Connecting esp8266 using Arduino

Question

I am trying to connect to esp8266 using Arduino UNO. There are various things on the internet having mixed information and hence I am seeking some clarity.

I followed these instructions, but could not get to connect to ESP8266 using AT command. http://cordobo.com/2300-flash-esp8266-01-with-arduino-uno/

I have following questions:

• Can I connect ESP8266 directly to Tx/Rx without voltage divider or level shifter? I also suspect that the voltage divider connections are wrong. As per my understanding, the Tx from Arduino should be divided, and the divider output should be connected to ESP8266.
• When I connected the shield as described, the shield gets hot. Is there any way to conclude if the shield is damaged or not?
• When I connect the device using voltage divider the blue LED on the shield also lights up. Without divider, it does not light up. What is the significance of the blue LED?

Hardware

ESP8266-01 pinout

Esp8266-01 pinout

Circuit using voltage divider

Flashing with Voltage Divider

Circuit without voltage divider

Flashing without Voltage Divider

• user31481: Which connection method did you use? There are several in the page you referenced. Better, post your schematic.
• Manish Sapariya: I tried both the methods. The one without voltage divider (section 3.2) and the one with voltage divider (Section 3.1). I could not get the AT commands work with either method. When I connect using voltage divider the blue LED was turned on. When connecting without voltage divider the blue LED did not light.

Answer 1

There are a number of issues with the tutorial you've listed there.

Firstly, a voltage divider is very highly recommended as the ESP8266 cannot handle more than 3.3V, however, the connections for the voltage divider in the tutorial you linked to are the wrong way round (as you suspected).

Secondly, you cannot power the ESP8266 directly from the Arduino, as the power requirements are higher than the Arduino's on board 3.3V regulator. A separate power supply or regulator is recommended. This might be cause of it getting hot (the onboard regulator maybe - but I can't be sure as there is not enough information from your initial post as to exactly what is getting hot).

There are 2 LED's on the ESP8266 shield (the one used in the tutorial you've linked to) one is power and the blue one is wifi communication.

The other potential issue with the tutorial you've linked to is that they have used Arduino pins 0 and 1 to connect to the ESP8266 - while this will work, the problem is that the Arduino uses pins 0 and 1 to communicate over USB with a computer, which means that in in that configuration you cannot use Serial monitor to send/receive data.

• Manish Sapariya: Thanks for the confirmation about the voltage divider. I did try with Arduino 3.3V output and surprisingly it was shiled that was getting hot and not Arduino.
• Code Gorilla: If you don't use Arduino 0 and 1 then you can use SoftwareSerial, but that can not support high data rates. 9600 is usually OK, I don't know about higher.
• MatsK: Arduino Tx — resistor (1/3) — tap to ESP-01 Rx — resistor (2/3) – GND
• Manish Sapariya: @holmez Do I need to do same for Rx pin well?
• Holmez: @ManishSapariya You only need to do it for the Arduino Tx, because you're changing the transmission voltage from 5V to 3.3V. The ESP8266 will transmit at 3.3V, which the Arduino is happy with.

Answer 2

I'm working with ESP-12S which use ESP8266 recently.

My main goal is to use UART-WIFI passthrough mode, so I only need VCC, RX, TX, GND.

These are the steps I take:

1. Use USB to TTL converter to link WIFI module to PC for WIFI configuration. (two USB converter were used for power issue)

enter image description here

2. On PC I used minicom to open the USB serial. Use AT commands(espressif.com/sites/default/files/documentation/4a-esp8266_at_instruction_set_en.pdf) to config WIFI module:

   AT+RESTORE // restores the factory default settings

   AT+GMR // checks version information

   AT+RST // restarts the module

   AT+CWMODE_DEF=1 // set station mode

   AT+CWJAP_DEF="APname","password" // connect to AP

   AT+CWDHCP_DEF=1,1 // set station mode with DHCP

   AT+CWAUTOCONN=1 // auto connect

   AT+CIFSR // show local IP

   AT+PING="10.0.1.1" // ping network gate

   AT+CIPSTART="TCP","10.0.1.116",2048 // setup TCP to server

   AT+CIPMODE=1 // set UART-WIFI passthrough mode

   AT+CIPSEND // enter UART-WIFI passthrough mode

   AT+SAVETRANSLINK=1,"10.0.1.116",2048,"TCP" // save configuration in WIFI module

3. After configuration, hook WIFI module to Arduino (actully I'm using stm32, but it's the same) UART pins. When power on, the WIFI module will automatically connet to AP and setup TCP link to server and enter UART-WIFI passthrough mode.

enter image description here

4. If you want to exit UART-WIFI passthrough mode, send '+++' on UART end, without '\r\n' and '+++' must be sent continuously (type '+++' in minicom won't work).

as for your questions,

1. Voltage divider is used, but pay attention to RXD TXD link problem. (RXD to TXD, TXD to RXD)

2. My WIFI module also gets hot, but working properly.

3. I don't know the blue LED's function, but I did remember reading about it some where, maybe in the documentation.

Answer 3

Some ESP boards are 5v tolerant on the digital pins, some aren't. So it depends on what board you have, I don't think the one in the tutorial is.

If you are using serial to communicate the a resistor divider will not work. You need a proper level shifter, which you should be able to get for less than a 1ドル. Remember you will probably need to down shift the Tx from the Arduino and Up Shift the RX to the Arduino.

• Majenko: A resistor divider will work as long as the resistors are low enough, but not too low, resistance. I found 1K + 2K worked, but 10K + 20K didn't.
• dandavis: what do you mean by "some are, some aren't" 5v tolerant? Which ones are which? where did you find such information?
• Code Gorilla: @dandavis - The ESP8266 chip data sheet says that the GPIO pins only accept 3.3v max (download.arduino.org/products/UNOWIFI/…), but I know the Node Lua and Wemos D1 are 5v tolerant (well they didn't burn). I don't have a definitive list, in fact I would even stake a donut on the fact that all Wemos D1s are 5v tolerant, because there are so many different designs of the "same thing"
• dandavis: looking at the D1's schematic, the GPIOs are almost all wired straight-through to the 12F module, which would imply all 12Fs share the property. I believe it comes down to quality/die luck: the only one (of dozens) i've had that was noticeably finicky w/ 5v components was one that also froze when "overclocked" to 160. The main issues likely stem from too much heat, and a D1 probably dissipates heat better than an ESP01, commanding more volume in an enclosure if nothing else...
• Code Gorilla: I agree, I suspect they should all be 3.3, but sometimes you get away with it :)