Today the D1 mini board arrived from Aliexpress. This is the same NodeMCU, but much smaller and with fewer pins.
Both of these boards are based on the ESP8266 chip. The main advantages of these boards are built-in Wi-Fi and a MicroUSB connector. On their basis, you can make many smart home devices, including on the Arduino platform.
As examples of such devices, I can cite "Cloud thermometer in 10 minutes and 300 rubles" (https://ammo1.livejournal.com/1192892.html) and "Air quality monitoring station" (https://ammo1.livejournal.com/1114143.html). I in turn uploaded both firmwares to D1 mini and they work fine there.
An important difference between the D1 mini and the NodeMCU is that the NodeMCU pins are soldered at the factory, while the D1 mini does not.
For those who know how to solder, this is not a problem. But for those who assemble devices without a soldering iron on wires with Dupont connectors, NodeMCU is more suitable.
The D1 Mini comes with six connectors.
Connectors with long contacts are needed to install additional modules on the "second floor". For D1 mini sold
many such modules:Temperature, humidity, pressure sensors, as well as a breadboard.
Addressable LED, lithium battery power and charging module, power module, microSD card module, relay module, matrix LED panel module.
Motor control module, joystick module, OLED screen module.
All the main inputs / outputs that are on the NodeMCU are also on the D1 mini.
The cost of microcontrollers is almost the same: NodeMCU with tracked shipping on AliExpress Saver Shipping can be bought for $ 2.71, D1 mini for $ 2.55. However, there is also a D1 mini with trackless delivery for $1.91, then the envelope with it will simply be thrown into the mailbox, but such delivery can be very long.
For each application, you can choose which of the two boards is preferred. In many cases the smaller D1 mini will be more convenient.
© 2020, Alexey Nadezhin
You can contact me in Telegram @ ammo1 and by mail [email protected]For ten years I have been writing every day about technology, discounts, places of interest and events. Read my blog on the site ammo1.ru, in LJ, Zen, Mirtesen.
My projects:
Lamptest.ru. I test LED lamps and help figure out which ones are good and which are not so good.
Elerus.ru. I collect information about domestic electronic devices for personal use and share it.