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. pdpi · 1790265374 · focus · HN ↗

                  Perhaps the most straightforward difference is right in the name — a single-board computer is a whole board. A microcontroller refers to just the IC itself. The thing that's on the article's picture is a dev board for an MCU, not the MCU alone. That's just the chip at the top with the Espressif branding.

                  Now, if you want to argue that the difference between a dev board and an SBC is kind of vague, I agree on that front. I'd argue that the distinction is mostly the vendor's intent. E.g. if I sell the ICs in bulk and _also_ sell a board with that IC, it's probably a dev board. If I source the ICs from somebody else, only sell the assembled boards, and ship a general-purpose OS with it, it's probably an SBC. With sufficiently powerful hardware (like this thing seems to be), you could use a dev board as an SBC, and that is basically what this article is all about.

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