miniEsp is a practical and powerful upgrade to the ESP-01, offering more I/O options and better voltage protection, all while maintaining compatibility with the existing ESP-01 pin header format.

Overview

The miniEsp is my solution to the limitations of the ESP-01 module. One of the biggest issues I faced with the ESP-01 was its lack of I/O pins, having only 2 I/O pins made it too restrictive for many of my projects. I wanted a more capable, versatile version of the ESP-01, so I designed the miniEsp. A larger, more powerful version based on the popular ESP-12F module.

The miniEsp provides 8 I/O pins, which significantly expands its capabilities compared to the ESP-01. With 8 I/O pins, the miniEsp gives me more flexibility and options, making it a great choice for a wider variety of IoT and richer applications.

Voltage Regulator

The key concerns when designing miniEsp with ESP8266-based boards like the ESP-01 or ESP-12F is power compatibility. I often use 5V power sources which can risk the ESP8266’s voltage tolerance. To solve this, i added the commonly and widely known ME6211 LDO to the miniEsp. This chip ensures that the ESP-12F receives a safe 3.3V supply, even when powered by 5V sources, preventing potential damage to the module and improving overall reliability.

Comparison

Despite the increased size, the miniEsp keeps the same pin header format as the ESP-01, which means it is still compatible with existing projects that use the ESP-01’s pinout. This ensures that it can be easily integrated into new and existing setups without requiring significant changes to my hardware design.

References

• ESP-12F Datasheet
• ME6211 Datasheet