- 2022
- Oct
- 9
The SwitchBOARd, a general purpose I/O device using the ESP-03.
When I was spinning up a number of ESP-01 devices, and before I found out how much RF noise they put out, I started exploring some of the other devices that were available in the ESP family. Specifically, the ESP-02 (A SMT version of the ESP-01, hard to get) and the ESP-03.
This board was designed to be a general purpose I/O board where you could read or write three individual bits and monitor those bits for control or notification purposes. Specifically, this was designed as a door open/closed device for garages. The ESP-03 was chosen because it was small, had a built-in ceramic antenna, and had the required number of I/O pins. It also looks kind of cool.
The board featured an onboard programming port and switch, a regulated power supply with a temperature monitor for the regulator, and indicators for all of the I/O. If desired, a passthru for the power supply could be placed, as to provide power for another board of this series without needing a regulator and extra supply.
Ultimately, I never could get the ESP-03 to take a program properly, and had just started to investigate why when I found out how bad these devices were at 320MHz. This board is one of two prototypes I built, the other having been sacrificed to the prototype gods during troubleshooting. Some other WiFi devices have shown up on the market, so this board may live again someday.
The boar outline found it’s way on to other projects, including this blog - and this is where the main page gets it’s name: Red Boar Design.
