NodeMCU is a low-cost open source IoT platform. It initially included

firmware In computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, h ...

which runs on the

ESP8266 The ESP8266 is a low-cost Wi-Fi microcontroller, with built-in TCP/IP stack, TCP/IP networking software, and microcontroller capability, produced by Espressif Systems in Shanghai, China. The chip was popularized in the English-speaking maker c ...

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

SoC from Espressif Systems, and hardware which was based on the ESP-12 module. Later, support for the

ESP32 ESP32 is a family of low-cost, energy-efficient microcontrollers that integrate both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. These chips feature a variety of processing options, including the Tensilica Xtensa LX6 microprocessor available in both dual-c ...

32-bit MCU was added.

Overview

NodeMCU is an open source firmware for which open source

prototyping A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

board designs are available. The name "NodeMCU" combines "

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...

" and "MCU" ( micro-controller unit). Strictly speaking, the term "NodeMCU" refers to the firmware rather than the associated development kits. Both the firmware and prototyping board designs are

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

. The firmware uses the Lua scripting language. The firmware is based on the eLua project, and built on the Espressif Non-OS SDK for ESP8266. It uses many open source projects, such as lua-cjson and SPIFFS, a flash file system for embedded controllers. Due to resource constraints, users need to select the modules relevant for their project and build a firmware tailored to their needs. Support for the 32-bit

has also been implemented. The prototyping hardware typically used is a circuit board functioning as a

dual in-line package In microelectronics, a dual in-line package (DIP or DIL) is an Semiconductor package, electronic component package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The package may be through-hole technology, throu ...

(DIP) which integrates a USB controller with a smaller surface-mounted board containing the MCU and antenna. The choice of the DIP format allows for easy prototyping on

breadboard A breadboard, solderless breadboard, or protoboard is a construction base used to build semi-permanent prototypes of electronic circuits. Unlike a perfboard or stripboard, breadboards do not require soldering or destruction of tracks and are h ...

s. The design was initially based on the ESP-12 module of the

, which is a Wi-Fi SoC integrated with a Tensilica Xtensa LX106 core, widely used in IoT applications (see related projects).

Types

There are two available versions of NodeMCU as version 0.9 & 1.0 where the version 0.9 contains ESP-12 and version 1.0 contains ESP-12E where E stands for "Enhanced".

History

NodeMCU was created shortly after the

came out. On December 30, 2013, Espressif Systems began production of the ESP8266. NodeMCU started on 13 Oct 2014, when Hong committed the first file of nodemcu-firmware to GitHub. Two months later, the project expanded to include an open-hardware platform when developer Huang R committed the gerber file of an ESP8266 board, named devkit v0.9. Later that month, Tuan PM ported MQTT client library from

Contiki Contiki is an operating system for networked, memory-constrained systems with a focus on low-power wireless Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Contiki is used for systems for street lighting, sound monitoring for smart cities, radiation monitori ...

to the ESP8266 SoC platform, and committed to NodeMCU project, then NodeMCU was able to support the MQTT IoT protocol, using Lua to access the MQTT broker. Another important update was made on 30 Jan 2015, when Devsaurus ported the u8glib to the NodeMCU project, enabling NodeMCU to easily drive LCD, Screen, OLED, even VGA displays. In the summer of 2015 the original creators abandoned the firmware project and a group of independent contributors took over. By the summer of 2016 the NodeMCU included more than 40 different modules.

Related projects

ESP8266 Arduino Core

As Arduino.cc began developing new MCU boards based on non- AVR processors like the ARM/SAM MCU used in the Arduino Due, they needed to modify the Arduino IDE so it would be relatively easy to change the IDE to support alternate toolchains to allow Arduino C/C++ to be compiled for these new processors. They did this with the introduction of the Board Manager and the SAM Core. A "core" is the collection of software components required by the Board Manager and the Arduino IDE to compile an Arduino C/C++ source file for the target MCU's machine language. Some ESP8266 enthusiasts developed an Arduino core for the ESP8266 WiFi SoC, popularly called the "ESP8266 Core for the Arduino IDE". This has become a leading software development platform for the various ESP8266-based modules and development boards, including NodeMCUs.

Pins

NodeMCU provides access to the GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) and a pin mapping table is part of the API documentation. D0 (GPIO16) can only be used for GPIO read/write. It does not support open-drain/interrupt/PWM/I²C or 1-Wire.

References

External links

* {{Ambient intelligence Open hardware electronic devices Internet of things Robotics hardware