ESP8266 Community Forum

Just saw this.
They put a STM8S003 inside the module and break STM8 GPIOs out. Only ESP8266 GPIO0 is accessible. The WiFi part runs AI flavor of AT firmware.
Wonder how they came to that decision?

Don't believe it just can't see it !

Mainstream Value line 8-bit MCU with 8 Kbytes Flash, 16 MHz CPU, integrated EEPROM

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The STM8S003F3/K3 value line 8-bit microcontrollers offer 8 Kbyte Flash program memory, plus integrated true data EEPROM. They are referred to as low-density devices in the STM8S microcontroller family reference manual (RM0016).

TheSTM8S003F3/K3 value line devices provide the following benefits: performance, robustness and reduced system cost.

Device performance and robustness are ensured by true data EEPROM supporting up to 100000 write/erase cycles, advanced core and peripherals made in a state-of-the-art technology at 16 MHz clock frequency, robust I/Os, independent watchdogs with separate clock source, and a clock security system.

The system cost is reduced thanks to a high system integration level with internal clock oscillators, watchdog, and brown-out reset.

Full documentation is offered as well as a wide choice of development tools.

Baoshi wrote:Wonder how they came to that decision?

An 8-bitter with a 10 times faster and fatter (RAM) 32-bit radio...

Or what did I miss?

THAT was a decission?
Not an accident?
That makes this case even more suspicious...

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe wrote:He rooted around again in the knotted up towel but there were no more letters.
''You mean that's it?'' said Ford.
''That's it.''
''Six by nine. Forty-two.''
''That's it. That's all there is.''

Strange bits exist!

gotta link?

Based just on what's mentioned in this thread, it's not a bad idea. If you've been on this ride since last fall, you know that much of the initial action was around the ESP-8266 as a wifi 'connector' for other systems, using the preloaded AT firmware via serial. As part of my learning process, I wrote python Http client and server apps using the AT firmware... and they worked great. Most of us have now focussed on writing custom firmware, but the AT stuff is still quite suitable for many (perhaps most) of real-world IoT applications.

Also, this forum is full of people moaning about the lack of available GPIO on the ESP boards... soldering hair-fine wires right to the ESP itself, trying to figure out how to repurpose other pins like reset, serial, flash, SD-card as GPIO... Note also that alot of the other wifi parts in this space, like the Spark Core and Photon, all have lots of GPIO.

So... a board with the same footprint but alot more GPIO? And (presumably) providing much-simplified implementations of http client or server functionality, or other modes like mqtt? Good idea.