I designed my servo controller around the PIC 16F18326. Then on the Element14 site, I see the dreaded words – Available for back order, Awaiting Delivery by 7/08/23! It is not often that calculating the wait involve the year. On the other hand, ESP based modules are an ebay/aliexpress click away. So I decided to redesign my circuit around the ESP chipset. Which brings me to the well known The Amazing $1 Microcontroller article. So how do the ESP chips stack up as an Amazing $1 µC?
Most ESP chips need an external flash chip. The exception is the ESP8285 that requires just an external crystal. So this is the chip that participates in this competition. To start with, is it really a $1 uC? Not really. It is basically a wifi chip, so it does need an external crystal. In quantities of 10, the ESP8285 bare chip is available on Aliexpress for under US$0.80. An external crystal adds about 12 cents – this is just under the $1 limit. So let us persevere and take a quick look at how it rates.
