{"id":17705,"date":"2022-07-13T11:23:37","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T04:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/?p=17705"},"modified":"2022-07-13T11:23:49","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T04:23:49","slug":"esp-12e-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.makeriot2020.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/13\/esp-12e-card\/","title":{"rendered":"ESP-12E Card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few months ago, I started working on an MCU Card design<\/a>, which borrows from the idea of a standard desktop PC, in which there are a main-board, MCU and expansion slots, to add and remove peripherals as needed quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ESP-12E Card is a continuation of that project, with the ultimate goal to have a universal “main-board” that can accept various MCUs and standardised “expansion modules” that perform a specific task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ESP-12E
ESP-12E Card<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The PCB<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ESP-12E Card contains the bare minimum components to allow the chip to function. There are no power regulators or USB-to-TTL converters onboard. Code is flashed via an external USB-to-TTL converter, with Flash and Reset buttons on the actual PCB, or available in the 2×20 Pin female header at the bottom of the card.

Most of the GPIO is also broken out to the 2×20 pin header, with the exception of the 6 GPIO that is usually connected to the internal Flash on the ESP-12E module.

I have made provision for enough power and ground pins on the header as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as GPIO is concerned, They have been grouped together by function, as much as possible at least, to make interfacing with the base-board as easy as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Schematic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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ESP-12E Card Schematic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The schematic is not complicated. It is a standard ESP-8266 configuration, with all non-essential components removed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “base-board” ( a sneak preview )<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Sneak preview of the Base Card<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a future article, I will tell you more about this ( for the time being limited to I2C ) base card. [ a quick explanation: When I mean limited to I2C, it relates to the fact that at the moment, the base card, ( a prototype ) can only communicate back to the MCU via I2C protocol from each of the expansion slots, as well as via two dedicated IRQ lines from each slot ]Power is supplied via a small SMPS module. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturing the PCB<\/h3>\n\n\n\n


Over the past eight years, PCBWay has continuously upgraded their MANUFACTURING plants and equipment to meet higher quality requirements, and now THEY also provide OEM service<\/a>s to build your products from ideas to mass production and access to the market.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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