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A newbie's guide to setup ESP8266 with Arduino Mega 2560 or Uno

by shinteo on December 21, 2014

Table of Contents
A newbie's guide to setup ESP8266 with Arduino Mega 2560 or Uno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Intro: A newbie's guide to setup ESP8266 with Arduino Mega 2560 or Uno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 1: Hardware needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 2: Software needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 3: A Pat on the back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 4: Methodology & Observations: Setup(s) that does not work/ does work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 5: Only have an Arduino Uno? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 6: References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

Author:shinteo

always two there are

Your focus determines your reality

Intro: A newbie's guide to setup ESP8266 with Arduino Mega 2560 or Uno
For any open source products to be successful or adoption en masse by the "makers"/ "DIY-ers" / "dev" / "etc"; an up-to-date and accurate documentation or quick start
guide has to be provided. User's posts in discussion forums are good, but the bits and bites of (usable) information are hidden in the troves, hiding deep inside irrelevant
comments/posts. This might discourage the faint-hearted from "looking harder" at the problem. After scouring the Internet to find some leads on why the setup via
"official" guide has failed, the good reads discovered are placed in the references section. From a seeming "easy" writeup on the SEEEDstudio official guide, it took many
hours trying to troubleshoot the setup to make it to work..
To save you from the frustrating moments, let's cut the chase and go straight to what works. If you are interested on what doesn't work, read between the lines or skip
the steps below till the "what works /does not work" section.
There are a few parameters that will make or break this setup. Due to unforeseen err in documentations/writeups, the following parameters that worked were result of
bruteforced effort.
The parameters relevant to this setup are
ESP8266 version
Choice of "matching" baudrate (e.g 9600, 57600, 115200) for 2 sets of serial comms: ESP8266<->Arduino, and Arduino<->USB serial monitor (hardware serial or
software serial)
Choice of 5v and 3.3v bridging circuitry between Arduino and ESP8266
Choice of Arduino Mega or Uno, that affect the availability of serial comms
Choice of terminal software
Choice of code for testing
Yours truly recommends Arduino Mega with ESP8266, using either logic level shifter or voltage divider, and Serial Monitor.
Assuming you only have an ESP8266 and an Arduino, trying to make ends meet without another FTDI breakout board for the softserial, you are not out of luck. Check
out the 2nd last page for the source code that uses RGB LED as indicator instead of softserial.
for the context/background info of this setup: http://shin-ajaran.blogspot.sg/2014/12/noobs-guide-to-esp8266-with-arduino.html

Step 1: Hardware needed

Hardware needed
0. ESP8266 aka ESP-01. This one is manufactured by SEEEDstudio. It runs off 3.3v only; can be powered off arduino's 3.3v pin or a separate supply with 3.3v and
500mA. Do not plug a 5V source to it.
1. break out board for ESP8266. This is made of a 4x4 veroboard, PCB headers, and jumper header. Be sure to score a line to separate the copper strips from shorting
the adjacent pins.
2. Serial comm options on Arduino(s)
ESP8266 and Arduino needs 2 serial comms; either 1 hardware 1 software or 2 hardware serial.
Arduino Mega is preferred because of the 4x hardware serial. The nett effect is serial0 can be used for monitoring on PC USB, serial1 or2 or 3 can be used for comms
between arduino and ESP8266 to issue the AT commands
or
Arduino Uno and a separate FTDI serial to USB breakout board. In the references section, some writeups suggested the limited baudrate on softserial affects the readout
of ESP8266 on serial monitor. (more about this later)
3. logic level shifter
Arduino speaks 5v and ESP8266 speaks 3.3v.

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

option A: plug directly the TX-RX pairs between arduino and ESP8266. If used, there is a risk of damaging both of them. You might get lucky for getting away with this?
How many times you can get lucky?
option B: use a voltage divider circuit to divide 5v source from Arduino to 3.3v source for ESP8266. Acceptable methods, definitely much better that plugging in directly.
URL for voltage divider calculation: https://www.abelectronics.co.uk/tools/resistor-vo... ; Vin is 5v, Vout is 3.3v (ish), enter either R1 or R2 with a resistor value available
at your disposal.
The following diagram describes the setup with a 330ohm and 180 ohm resistors (the only 2 resistors available on hand at the time of making) voltage divider circuit
option C: logic level shifter, e.g those sold by sparkfun. This method is highly recommended
4. wiring scheme
Rule of thumb: always check pin out diagram before wiring, ensure common ground, vcc and gnd are connected according to voltage specs. ESP8266 CH_PD aka chip
power down and RESET are connected to 3.3V for logic high; TX &RX pair for comms: ESP TX-> Arduino RX; ESP RX-> Arduino TX
Assuming using Arduino Mega Serial2 (pin #16 and #17), ESP8266, and logic level shifter by sparksfun.
logical wiring schematic
MEGA ------sparkfun logic shifter -------------ESP 8266
5V -------------HV
3.3V-----------LV
3.3V-------------------------------------------------------VCC, CH_PD,RESET
GND----------GND (both HV and LV)---------------GND
TX(#16) ------HV chn0 RX==LV chn0 RX---------RX
RX (#17) -----HV chn0 TX===chn0 TX--------------TX
the following diagram describes the wiring setup on a breadboard.

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

Step 2: Software needed

Note: baudrate must match on both ends of a pair of comms device.
There are 2 serial comms as mentioned earlier.
0.0. baudrate for Serial comms between Arduino and ESP8266 Some sources on the Internet (e.g the official manufacturer's guide) recommended 57600, some forum
posts recommended 115200. However the ESP8266 received (on dec14) was the latest version (0902) and the baudrate was set at 9600. Assuming all of the other
parameters held correct, changing of this baudrate is not much of an issue.
The following screenshot describes the ESP8266 software version in detail following a "correct" setup on both hardware and software. The main challenge is
troubleshooting uncertainty on the hardware setup and software parameters.
0.1 baudrate for serial comms between Arduino and USB monitor Assuming using hardware serial, any baudrate will do. Software serial has a limited baudrate of 19200.
0. terminal software Hyperterminal, Arduino Serial Monitor, CoolTerm, SSCOM
Assuming using the hardware & wiring identified earlier, Arduino Serial Monitor can be used to monitor the serial output. The USB port on Arduino is by default Serial0.
1. what to expect
Powering up the arduino and ESP8266 setup. The ESP8266 red led will light up, and flashes of blue LED during startup. use a wifi capable device, look for ssid
ESP_XYZABC; where XYZABC is the last 6 digit of the mac address of the ESP8266. By default ESP8266 start up in soft AP mode with DHCP, and any wifi capable

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

device can be associated to this soft AP and receive IP address of 192.168.4.XYZ

Congratulations, ESP8266 is alive (if survived any of the misfortunes happened earlier).
2. source code for testing ESP8266 with Arduino
The source code listed above merely copied data between 2 serial interfaces. Hence Serial Monitor can be used to enter AT commands via USB monitor on Serial0 to
ESP8266 on Serial2.
make sure the parameters highligted in red in the screenshot are set.
from the serial monitor window, enter AT and then press "send"; assuming all parameters are set accordingly, an "OK" will be replied by ESP8266.
to reset the ESP8266, enter AT+RST and then press "send". some random data will then appear, follow by "ready"
congratulations, ESP8266 is responding to some AT commands.
3. Source code for testing ESP9266 on an Arduino with Internet
An wireless router/AP is setup with the SSID "Edge", Security is set as "WEP", and DHCP. The WAN port of this AP is connected to the Internet. In the following diagram
ESP8266 is connected to the AP, and issued with a private IP. However, the WAN port on the AP does not have an IP assigned, hence there is no Internet access.
The modified source code for testing is available on gist
https://gist.github.com/teos0009/2f61b6b031a6eb35c...

Step 3: A Pat on the back

Congratulations for coming thus far!! After all the hassle, Now, let's make some IoT inspired devices with ESP8266!!
Check out the URLs and PDF in the references section on what are the cool AT commands and configs for ESP8266

Step 4: Methodology & Observations: Setup(s) that does not work/ does work
Official manufacturer's documentation which doesn't work out of the box for yours truly
http://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2014/09/11/getting... a few dependencies 1. the baudrate in the blog post is 57600 whereas the ESP82665 on hand is 9600, with no
mentioned or whatsoever w.r.t it in the blogpost of the manufacturer. 2. the CH_PD & RESET are not held at logic high in the blogpost of the manufacturer.
Methodology & Observations: Setup(s) that does not work/ does work
MCU: uno comm: serial0 only
code: "Examples->basic->BareMinimum"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 9600
D0 rx-> tx ESP8266 D1 tx-> RX ESP8266
Serial mon on Serial0; AT and then "send" => no response

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

//----------------------MCU: uno
comm: serial0 only
code: "Examples->basic->BareMinimum"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 9600
D0 rx-> tx ESP8266 D1 tx-> RX ESP8266
SSCom32 on Serial0; AT and then "send" => no response
//----------------------MCU: uno
comm: serial0 only
code: "serial0 setup with 9600"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 9600
D0 rx-> tx ESP8266 D1 tx-> RX ESP8266
SSCom32 on Serial0; AT and then "send" => no response
//----------------------MCU: uno
comm: serial0 only
code: "serial0 setup with 9600"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 9600
D0 rx-> tx ESP8266 D1 tx-> RX ESP8266
Serial mon on Serial0; AT and then "send" => no response
//----------------------MCU: uno
comm: serial0 only
code: "modified hello word with RGB indicator"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 9600
D0 rx-> tx ESP8266 D1 tx-> RX ESP8266
Serial mon on Serial0 can't used
//----------------------MCU: mega comm: serial0 only
code: "Examples->basic->BareMinimum"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 9600
D0 rx-> tx ESP8266 D1 tx-> RX ESP8266
Serial mon on Serial0; AT and then "send" => no response
//--------------------------

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

MCU: mega
comm: serial0 & serial2 for ESP8266
code: "copy s0<->s2"
en: 3.3v to ch_pd and REST
cct: voltage divider
baud s0: 115200 baud s2: 9600
D17 rx-> tx ESP8266 D16 tx-> RX ESP8266
Serial mon on Serial0; AT and then "send" => OK; AT+RST and then "send" => ready;
=========================================================

Step 5: Only have an Arduino Uno?

Assuming you only have an ESP8266 and an Arduino, trying to make ends meet without another FTDI breakout board for the softserial, you are not out of luck.
ESP8266 on Arduino Uno with voltage divider circuit using serial0 and RGB led as indicator. Note the broken pin header on the arduino in the diagram.
modified source code is available here
https://gist.github.com/teos0009/39d602dd809fd53ed...

Step 6: References
https://scargill.wordpress.com/2014/10/05/esp8266-working/
http://www.electrodragon.com/w/Wi07c http://blog.electrodragon.com/cloud-updating-your-wi07c-esp8266-now/ http://hackaday.io/project/3072/instructions
http://tminusarduino.blogspot.sg/2014/09/experimenting-with-esp8266-5-wifi-module.html
http://rancidbacon.com/files/kiwicon8/ESP8266_WiFi_Module_Quick_Start_Guide_v_1.0.4.pdf http://zeflo.com/2014/esp8266-weather-display/

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http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/

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Comments
5 comments

Add Comment

AJackOfAllTrades says:

Jan 3, 2015. 11:42 AM REPLY

For a real Arduino Newbie, would you please post a sketch of the schematic? Can't quite make out all of the connections from the photo. Great Instructable
BTW!

shinteo says:

Jan 4, 2015. 7:04 PM REPLY

hi jack,
look for the "schematic" under the "logical wiring schematic". not quite a schematic,but an ascii art representation; hopefully one could figure out what the
wiring and connections.

Akin Yildiz says:

Dec 22, 2014. 11:46 AM REPLY

very detailed instructables. i'm a true beginner and it took me a long time to figure out how to get live with this module. you cover all detailes in depth. thanks
a lot..

shinteo says:

Dec 22, 2014. 11:36 PM REPLY

thank you for your kind compliment. My guess we went though the same frustrations?? Let's help each other out one way or the other :)

Akin Yildiz says:

Dec 23, 2014. 1:49 PM REPLY

yes it took me a while to update the firmware, many failed attempts. thankfully there are many instructions now. the size and price of this module is
unmatched

http://www.instructables.com/id/noobs-guide-to-ESP8266-with-Arduino-Mega-2560-or-U/