The ESP8266 ESP-01 is a serial to WiFi breakout module with a built in ARM microprocessor that has 1MB of memory and 2 GPIOs brought out to the header for connecting to peripherals. It can be used as a serial to WiFi bridge to add WiFi capability to a project or it can even be programmed directly and used as a little stand-alone processor. It has full TCP/IP capability built-in.
32-bit RISC Tensilica Xtensa LX Processor running at 80MHz
1MB Flash Memory
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
2 GPIO
3.3V Operation
Current Consumption: 100mA
I/O Voltage: 3.6V (max)
I/O source current: 12mA (max)
Supports serial communication hence compatible with many development platform like Arduino
Can be used as Station or Access Point or both combined
Can be programmed using Arduino IDE or AT-commands or Lua Script
The module has a red power LED and a blue LED to indicate data flow. The WiFi antenna is the meandering PCB trace that covers the end of the module.
The ESP8266�is a very user friendly device to provide internet connectivity to your projects.
The module requires 3.3V for power and is not 5V tolerant on its pins. If connecting to a 5V MCU, the RX pin of the ESP-01 module which is driven by the TX pin from the MCU should have a level shifter installed.
Built-in low power 32-bit MCU @ 80MHz
512kB Flash Memory
Supports Deep sleep (<10uA)
The module can work both as a Access point (can create hotspot) and as a station (can connect to Wi-Fi), hence it can easily fetch data and upload it to the internet making Internet of Things as easy as possible. It can also fetch data from internet using API’s hence your project could access any information that is available in the internet, thus making it smarter.
Another exciting feature of this module is that it can be programmed using the Arduino IDE which makes it a lot more user friendly. However this version of the module has only 2 GPIO pins (you can hack it to use upto 4) so you have to use it along with another microcontroller like Arduino, else you can look onto the more standalone ESP-12 or ESP-32 versions. So if you are looking for a module to get started with IOT or to provide internet connectivity to your project then this module is the right choice for you.
The module has a 2×4-pin header on the assembly.
2 x 4 Header:
GND� = Ground. Connect to ground on MCU
GPIO2 = General Purpose Digital I/O
GPIO0 = General Purpose Digital I/O
RX� = Receive Data. Connects to RX on MCU
TX = Transmit Data. Connects to TX on MCU
CH_PD� = Enable / Power Down. Must be pulled to 3.3V directly or via pull-up resistor to enable
RST� = Reset. Active low, must be pulled to 3.3V directly or via pull-up resistor
