Thread

1. jameshart · 1790255500 · focus · HN ↗

   The range of difference in capabilities of different boards branded ESP32 is getting larger. Makes it tricky to figure out when someone says ‘you can run this on an ESP32’ what level of hardware investment is required.

   1. philipallstar · 1790257295 · focus · HN ↗

      I am really struggling to understand what ESP32 is. I've got into adjacent things a bit recently, but haven't figured that one out yet.

      1. nkozyra · 1790257554 · focus · HN ↗

         They're all just single board computers, generally low-powered (literally and in the sense of capability, particularly memory)

         They're generally intended to run flashed firmware and be single-purpose. They usually come bundled with peripheral components and typically have breakouts to add more (pots, sensors, etc).

         They're great for doing one thing (though some support firmware switching), and you can build the 'software' for them pretty easily using Python or C-like variants.

         So for hobbyists they're perfect. You want a quick LED christmas display you can toggle between Rudolph and Santa from a quick network call? You want a humidity sensor in your bedroom? You want to create a networked security camera? These are the types of use cases for MCUs.

         1. ckocagil · 1790258150 · focus · HN ↗

            They're not single board computers. They're microcontrollers. Or rather they were until this new chip was introduced.

            1. serf · 1790258974 · focus · HN ↗

               >they're not single board computers.

               what's the meaningful distinction now? It isn't all SoC anymore and it has had a linux capable MMU since S3, even if it required a lot of work.

               The only real difference at this point is pure numbers, and i'm not that keen on defining microcontrollers as "those things with less ram than an SBC.", and if it's a microcontroller because it requires bare-metal flashes; well then I point to the older S3 MMU boards running busybox.

               1. the__alchemist · 1790259362 · focus · HN ↗

                  > what's the meaningful distinction now?

                  SBC is a PCB which includes ports for power, I/O, often other parts like sensors on it. Esp32 is a MCU. You can put an Esp32 on a PCB and call it an SBC. (Although semantically SBC usually refers to something that runs a GPOS, but perhaps that's flexible or changing)

                  1. horsawlarway · 1790261096 · focus · HN ↗

                     It's much more difficult to buy the ESP32 as an MCU than it is to buy it as a SBC, with ports for power and I/O already on a PCB (often with through pins, to land on another PCB, like the arduino hats). And I don't mean "it's difficult because you have to solder" - I mean "it's difficult to find many places that sell it".

                     Ex - go check amazon, they're all the "dev kit" versions of ESP32.

                     Hell - even Alibaba has an overwhelming majority of the kits in the SBC form, rather than the straight MCU (although they at least exist in that form there, unlike amazon).

                     Even on digikey... there are like 4 listing for the straight MCU, and hundreds of listings for PCB board versions.

                     So I think for most consumers purchasing these... functionally they end up buying a form factor that is much closer to SBC than MCU.

                     ---

                     From my perspective... I'm old enough to remember when Arduinos were the hot shit in this space, and now ESP32 is basically the same value prop at 1/10 the price point (or better, if you are actually willing to solder it to the PCB yourself... then you get down to 1/50th the price point).

                     1. 0x457 · 1790265668 · focus · HN ↗

                        A few notes: if you buy non-module package (i.e MCU itself) then you would need to certify it with FCC (or you local FCC alternative) yourself, so most of vendors buy modules. Those vendors don't go to amazon to buy those because these make sense only if they manufacturing their own boards.

                        Last time I checked digikey had every module version avaiable for every version. You get hundreds of other versions because there are more variations of those.

                     2. petsfed · 1790267351 · focus · HN ↗

                        >It's much more difficult to buy the ESP32 as an MCU than it is to buy it as a SBC, with ports for power and I/O already on a PCB (often with through pins, to land on another PCB, like the arduino hats). And I don't mean "it's difficult because you have to solder" - I mean "it's difficult to find many places that sell it".

                        1. Go to mouser.com

                        2. Type ESP32 into the search bar

                        3. There's your part.

                        Its difficult to buy a very specific nut or bolt from Amazon (their nut/bolt search interface doing precisely nothing it appears to be intended to do). That doesn't mean McMaster-Carr doesn't exist. You're just going to the wrong store.

                        If you're in particular referring to how hard it is to find a PDIP package (that is, a through-hole package) for an ATMEGA MCU, that's because they don't make them anymore. Insofar as I'm aware, Espressif has never made a through-hole ESP32 module, but maybe they made one with castellated edges?

                        But an ESP32 module is as easy to come by as a surface-mount ATMEGA328P. Which is to say, very easy.

                     3. lopper4 · 1790271905 · focus · HN ↗

                        It's not "difficult" at all if you aren't looking in the wrong places. Espressif has sold billions of them so apparently everyone else is figuring it out just fine.

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