Welcome to our repository of ESP8266 micro controller. The ESP8266 is an affordable development board that combines control of outputs/inputs and Wi-Fi capabilities. It is one of the cheapest solutions on the market for DIY IOT and Home Automation projects. It supports the following peripherals: I/O, SPI, I2C, I2S, SPI, UART and ADC. Additionally, the ESP8266 NodeMCU can be programmed using the Arduino IDE programming environment.

 

The ESP8266 is a Wi-Fi module great for IoT and Home Automation projects. This article is a getting started guide for the ESP8266 development board.

About the ESP8266

The ESP8266 is a $4 (up to $10) Wi-Fi module. It allows you to control inputs and outputs as you would do with an Arduino, but it comes with Wi-Fi.
So, it is great for home automation/internet of things applications.

Suggested Reading

ESP32 is a great tool for people of all skill levels. However, you will have a much better time learning along side your Arduino if you understand some Sensors, Modules, Display that can be use with Arduino. We recommend that you have at least a decent understanding of these concepts before you dive in to the wonderful world of Arduino.

So what can you do with this low cost module?

  • create a web server
  • send HTTP requests
  • control outputs
  • read inputs and interrupts
  • send emails
  • post tweets

ESP8266 specifications

  • 11 b/g/n protocol
  • Wi-Fi Direct (P2P), soft-AP
  • Integrated TCP/IP protocol stack
  • Built-in low-power 32-bit CPU
  • SDIO 2.0, SPI, UART

Comparing the ESP8266 with other Wi-Fi solutions on the market, it is a great option for most “Internet of Things” projects! It’s easy to see why it’s so popular: it only costs a few dollars and can be integrated in advanced projects. We’ve published dozens of free ESP8266 projects and tutorials.

There is a successor of the ESP8266 – the ESP32. The ESP32 combines Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and is dual core.

ESP8266 Versions

The ESP8266 comes in a wide variety of versions (as shown in the figure below). The ESP-12E or often called ESP-12E NodeMCU Kit is currently the most practical version, in our opinion.

We highly recommend using the ESP8266-12E NodeMCU Kit, the one that has built-in programmer and lots of GPIOs. The built-in programmer makes it easy to prototype and upload your programs.

ESP8266 Pinout

The most widely used ESP8266 development boards are the ESP-01, the ESP8266-12E NodeMCU Kit and the Wemos D1 Mini.  We’ll show you the pinout for those boards. If you’re using another development board, make sure you have the right pinout.

ESP-12E NodeMCU Kit Pinout

Here’s a quick overview of the ESP-12E NodeMCU Kit pinout:

WeMos D1 Mini Pinout

Here’s the Wemos D1 Mini pinout:

ESP8266-01 Pinout

Here’s the ESP-01 pinout.

 

Programming the ESP8266 Using Arduino IDE

There are several ways to program the ESP8266. We often use Arduino IDE or MicroPython.

Recommended ESP8266 Projects

After installing the ESP8266 board add-on in your Arduino IDE or flashing MicroPython formware, you can start making projects with the ESP8266.

We have a compilation with more than 30 projects and tutorials with the ESP8266:

To access all our MicroPython tutorials with the ESP8266 click here.

ESP8266/ESP32 Projects