Introduction: NodeMCU ESP8266 ESP12E DevKit & Arduino IDE (Simple IoT Prototyping)
NodeMCU DevKit is a WiFi embedded microcontroller board, effective in building IoT(Internet of Things) prototypes.
Its has ESP8266-ESP12E WiFi based SoC(System on Chip) with NodeMCU firmware.
In this instructable we gonna see in detail about this board and adding this board to your Arduino IDE.
Step 1: What Is NodeMCU?
NodeMCU is an open-source firmware and development kit that helps you to prototype your IOT product within a few Lua script lines.
OFFICIAL LINK- CLICK HERE
Step 2: What Is ESP8266 Modules?
The ESP8266 is a low-cost Wi-Fi chip with full TCP/IP stack and microcontroller capability produced by Shanghai-based Chinese manufacturer, Espressif.
The chip first came to the attention of western makers in August 2014 with the ESP-01 module, made by a third-party manufacturer, AI-Thinker.
NodeMCU DevKit has ESP12E module.
Espressif System official website- CLICK HERE
AITHINKER blog- CLICK HERE
ESP8266 Feature:
802.11 b/g/n protocol*Wi-Fi Direct (P2P),soft-AP*Integrated TCP/IP protocol stack*Integrated TR switch, balun, LNA, power amplifier and matching network*Integrated PLL, regulators, and power management units*+19.5dBm output power in 802.11b mode*Supports antenna diversity*Power down leakage current of < 10uA*Integrated low power 32-bit MCU*SDIO 2.0, SPI, UART*STBC, 1x1 MIMO, 2x1 MIMO*A-MPDU & A-MSDU aggregation & 0.4μs guard interval*Wake up and transmit packets in < 2ms*Standby power consumption of < 1.0mW (DTIM3)
Step 3: ESP8266 ESP12E
ESP-12E are altogether 16 pin counts, The external size of the module is 16mm *24 mm *3mm .The type of Flash integrated in this module is an SPI flash, the capacity of which is 4 MB,the package size of which is SOP-210mil.The antenna applied on this module is a 3DBi PCB-on-board antenna.
Step 4: Boards Variants
First board from NodeMCU was V0.9 followed by V1.0.
For detailed comparison- CLICK HERE
Step 5: Amica Vs Lolin
Amica boards are official an others like Lolin are just clones.Clones may come with additional features like Vin pins.
Step 6: Pin Diagram of NodeMCU DevKit
There are some pins in the board that are RESERVED(unused).
The boards has CP2102 USB to UART bridge.
Step 7: Programming NodeMCU Board With Arduino IDE
Arduino is a simple prototyping platform that is popular among many electronics hobbyist, makers and engineers. Make sure you have the latest Arduino IDE version i.e >1.6.5, if not download it from HERE
Download the driver for the board CP2102 Driver(click this).
Open the IDE follow these steps,
Click to Files>Preference> copy and paste the URL
http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json to Additional Boards Manager URL.
Now download esp8266 boards in Tools>Board>Board manager, and select Nodemcu V1 board.
