: www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Promotional-IIC-5-3V-system-compatible-with-the-I2C-level-shifter-module-the-sensor-module/834205_32425888659.html
or like this one: www.hobbytronics.co.uk/schottky-logic-level-conversion.
I quickly tested the second one with a Wemos mini and your sketchand it worked. (I replaced the defines with the D1/D2 pin description and used the nodeMcu 1.0 board definition)
+Andreas Spiess BTW: Mine did also not work on 3.3V
Thanks!
:-)
isn't the amica the official board ?
+tablatronix I do not know. There are some rumors around. I do not use NodeMCU LUA, I use the Arduino IDE, and there is no official Arduino IDE extension. This extension is developed by some interested private persons.
Thanks for the video, and your accent is cool
:-)
Hello Mr Spiess, I have just ESP module shown in 1:11 as in video and no white adapter as shown in 2:08, any idea how to connect it to Arduino or breadboard without USB-UART converter using Arduino TX and RX pins as COM?
+Maciej Klimas The module you have has no serial interface. You can connect it to an arduino. But I think, you cannot program it this way because Aruinos usually have only one serial interface. And if you have a Mega with two interfaces you would need a program which transfers all trafic from one serial to the other and back.
It is much, much easier to buy a really cheap USB-to-Serial adapter. A good one costs 2$
www.aliexpress.com/store/product/High-quality-FT232RL-FTDI-USB-3-3V-5-5V-to-TTL-Serial-Adapter-Module-for-Arduino/425591_32373474263.html
It has to be 3.3V!
Another problem with these boards is, that they do not fit into any breadboard, because they have 2mm between the pins. You have to solder cables directly to the pins. And you have manually to switch GPIO0 to program the chip.
In my opinion, the easiest way to start with ESP8266 is to buy a NodeMCU module. It has all on board and usually they work fine.
+Andreas Spiess Thanks, I purchased it and Witty ESP as well, because I'm not sure I burned this one, LED isn't blinking but it was when I first connected it. Will be waiting for shipping and after I receive adapter I will test the one I got now and Witty can be used to continue if first will be really broken.
+Maciej Klimas Good luck! I am sure you will enjoy ESP8266!
Where do you find more info for the Witty board?
+Dave C I found here a link.
www.banggood.com/ESP8266-Gizwits-Development-Board-Photoresistor-SDK-APP-For-Arduino-p-1025662.html
Hi Andreas, Thanks for the such an informative video. I have one question.
I am right now confused between WeMos d1 min and NodeMCU board.
On WeMos forum, people are saying that only WeMos d1 mini is an official board and NodeMCU board is a clone. But, in most of your and other videos, NodeMCU board is being used.
Which board should i buy and from where? Links below :-
WeMos Forum: forum.wemos.cc/topic/909/what-is-the-latest-version-of-the-wemos-d1-mini/5
WeMos D1 mini: www.aliexpress.com/store/product/D1-mini-Mini-NodeMcu-4M-bytes-Lua-WIFI-Internet-of-Things-development-board-based-ESP8266/1331105_32529101036.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.Oguzq9
NodeMCU: www.amazon.in/dp/B00UY8C3N0/ref=pd_luc_rh_sbs_01_02_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Thanks in advance.
NodeMCU is just a name without a manufacturer behind. There are a few boards available as pointed out in the video. The first who created such a board gave it the name.
The same is true with the Wemos mini. Wemos created such a board, which is very similar to the NodeMCU, just smaller. Because the board was successful, others, like with the nodeMCU boards, started to copy. That is, how business is done in China.
So, you can buy whatever you want. I have many different boards and did not find particular quality issues. If you want a small one, buy a Wemos mini like one, if you want a big one, a nodeMCU like one
Thanks. I have finally ordered WeMos d1 mini for its small size, unsoldered pins and being official from WeMos (instills more trust).
Have you used the Prototype board for any of your own project?
Usually not. I use the small Wemos boards for my projects. Prototype boards are for prototypes
Thank you
Neat video
:-)
Hi Andreas, I have a problem with my Wemos D1 mini board (it's a copy from Aliexpress): It's very nice and small and I can talk Lua to it via CoolTerm or ESPlorer. However , I can't get it to work in the Arduino IDE - all I get is:
warning: espcomm_sync failed
error: espcomm_open failed
error: espcomm_upload_mem failed
although I have dowloaded the correct board settings.
Can you help me?
Many thanks in advance!
I use the NodeMCU 1.0 board with 115200 (save) or 921600 (fast). And the ESP8266 Community version 2.3.0-rc2 Board definition file. I just tried, it works also with Wemos D1 R2 & Mini.
Thanks for testing and for your answer. Did you have to flash the NodeMCUs first with that flash tool (github.com/nodemcu/nodemcu-flasher)?
There are two completely different environments to work with the ESPs: The LUA and the Arduino IDE. If you use one or the other, they erase the flash completely. So, you do not need anything than just upload.
Yes, I know that, it just doesn't work. I did work fine with the Feather Huzzah board from Adafruit but not with my WeMos copy (I hadn't checked that it was missing the official label when I ordered it, my mistake). Anyway, I ordered an ''official' WeMos D1 mini board for Aliexpress, maybe it behaves differently.
Do you see the Serial connection in your IDE? It has the name USB-Serial CH340 in windows (check with device manager). Try also to reset the device when the IDE waits for upload (several trials). And make sure, that you have no other cables connected to your board pins. Does the ESP-12 blue LED flash when you connect the board to the serial? If it still does not work, it is probably defective.
Hello,
could you please recommend a nodemcu board that works well, based on your experience?
The boards are not good or bad, they are different. So, its up to your needs to chose.
+Andreas Spiess Thanks.
I asked you because so far I have tried two nodemcu v2 boards:
1) it.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-NodeMCU-development-board-for-ESP-12E-from-ESP8266-esp-12E-Lua-IoT-programable-wifi/32357301146.html?adminSeq=221155680&shopNumber=1264329
2) it.aliexpress.com/item/Update-Industry-4-0-New-esp8266-NodeMCU-v2-Lua-WIFI-networking-development-kit-board-based-on/32358722888.html
I program both with Arduino IDE.
The first one works perfectly, while the second one does not connect to wifi.
Since you also use Aliexpress a lot, I was hoping that you could share with me some products that you have tried.
+mark So, you had bad luck. About quality, I can say, that I am always prepared for devices which do not work. This is why I try to test them before I confirm (if I have the time). But I had only a few problems.
I shared the link of my suppliers in th comment in the video, without "guarantee" that you get a good one ;-). So far, I had more problems with "non-compliance to stated specifications" than with qoality of products. In the next mailbag you will see, that I purchased ESP-07 "new version" boards where the supplier stated they have 4M flash. But in reality, they only had 1M.
+Andreas Spiess So far I had very good experiences with Aliexpress, but recently I have started to have some disappointments.
Based on your experience, is it easy to receive a refund by stating that the device does not work properly?
Are we required to send pictures and/or videos of the product?
+mark If you can prove teh things are physically defect it is easy. If they do not work as they should usually you end with a 50/50 agreement. If the supplier does not agree you can escalate it to aliexpress and the do a judgement.
Your case has to be well documented by pictures or other things. I am not sure if video works, but pictures generally are necessary.
I have disputes for about 2% of all orders, which is not a lot.
hi, great video. I have one problem with te 12E chip (it has 4Mbytes flash memory) but in Arduino IDE I get only 1Mbyte.
Do you know why? (with Nodemcu Lua i can see the 4Mbytes)
How do you know that the IDE only sees 1 MB?
+Andreas Spiess
Sketch uses 239,311 bytes (22%) of program storage space. Maximum is 1,044,464 bytes.
+Babo Babic which board did you chose? If you chose SPIFFS 3M then you only get 1M for your sketches. Try 1M SPIFFS and you should get 3M for your sketch. Goggle SPIFFS if you do not know what it is.
+Andreas Spiess the board is NodeMCU 1.0, the board is LoLin v3. it does not make any difference witch SPIFFS I choose. If you make it so do you get: Maximum is 3Mbyts whenuploading?
+Babo Babic No. You tell the IDE just how you want to partition the memory. Because so far I did not use SPIFFS i always cose 1M SPIFFS and get 3M for my code.
Good vid and great nails
Sehr informativ! Gut zu wissen, das die Arduino-Like-Boards (da gibts ein paar Variaten von) keinen wirklichen praktischen nutzen haben. Die NodeMCU Boards von DoIT gibts recht günstig im 3er Pack bei Banggood. goo.gl/it7uE1
Von diesen Witty Boards mit RGB-LED und Fotowiderstand habe ich auch noch andere Varianten gesehen, wo alles auf einem Board war, teilweise sogar ohne serielle Schnittstelle und LEDs an fast allen IOs.
Für Projekte die nachher in ein Metallgehäuse kommen sollen und nicht viele IOs brauchen, nehme ich noch gerne die alten ESP-02 Boards mit externem Antennenanschluß. Die bekommt man auf Ebay für etwas über 2,-€. Kabel und Antenne für jeweils 1,-€.
Eine NodeMCU Board mit Antennenanschluß ist mir leider noch nicht begegnet.
Ich verwende noch die ESP07 wenn ich einen Antennenanschluss brauche. Von denen habe ich noch einige...
Wie gross ist die Flashgrösse des ESP-02?
Da ist ein EN25Q80A 8 Megabit Serial Flash Memory with 4Kbyte Uniform Sector drauf. Den kann man notfalls austauschen. Die ESP-02 Teile sind halt super klein. Kleiner als ein blankes ESP-12e Modul.
Sie sind auch betreffend IO Pins eher mit dem -01 zu vergleichen, einfach mit Antennenanschluss...
schön wenn ma zu sim schwiizer akzent stoh chan ;)
Auch wenn nicht, würde er auffallen. So habe ich ihn zu meiner "Marke"gemacht...
Hello Andreas! Thank you for great videos!
Recently I've started NodeMCU related project: espsky.com/ its online IDE with OTA update for lua files. You may find it useful!
Unfortunately, I do not use the LUA programming language (I use C++ from the Arduino IDE). So, this is not for me. However, if you program in LUA, it seems a good thing.
I have made a "Instructable" where I modifie a Solderless Breadboard, check out: www.instructable.com/id/NodeMCU-BreadBoard-Tweak/
Good idea!
correct URL:
www.instructables.com/id/NodeMCU-Breadboard-Tweak/