Adafruit Huzzah32 Specs and More
ESP32 and ESP8266 microcontrollers each have their value. The Adafruit Feather Huzzah8266 is a great ESP8266-based microcontroller while its ESP8266 architecture. Additionally, Adafruit offers its Huzzah32 ESP32 Feather board. Learn all about the Adafruit Huzah32 Feather, from what it is to what it can do!
What is the Adafruit Huzzah32 ESP32?
The Adafruit Huzzah32 is an ESP32-based Feather. Built with an official WROOM32 module, the Huzzah32 sports an impressive spec sheet. It's got an onboard USB to serial converter, Lithium Ion/Polymer charger, automatic bootloader reset, and plenty of GPIO. Adafruit provides the Huzzah32 with pre-soldered headers or with stacking headers. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support makes the Huzzah32 a versatile microcontroller. It's powered by a dual-core ESP32 chip that's mated to 4MB of SPI flash.
Adafruit Huzzah32 ESP32 Specs
- 240 MHz dual-core Tensilica LX6 microcontroller with 600 DMIPS
- Integrated 520 KB SRAM
- Integrated 802.11b/g/n HT40 Wi-Fi transceiver, baseband, stack and LWIP
- Integrated dual mode Bluetooth (classic and BLE)
- 4 MByte flash include in the WROOM32 module
- On-board PCB antenna
- Ultra-low noise analog amplifier
- Hall sensor
- 10x capacitive touch interface
- 32 kHz crystal oscillator
- 3 x UARTs (only two are configured by default in the Feather Arduino IDE support, one UART is used for bootloading/debug)
- 3 x SPI (only one is configured by default in the Feather Arduino IDE support)
- 2 x I2C (only one is configured by default in the Feather Arduino IDE support)
- 12 x ADC input channels
- 2 x I2S Audio
- 2 x DAC
- PWM/timer input/output available on every GPIO pin
- OpenOCD debug interface with 32 kB TRAX buffer
- SDIO master/slave 50 MHz
- SD-card interface support
What can You do With an Adafruit Huzzah32 ESP32?
The Huzzah32 ESP32 is a fantastic development board. There's Feather Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) support. Outfitted with GPIO galore, the Huzzah32 Feather can interface with a bevy of different peripherals. And with Bluetooth as well as Wi-Fi support, the Huzzah32 is ideal for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
For instance, it's been used to power an artificial intelligence (AI) freezer monitor that utilizes machine learning to provide early equipment failure warnings. And it's been crammed into a mini MIDI controller for music-making on the go. Essentially, the Huzzah32 is a good option for any scenario where you need an energy-efficient microcontroller for embedded applications.
Should You Use an Adafruit Huzzah32 Feather - Who is the Adafruit Huzzah32 for?
The Adafruit Feather Huzzah32 is best for developers and programmers. Since all of Adafruit's Featherwings function flawlessly under the Arduino IDE, different inputs/outputs (I/O) such as SPI and I2C work perfectly. However, it's not as well-documented as, say, an Arduino microcontroller. As such, the Huzzah32 is better suited for intermediate and advanced applications rather than beginner-friendly projects.
Still, it's a solid microcontroller for many makers. If you need ample I/O and great connectivity on a budget, the Adafruit Huzzah32 is a spectacular choice. You can build anything from simple IoT projects to complex creations with ease. There's even battery connectivity for portable projects.
The Competition - MCUs to Consider Instead of the Huzzah32
If you need an ESP8266-based microcontroller, the Huzzah8266 is a good option. The SparkFun ESP32 Thing is an excellent Espressif ESP32 board that touts Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, and around 30 I/O pins.
DFRobot's Firebeetle is an ESP32 IoT MCU with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, dual power supply support, and Lipo battery charging capabilities. For ESP32 in a smaller form factor, the Beetle ESP32 is a tiny yet powerful ESP32 microcontroller that has good I/O for its size including four analog ports, four digital ports, I2C, and UART.
Adafruit ESP32 Huzzah32 Feather - Final Thoughts
Overall, the ESP32 Huzzah32 Feather is a good, cheap Espressif ESP32-based microcontroller. There's Arduino IDE compatibility alongside ample inputs and outputs for an MCU that can handle tons of different embedded applications. From Internet of Things and smart home projects to music-making, the Huzzah32 is an incredible MCU. While it's not the most beginner-friendly board, it's a terrific bit of kit to graduate to once you've mastered beginner-friendly microcontrollers.
Your turn: Which ESP32 MCUs do YOU recommend?
Ian Buckley is a writer, musician, and perpetual tinkerer. Commonly found surrounded by hobby electrical components, he's also a keen programmer and likes to build crazy-sounding instruments with microcontrollers. In addition to Electromaker, Ian writes over at MakeUseOf and has bylines at the likes of Online Tech Tips as well as Help Desk Geek.
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