Adafruit Feather Huzzah Esp8266
Adafruit Feather Huzzah Esp8266
Adafruit Feather Huzzah Esp8266
Guide Contents 2
Overview 4
Pinouts 8
Power Pins 9
Logic pins 9
Serial pins 9
I2C & SPI pins 10
GPIO pins 10
Analog Pins 11
Other control pins 12
NC Pins 12
Assembly 13
Header Options! 13
Soldering in Plain Headers 16
Prepare the header strip: 16
Add the breakout board: 17
And Solder! 17
Soldering on Female Header 19
Tape In Place 19
Flip & Tack Solder 20
And Solder! 21
Power Management 23
Battery + USB Power 23
Power supplies 24
Measuring Battery 24
ENable pin 25
Alternative Power Options 25
Using NodeMCU Lua 27
Open up serial console 27
Hello world! 28
Scanning & Connecting to WiFi 30
WebClient example 31
Using Arduino IDE 32
Install the Arduino IDE 1.6.8 or greater 33
Install the ESP8266 Board Package 33
Setup ESP8266 Support 34
Blink Test 36
Connecting via WiFi 37
If your sketch does not compile and returns error: 40
Using MicroPython 41
Downloads 42
Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like it's namesake it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We
designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores.
This is the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 - our take on an 'all-in-one' ESP8226 WiFi development board with built
in USB and battery charging. Its an ESP8266 WiFi module with all the extras you need, ready to rock! We have other
boards in the Feather family, check'em out here (https://adafru.it/jAQ).
To make it easy to use for portable projects, we added a connector for any of our 3.7V Lithium polymer batteries and
built in battery charging. You don't need a battery, it will run just fine straight from the micro USB connector. But, if you
do have a battery, you can take it on the go, then plug in the USB to recharge. The Feather will automatically switch
over to USB power when its available.
Measures 2.0" x 0.9" x 0.28" (51mm x 23mm x 8mm) without headers soldered in
Light as a (large?) feather - 6 grams
ESP8266 @ 80MHz or 160 MHz with 3.3V logic/power
4MB of FLASH (32 MBit)
3.3V regulator with 500mA peak current output
CP2104 USB-Serial converter onboard with 921600 max baudrate for uploading
Auto-reset support for getting into bootload mode before firmware upload
9 GPIO pins - can also be used as I2C and SPI
1 x analog inputs 1.0V max
Built in 100mA lipoly charger with charging status indicator LED
Pin #0 red LED for general purpose blinking. Pin #2 blue LED for bootloading debug & general purpose blinking
Power/enable pin
4 mounting holes
Reset button
GND - this is the common ground for all power and logic
BAT - this is the positive voltage to/from the JST jack for the optional Lipoly battery
USB - this is the positive voltage to/from the micro USB jack if connected
EN - this is the 3.3V regulator's enable pin. It's pulled up, so connect to ground to disable the 3.3V regulator
3V - this is the output from the 3.3V regulator, it can supply 500mA peak (try to keep your current draw under
250mA so you have plenty for the ESP8266's power requirements!)
Logic pins
This is the general purpose I/O pin set for the microcontroller. All logic is 3.3V
The ESP8266 runs on 3.3V power and logic, and unless otherwise specified, GPIO pins are not 5V safe! The
analog pin is also 1.0V max!
Serial pins
RX and TX are the serial control and bootloading pins, and are how you will spend most of your time communicating
with the ESP module
The RX pin is the input into the module and is 5V compliant (there is a level shifter on this pin)
These are connected through to the CP2104 USB-to-Serial converter so they should not be connected to or used
unless you're super sure you want to because you will also be getting the USB traffic on these!
In theory you can use any pins for I2C and SPI but to make it easier for people using existing Arduino code, libraries,
sketches we set up the following:
If you want, you can connect to I2C devices using other 2 pins in the Arduino IDE, by calling Wire.pins(sda, scl)
before any other Wire code is called (so, do this at the begining of setup() for example
Likewise, you can use SPI on any pins but if you end up using 'hardware SPI' you will want to use the following:
GPIO pins
All GPIO are 3.3V logic level in and out, and are not 5V compatible. Read the full spec sheet (https://adafru.it/f1E) to
learn more about the GPIO pin limits, but be aware the maximum current drawn per pin is 12mA.
These pins are general purpose and can be used for any sort of input or output. Most also have the ability to turn on an
internal pullup. Many have special functionality:
GPIO #0, which does not have an internal pullup, and is also connected a red LED. This pin is used by the ESP8266 to
determine when to boot into the bootloader. If the pin is held low during power-up it will start bootloading! That said,
you can always use it as an output, and blink the red LED - note the LED is reverse wired so setting the pin LOW will
turn the LED on.
GPIO #2, is also used to detect boot-mode. It also is connected to the blue LED that is near the WiFi antenna. It has a
pullup resistor connected to it, and you can use it as any output (like #0) and blink the blue LED.
GPIO #15, is also used to detect boot-mode. It has a pulldown resistor connected to it, make sure this pin isn't pulled
high on startup. You can always just use it as an output
GPIO #16 can be used to wake up out of deep-sleep mode, you'll need to connect it to the RESET pin
Also note that GPIO #12/13/14 are the same as the SCK/MOSI/MISO 'SPI' pins!
Analog Pins
There is also a single analog input pin called A. This pin has a ~1.0V maximum voltage, so if you have an analog
voltage you want to read that is higher, it will have to be divided down to 0 - 1.0V range
RST - this is the reset pin for the ESP8266, pulled high by default. When pulled down to ground momentarily it
will reset the ESP8266 system. This pin is 3.3V logic only
EN (CH_PD) - This is the enable pin for the ESP8266, pulled high by default. When pulled down to ground
momentarily it will reset the ESP8266 system. This pin is 3.3V logic only
NC Pins
The rest of the pins are labeled NC which means Not Connected - they are not connected to anything and are there as
placeholders only, to maintain physical compatibility with the other boards in the Feather line!
Header Options!
Before you go gung-ho on soldering, there's a few options to consider!
And Solder!
Be sure to solder all pins for reliable electrical contact.
Tape In Place
For sockets you'll want to tape them in place so when
you flip over the board they don't fall out
Don't power the Huzzah ESP8266 with a CanaKit 5V power supply, these power supplies have been
destroying the CP2104 chip.
The JST connector polarity is matched to Adafruit LiPoly batteries. Using wrong polarity batteries can destroy
your Feather
There's also a CHG LED next to the USB jack, which will light up while the battery is charging. This LED might also
flicker if the battery is not connected.
Power supplies
You have a lot of power supply options here! We bring out the BAT pin, which is tied to the lipoly JST connector, as
well as USB which is the +5V from USB if connected. We also have the 3V pin which has the output from the 3.3V
regulator. We use a 500mA peak low-dropout regulator. While you can get 500mA from it, you can't do it continuously
from 5V as it will overheat the regulator. We use this to power the ESP8266 which can draw spikes of 250+mA
(although its not continuous).
You should be able to budget about 250mA current available from the regulator, which will leave plenty for the WiFi
module.
Measuring Battery
If you're running off of a battery, chances are you wanna know what the voltage is at! That way you can tell when the
battery needs recharging. Lipoly batteries are 'maxed out' at 4.2V and stick around 3.7V for much of the battery life,
then slowly sink down to 3.2V or so before the protection circuitry cuts it off. By measuring the voltage you can quickly
tell when you're heading below 3.7V
ENable pin
If you'd like to turn off the 3.3V regulator, you can do that with the EN(able) pin. Simply tie this pin to Ground and it will
disable the 3V regulator. The BAT and USB pins will still be powered
If you need other ways to power the Feather, here's what we recommend:
For permanent installations, a 5V 1A USB wall adapter (https://adafru.it/duP) will let you plug in a USB cable for
reliable power
For mobile use, where you don't want a LiPoly, use a USB battery pack! (https://adafru.it/e2q)
If you have a higher voltage power supply, use a 5V buck converter (https://adafru.it/DHs) and wire it to a USB
cable's 5V and GND input (https://adafru.it/DHu)
Do not use alkaline or NiMH batteries and connect to the battery port - this will destroy the LiPoly charger and
there's no way to disable the charger
Do not use 7.4V RC batteries on the battery port - this will destroy the board
The Feather is not designed for external power supplies - this is a design decision to make the board compact and low
cost. It is not recommended, but technically possible:
Connect an external 3.3V power supply to the 3V and GND pins. Not recommended, this may cause unexpected
behavior and the EN pin will no longer. Also this doesn't provide power on BAT or USB and some
Feathers/Wings use those pins for high current usages. You may end up damaging your Feather.
Connect an external 5V power supply to the USB and GND pins. Not recommended, this may cause unexpected
behavior when plugging in the USB port because you will be back-powering the USB port, which could confuse
or damage your computer.
Lua is still a work in progress, so we strongly recommend visiting NodeMCU and updating your Lua version to the very
latest as they have the ability to make you the latest continuous build (https://adafru.it/wAq). Then follow their guide on
how to update Lua! (https://adafru.it/wAr)
The Lua interpreter runs on the ESP8266 and you can type in commands and read out the results over serial. In order
to upload code to the ESP8266 and use the serial console, connect any data-capable micro USB cable to the Feather
HUZZAH and the other side to your computer's USB port. Install the required CP2104 USB driver to have the
COM/Serial port appear properly (https://adafru.it/jCs)
Don't forget to visit esp8266.com for the latest and greatest in ESP8266 news, software and
gossip! (https://adafru.it/f1F)
Don't forget to install the USB driver for the CP2104 USB-to-Serial chip!
Connect up to the COM or Serial port used by your cable, at 9600 Baud
Make sure you have turned off any hardware handshake or flow control
Putty isn't good with pasting code in, so you may not be able to copy-n-paste!
Also make sure you have line endings set to CRLF "\r\n"
Use any serial console program you like, we just happen to be used to Putty!
If you don't get this message, first check that the red/blue leds flickered when you press the reset button. If they didnt,
make sure you've got the right baud rate selected in the software (9600)
Hello world!
Ok we can now turn on an LED. There is a red LED on each board, connected toGPIO #0
NodeMCU Lua's pinouts are not the same as the Arduino/gcc pinouts. We print the Arduino pinouts on the
board so watch out!
No pullups! 0 3
2 4
3 9
4 1
5 2
9 11
10 12
12 6
13 7
14 5
15 8
16 0
So to set the pin #0 LED on and off (which would be pin #3 in Lua) first make it an output:
gpio.mode(3, gpio.OUTPUT)
gpio.write(3, gpio.LOW)
gpio.write(3, gpio.HIGH)
You can make this a little more automated by running a longer script.
For longer text, pasting can be difficult as the lua interpreter needs a little delay time between characters and also
require CR-LF settings. For that reason you may want to paste each line and then hit return manually.
Note that since its in a loop, its not possible to get it to stop via the interpreter. To stop it, click the Reset button again!
This code halts the processor during the tmr.delay, a smarter way to blink an LED is to use the timer capability to set off
the LED control (code from here (https://adafru.it/wGA))
-- Pin definition
local pin = 3
local status = gpio.LOW
local duration = 1000 -- 1 second duration for timer
-- Initialising pin
gpio.mode(pin, gpio.OUTPUT)
gpio.write(pin, status)
-- Create an interval
tmr.alarm(0, duration, 1, function ()
if status == gpio.LOW then
status = gpio.HIGH
else
status = gpio.LOW
end
gpio.write(pin, status)
end)
Once you're back at the Lua prompt, set the ESP8266 into WiFi Client mode with
wifi.setmode(wifi.STATION)
Then you can run the scanner and have it print out the available AP's
-- print ap list
function listap(t)
for k,v in pairs(t) do
print(k.." : "..v)
end
end
wifi.sta.getap(listap)
wifi.sta.getap(listap)
We can connect to the access point with wifi.sta.config and wifi.sta.connect - it will take a second or two to complete
the connection, you can query the module to ask the status with wifi.sta.status() - when you get a 5 it means the
connection is completed and DHCP successful
wifi.sta.config("accesspointname","yourpassword")
wifi.sta.connect()
tmr.delay(1000000) -- wait 1,000,000 us = 1 second
print(wifi.sta.status())
print(wifi.sta.getip())
WebClient example
Once you're got the IP address you can connect to adafruit, for example, and read a webpage and print it out:
sk=net.createConnection(net.TCP, 0)
sk:on("receive", function(sck, c) print(c) end )
sk:connect(80,"207.58.139.247")
sk:send("GET /testwifi/index.html HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: www.adafruit.com\r\nConnection: keep-alive\r\nAccept: */*\r\n\r\n"
You can also have the module do DNS for you, just give it the hostname instead of IP address:
sk=net.createConnection(net.TCP, 0)
sk:on("receive", function(sck, c) print(c) end )
sk:connect(80,"www.adafruit.com")
sk:send("GET /testwifi/index.html HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: www.adafruit.com\r\nConnection: keep-alive\r\nAccept: */*\r\n\r\n"
This is just a light overview of testing out your HUZZAH ESP breakout! For much more, check out NodeMCU's
documentation page https://nodemcu.readthedocs.io/ (https://adafru.it/wGB) for the details on what functions are
available to you, as well as http://www.lua.org (https://adafru.it/f1N) to learn more about the Lua scripting language
While the Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 comes pre-programmed with NodeMCU's Lua interpretter, you don't have to use
it! Instead, you can use the Arduino IDE which may be more familar. This will write directly to the firmware, erasing the
NodeMCU firmware, so if you want to go back to Lua, use the flasher to re-install it (https://adafru.it/f1O)
Don't forget to visit esp8266.com for the latest and greatest in ESP8266 news, software and
gossip! (https://adafru.it/f1F)
In order to upload code to the ESP8266 and use the serial console, connect any data-capable micro USB cable to the
Feather HUZZAH and the other side to your computer's USB port.
Don't forget you will also need to install the SiLabs CP2104 Driver:
https://adafru.it/vrf
https://adafru.it/vrf
On Mac OS 10.13 and higher, in addition to installing, you will have to give the CP2104 kernel driver permission to load.
You can find out if you need to give additional permission by visiting your Security & Privacy settings system
preferences screen after installing and looking for the message that says, 'System software from developer "SiLabs"
was blocked from loading', like in the picture below.
If you are using Mac OS 10.12.6 (Sierra) and you cannot upload with the latest Mac OS VCP driver, please try
the legacy v4 driver below. Note you will need to uninstall the v5 driver using uninstall.sh (in the driver
package)
https://adafru.it/ymF
https://adafru.it/ymF
After the install process, you should see that esp8266 package is marked INSTALLED. Close the Boards Manager
window once the install process has completed.
For Upload Speed, select 115200 baud (You can also try faster baud rates, we were able to upload at a blistering
921600 baud but sometimes it fails & you have to retry)
Blink Test
We'll begin with the simple blink test
Enter this into the sketch window (and save since you'll have to)
void setup() {
pinMode(0, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(0, HIGH);
delay(500);
digitalWrite(0, LOW);
delay(500);
}
The sketch will start immediately - you'll see the LED blinking. Hooray!
/*
* Simple HTTP get webclient test
*/
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
delay(100);
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
Serial.print("Connecting to ");
Serial.println(ssid);
WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
Serial.println("");
Serial.println("WiFi connected");
Serial.println("IP address: ");
Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}
int value = 0;
void loop() {
delay(5000);
++value;
Serial.print("connecting to ");
Serial.println(host);
// Read all the lines of the reply from server and print them to Serial
while(client.available()){
String line = client.readStringUntil('\r');
Serial.print(line);
}
Serial.println();
Serial.println("closing connection");
}
to your access point and password, then upload the same way: get into bootload mode, then upload code via IDE
This page was just to get you started and test out your module. For more information, check out the ESP8266 port
github repository (https://adafru.it/eSH) for much more up-to-date documentation!
You are most liklely using Firmware Beta 2.5.0 for the ESP8266. This update breaks compatibility
with ArduinoHttpClient (which is used by Adafruit IO). The Adafruit IO Arduino library is currently unsupported by this
beta firmware. To get it working, we'll downgrade the firmware on the ESP8266 to a stable version.
Launch the Board Manager from Arduino by navigating to Tools -> Boards -> Board Manager. Type ESP8266 into the
search bar. From the dropdown, select version 2.4.2
Clicking install will uninstall the 2.5.0-beta and install a stable firmware version.
https://adafru.it/z4d
https://adafru.it/z4d
Don't forget to visit esp8266.com for the latest and greatest in ESP8266 news, software and
gossip! (https://adafru.it/f1F)
Schematic
Click to enlarge
Fabrication Print
I can't seem to find the Serial port on my computer for the Feather HUZZAH?
Don't forget to install the CP2104 VCP drivers for your computer, they are required!
I still can't seem to find the Serial port on my computer for the Feather Huzzah!
Many cheap electronics come with charge-only USB cables, which cause headaches later. Make sure you are using
a proper data/sync USB cable. If you find a cable that is charge-only (not data/sync also) throw it out so you don't
have the same problem again.
So, I’m getting a 'no such file' error compiling for ESP8266 on my Mac
If your error message looks like this:
fork/exec /Users/xxxxxxx/Library/Arduino15/packages/esp8266/tools/xtensa-lx106-elf-gcc/1.20.0-26-gb404fb9-
2/bin/xtensa-lx106-elf-g++: no such file or directory
Error compiling.
Whenever I start or reset the ESP8226 there's a bunch of "gibberish" on the Serial console
This is the ROM debug messages, it's transmitted at 74880 baud so you rarely see it in proper 'ascii output' - instead
usually it gets corrupted into a bunch of strange characters.
I'm having difficulties uploading to the HUZZAH with the Arduino IDE
I tried that, but I'm still having difficulties uploading with the Arduino IDE
Sometimes, it helps to switch the board type to "Generic ESP8266 Module". Set the Reset Method to "nodemcu"
(Note: you may also have to tie RST and EN (CH_PD) together to get this to work. Remove the connection once you
have the module programmed).