CoRE is a hackable, easy to use ESP8266 development kit. It fits into a USB-A port like a memory stick.
Designed with size in mind, it is one of the smallest ESP8266 development boards in the world, but also one of the most capable.
At its heart, CoRE has an ESP8266-07 module at 160Mhz developed by Espressif Systems & AI-Thinker. It provides CoRE with support for the TCP/IP protocol stack and the IEEE 802.11 B/G/N standard for WiFi communication.
A useful feature of the CoRE is its MicroSD card support, making it a very capable IoT data-logger; for example, it can continue data harvesting without any internet connectivity, later to upload the stored data to a cloud server once a connection is established (documentation under development – will include sample sketches for a data-logging example). Alternatively, it can be used to store your larger project sketches – its your choice!
CoRE has an integrated serial converter so it can be directly programmed via the USB-A port on a PC. It can be programmed directly by the Arduino IDE or any REPL environment that supports serial port communication with baud and NL/CR selection. Firmware updates are easy to run, as all that’s required is connecting the two external headers together – same as how you would normally program it.
With on-board power regulation, you don’t have to worry about your SD card being damaged, but external sensors must be running at 3V3 or if not, must first be directed through appropriate logic level converters.
Available from April 2018. Register your interest for free at rXTX now!
Very nice, maybe you should have included schematic with this ESP8266 USB PCB in the article.
Thank you Richard! There is an Eagle board layout on the website (https://rxtx.weebly.com/core.html) at the bottom of the page so feel free to download it. I’ll see if I can get a link to it here.
I am not a fan of auto routers, if you look at this PCB layout it is obvious its auto routed, lots of funny connections all over the place, if this is going to be a product for sale, maybe you should fix the routes to be more proper.
@Tim Thanks for that, I’ll see if I can make it cleaner 🙂
For anyone interested, the most up-to-date design of the CoRE prior to fabrication can be found at https://aisler.net/raihaan123/rxtx-products/core-esp8266-development-stick – feel free to suggest improvements here or on the rXTX website
All the latest design modifications prior to release of CoRE can be found at https://aisler.net/raihaan123/rxtx-products/core-esp8266-development-stick
I have the desire to get the possibility of downloading and replacing esp8266-07 for programming a large number of pieces without soldering.
This board will serve as an ESP chip programming tool, or a programmer.
After programming I would like Esp8266-07 solder on the board of my project.
Is this idea possible?
Yes, but you need to modify the CoRE’s PCB design – instead of pads you need headers that match the pin layout of the ESP-07 so that the ESP can be removed easily without having to solder the module to CoRE every time you need to program. But it can be slightly loose as not all the pins may contact the headers – position the pair of headers slightly closer on the board to make sure the headers bend to contact the pins.
If you (or anyone reading) need further help or want me to design the customised PCB and assembled, you can reply here or on the contact form at http://rxtx.weebly.com/
Kewl! I designed a nice Esp12-e board for dev.-
http://piwifio.com/3-WayX-Ray.png
Why don’t you write an article about your devices?? You can add it to everythingESP.com once you sign up.
Nice! I suppose the reason I didn’t use the -12E was because it had a PCB trace antennae – I did want to save space in the CoRE, so I picked the -07 which has a ceramic antenna.
Anyone know anything about the ESP-100 modules available from DOIT? It seems compatible with the -07 but are there any major differences other than the amount of flash available?