ESP32: Wi-Fi + Bluetooth on one chip
How the ESP32 connects to Wi-Fi and why it runs at 3.3 V, not 5 V.
Turn on an LED from your phone? Meet the ESP32 📶💡
1️⃣ ONE CHIP: two cores at 240 MHz, 520 KB of RAM, plus Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth radios — all in one tiny chip. The zig-zag line on the board is its antenna.
2️⃣ JOINS YOUR WI-FI: WiFi.begin("Home", "pass123"); connects it to your home router just like a phone. It gets an IP address (like 192.168.1.42), your phone sends a tap, and the blue LED on GPIO2 turns on.
3️⃣ CAREFUL — 3.3 V PINS: ESP32 pins are NOT 5 V safe. 5 V from a sensor can kill a pin. Fix: a 1 kΩ + 2 kΩ voltage divider turns 5 V into 3.3 V (5 × 2/3 ≈ 3.33 V).
📌 One chip, wireless everything.
Read the voiceover (transcript)
- Turn on an LED from your phone?
- Meet the ESP32: two fast cores, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, on one chip!
- WiFi dot begin joins your router, like a phone. Tap, and the LED turns on!
- But careful: its pins run on three point three volts. Five volts can kill a pin!
- One chip, wireless everything!
- Next: Raspberry Pi Pico! Follow for lesson five!
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