Technology is advancing at a rate that is almost impossible to keep up with these days. The internet community is still getting used to the ESP8266, which is a $10 programmable Wi-Fi enabled MCU with GPIO pins and a broad peripheral set. So while this board is still cooling down from the production line, the company behind the ESP8266, Esspressif have announced a new board called the ESP 32. It builds on the ESP8266 in every way including beefed up specs, Wi-Fi and most importantly; Bluetooth LE (4.2) connectivity. This board can be used as a standalone microcontroller, or as the connectivity hub for your platform of choice over serial, I2C or SPI communication. Bear in mind that like the ESP8266, the tool chain and supporting software is a bit light on so it’ll require some time for the broader community to create a maker friendly space for it before it becomes truly universally usable for DIY project.
Both Sparkfun and Adafruit have put considerable effort into working with these modules to make them available to makers everywhere. Ladyada has created a great video of her experience getting started with the ESP32 breakout board.
Jimbo from Sparkfun has spent a fair amount of hands on time with both chips from Esspressif and has written a great article on his experience and what to look forward to with these platforms. Check out his write up here.
This blog can also be read here.
