[HN Gopher] We made an open source ESP8266 dev board for makers
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We made an open source ESP8266 dev board for makers
Author : pcbmaker20
Score : 80 points
Date : 2020-09-17 19:58 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| intrepidhero wrote:
| Pretty rad! I could see lots of applications. Available on amazon
| you say? 19.99 you say?
|
| https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GY2GTW5?ref=myi_title_dp
|
| I'm curious about availability. Are they ready to ship? Awaiting
| preorders?
|
| EDIT: Oh I see 18 in stock. Probably remains of a small run to
| gauge interest. I hope it takes off. I'm going to make it 17. :-)
| fellowgeek2020 wrote:
| we have more stock, just waiting to transfer to Amazon
| ComputerGuru wrote:
| The biggest/best reason I know for using ESP8266 is the
| integrated WiFi module, but it seems that this doesn't expose
| that or at least capitalize on it, which gives little incentive
| to use this over something like the Teensy.
|
| Is there any intention to add WiFi support to the dev kit?
| xigency wrote:
| It appears that there is an antenna on the PCB so I believe
| WiFi is supported here. Outside of that, the ESP8266 is a
| pretty nifty CPU itself. Depending on what you want to do, a
| Teensy might be what you want. The ESP chips do not have an FPU
| for example.
| taf2 wrote:
| From board picture it looks like a wifi antenna is on the
| board, maybe WifiClient.h would work?
| fellowgeek2020 wrote:
| Yes ESP8266 has WiFi Built-in but thanks for the pointer, I
| will update the description to reflect that fact.
| makerboardzz wrote:
| Cool - it looks like a well-designed board, although the timing
| is a bit unfortunate with the ESP32-S2 emerging as an ESP8266
| replacement with USB.
|
| A few questions:
|
| * Should the relay have some sort of isolation, like an
| optocoupler?
|
| * Is it FCC-certified?
|
| * Like other people asked, any information on how the antenna was
| designed?
|
| I like the old-school dome LEDs. And it's cool to see another
| project with a CH340 USB/USART bridge, even if they wouldn't need
| it with an ESP32-S2.
| LeifCarrotson wrote:
| Regarding your first point, the relay has 2,000V of coil-to-
| contact isolation:
|
| https://omronfs.omron.com/en_US/ecb/products/pdf/en-g5le.pdf
|
| Though it does look like the clearance/creepage distances on
| the PCB to the low-voltage ground plane are not any wider than
| 2mm or so, which is acceptable for 120VAC, but not acceptable
| for 240VAC per IPC9592.
|
| I wouldn't worry about sticking this in an enclosure and using
| it to turn a light on and off, but I wouldn't want to be
| handling it while it was live, either!
|
| Regarding FCC/UL certification, a product is exempt from FCC
| certification requirements if it's "A digital device used
| exclusively as industrial, commercial, or medical test
| equipment", which most development boards are. I've got some
| dev boards from Microchip on my bench right now which aren't
| FCC or UL listed, either.
| ohazi wrote:
| A decent heuristic for whether or not a wireless module has
| been FCC certified is whether or not the RF components are
| under a metal shield:
|
| If it doesn't have a shield, it's almost certainly not FCC
| certified.
|
| If it does, it's more likely to be certified.
| pdabbadabba wrote:
| > * Is it FCC-certified?
|
| It would certainly appear to lack the FCC ID label/marking it
| is required to have if it is FCC certified. So probably not.
| Thus, it also appears doubtful whether it can legally be
| marketed or sold in the U.S.
| conk wrote:
| A search for "Malouf" on the FCC registration website
| provided no matches. Most likely this product is not
| registered.
|
| In addition, this product lacks a CE mark and has no
| UL/FM/CSA listing. I'm curious what creepage/clearance
| requirements were factor into the design. This product is
| potentially dangerous if the relay is switching line voltage.
| [deleted]
| simcop2387 wrote:
| IANAL, But I think device as-is can likely be sold and
| marketed perfectly fine. Test-kit and dev-kit stuff is
| regulated a bit differently under the assumption that it's
| not going to be in mass use, and also that it's likely going
| to be used to develop another product that will get the fcc
| certification.
|
| https://emcfastpass.com/fcc-rules-kits-subassemblies/
| pdabbadabba wrote:
| The link you provided appears to say the opposite about
| kits:
|
| "Based on the definition above, it looks clear that non-
| authorized kits that are intended to form a complete
| product when fully constructed are technically not legally
| permitted to be sold in the US. That is because if you are
| marketing and selling a kit to an end user, which the user
| will then build into a full product, there is no reason to
| suspect that the normal rules would not apply."
|
| The subassembly rules could work, if they apply, but I
| don't see how this product fits the definition of a sub-
| assembly:
|
| "No authorization is required for a peripheral device or a
| subassembly that is sold to an equipment manufacturer for
| further fabrication."
|
| In fact, I think it's a stretch to say that any of these
| test-kit, dev equipment, or subassembly rules apply. This
| basically strikes me as being marketed as a consumer
| product -- albeit a product for very tech savvy consumers.
| conk wrote:
| I don't see any benefit in using an optocoupler. Using a
| transistor with flyback diode for protection is acceptable.
| Both the relay and ESP8266 are powered from the same 5V source,
| adding an optocoupler is not really isolating anything.
| iwebdevfromhome wrote:
| Cool board! The only thing I think would be a nice-to-have is an
| integrated wifi module.
| mattgrice wrote:
| doesn't esp8266 have wifi built in?
| 6c696e7578 wrote:
| ESP8266 does, source, have several and:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESP8266
| mraza007 wrote:
| Just curious not really familiar with electronics but what can i
| build using this
| fellowgeek2020 wrote:
| Here is a few ideas:
|
| Alexa enabled switch to turn on / off a TV using the IR blaster
|
| my boss used 3 of these this to build a smart sprinkler system
| for his house.
| mraza007 wrote:
| Oh that's so cool Thank for the suggestion. I'm really trying
| to learn more about hardware.
| IgorPartola wrote:
| Lots of things. The original design for this chip was to have a
| serial to WiFi bridge. I use one of these as exactly that: a
| WiFi connected serial console for one of my home servers so I
| can get into it even if for some reason it isn't on the
| network.
|
| But you can also do so much more: these chips have lots of GPIO
| pins so you could control anything that an Arduino or another
| microcontroller can control such as relays, displays,
| temperature/humidity/proximity/etc. sensors, LED strips,
| motors, heaters, and so on. But the kicker is that with built
| in WiFi so you can natively get it online. A lot of smart
| lights now have these chips in them for example and you could
| make your own. Or your own internet connected green house with
| vents you can open/close and sensor readings for temperature
| and humidity in the air and the soil. Or an RC car you control
| from your phone. Or shades that open and close based on time of
| day. Or a garage door opener. Basically if you need a gadget
| you control over a network, these probably should be your first
| potential solution. They are low power and physically small
| compared to something like Raspberry Pi's or other single board
| computers and more powerful than Arduinos.
| mianos wrote:
| Who has used RS232 voltage for serial in the last 10 years? I'd
| rather a few MOSFETs to cut the power to everything for lower
| power. I guess there is a specific market for this and it is not
| me. I have at least 20 of Esp8266 and esp32 boards around the
| house. A bit of fun to design and produce though. I would not
| bother with the ESP8266 anymore considering the marginal cost of
| the esp32 and it is a much better device, learnt from their
| mistakes. The new one with on chip USB looks great too.
| dheera wrote:
| I have. Roboteq motor controllers use RS232 voltage levels :-/
| snvzz wrote:
| If the cable is longer than a few centimeters, the voltage
| makes sense.
|
| rs232 can run quite long distances.
| fellowgeek2020 wrote:
| Haha, we built this internally to use with Axiom scanners in
| our fulfillment centers which use RS232 interface, those
| scanners are 20 years old.
|
| I convinced my boss to let me sell these as open source since
| we found many cool IOT uses for them around the office as well,
| that's why you are getting the RS232 on there but most people
| probably will not need that feature, but hey... it is there if
| you need it :)
| phantom784 wrote:
| Interesting. Seems fairly comparable to the Sonoff Basic (also
| ESP8266, retails around $5), but more DIY friendly.
|
| Are you planning to sell a case to go with it?
| fellowgeek2020 wrote:
| Yes we probably design a case that you can 3D print and will
| add it to GitHub soon ish
| jhallenworld wrote:
| Is the antenna open source? Is it characterized (bandwidth,
| efficiency, radiation pattern)?
|
| Almost like one from here:
| https://www.ti.com/lit/an/swra351a/swra351a.pdf
| anfractuosity wrote:
| I believe it's called a 'Meandered Inverted-F Antenna (MIFA) '
| I used the footprint from https://github.com/prasad-dot-
| ws/ESP32_MIFA_PCB_ANTENNA recently, which is based on
| Espressif's gerbers for a sample pcb.
| mrspeaker wrote:
| I have an interest in electronics and would call myself a "maker"
| (well, I have a growing box filled with various arduinos and
| microcontrollers)... but after scouring the repo and the website,
| I can't figure out what this is, or what I could do with it!
|
| What is an "ESP8266 board"? Is that something that is so common
| it doesn't need explaining? Of course I will google it [and
| probably buy one], but just pointing out that it's not very clear
| from the website!
|
| [EDIT: ok, after 10 minutes of googlin', it seems no one will
| explain what it is - it's just "an esp8266 system on a chip". It
| must be the first rule of ESP8266 club...]
| inamberclad wrote:
| I mean, it's another ESP8266 based board with a bunch of GPIO
| and a relay that looks like it's meant to switch line voltage.
| It's handy but absolutely not revolutionary.
| jkubicek wrote:
| My info is 5+ years old at this point, but when I last looked
| into the ESP8266 they were the de-facto easiest/best way to add
| Wifi to your microcontroller. I have an older ESP8266 board
| that i used to create a tiny server and tweet stuff for me.
|
| The older board didn't have integrated USB, which made the dev
| process annoying.
| ausjke wrote:
| I too want to have this FCC certified.
|
| $19.99 seems a bit expensive to me though.
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