How it goes when I play IoT
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Let x be the number of IO pins required by your project. Let y be the number of IO pins available on your MCU. Step 1: x = y + 1 Step 2: Upgrade the MCU or add an IO Expander Step 3: Realize you can then add some cool functionality now you have more GPIO Step 4: Go to step 1
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Let x be the number of IO pins required by your project. Let y be the number of IO pins available on your MCU. Step 1: x = y + 1 Step 2: Upgrade the MCU or add an IO Expander Step 3: Realize you can then add some cool functionality now you have more GPIO Step 4: Go to step 1
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Let x be the number of IO pins required by your project. Let y be the number of IO pins available on your MCU. Step 1: x = y + 1 Step 2: Upgrade the MCU or add an IO Expander Step 3: Realize you can then add some cool functionality now you have more GPIO Step 4: Go to step 1
I'm honestly not sure how people run out of pins, when realistically you can connect like 5 devices to an SPI or I2C bus before it collapses due to line capacitance. I use the ESP32 for the lion's share of my projects, because it's hard to find a 512kB MCU with a dual core 240mhz processor. It's a sweet spot that allows me to perform magic, like True Type fonts with it, which makes all the difference in the world when it comes to presenting a user interface. You don't really need all the sensors in the world to do cool stuff. You just need to lock down your scope. If you need to do more, you probably need another MCU - make another IoT device. If you're running ESP32s you can use ESP-NOW to create a wireless mesh network with up to like 20 devices on it. (Or you can use WiFi or bluetooth or BLE)
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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Let x be the number of IO pins required by your project. Let y be the number of IO pins available on your MCU. Step 1: x = y + 1 Step 2: Upgrade the MCU or add an IO Expander Step 3: Realize you can then add some cool functionality now you have more GPIO Step 4: Go to step 1
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I'm honestly not sure how people run out of pins, when realistically you can connect like 5 devices to an SPI or I2C bus before it collapses due to line capacitance. I use the ESP32 for the lion's share of my projects, because it's hard to find a 512kB MCU with a dual core 240mhz processor. It's a sweet spot that allows me to perform magic, like True Type fonts with it, which makes all the difference in the world when it comes to presenting a user interface. You don't really need all the sensors in the world to do cool stuff. You just need to lock down your scope. If you need to do more, you probably need another MCU - make another IoT device. If you're running ESP32s you can use ESP-NOW to create a wireless mesh network with up to like 20 devices on it. (Or you can use WiFi or bluetooth or BLE)
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
Because as a hobbyist on a budget I have to stick to easily available devices. It does not help you can put more devices on the same bus if I can't easily source the devices for a single bus type. But yes, it looks like I have enough pins on the ESP32 - I started out assuming an ESP8266 would be more than enough, but once a SPI LCD eats a bunch of pins there isn't that much left (did not see any reasonable priced i2c transflective displays) :) Add an i2c for humidity, one-wire for temperature (in a "hostile" environment, so need a longer cable run to get the MCU out of there), rotary encoder, UART for reacting to a solar installation, a few relays, and a water level sensor or two - then it adds up.
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Because as a hobbyist on a budget I have to stick to easily available devices. It does not help you can put more devices on the same bus if I can't easily source the devices for a single bus type. But yes, it looks like I have enough pins on the ESP32 - I started out assuming an ESP8266 would be more than enough, but once a SPI LCD eats a bunch of pins there isn't that much left (did not see any reasonable priced i2c transflective displays) :) Add an i2c for humidity, one-wire for temperature (in a "hostile" environment, so need a longer cable run to get the MCU out of there), rotary encoder, UART for reacting to a solar installation, a few relays, and a water level sensor or two - then it adds up.
It certainly would on an ESP8266! Those are glorified bluetooth modules, more than MCUs.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.