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Updated Mini ESP32s3 Device Build (markdown)
rstrouse
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## Backstory
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Well I have many ESPSomfy RTS devices and many different ESP32 versions. In testing different boards for compatibility, I bought some Xiao Mini ESP32s3 boards to try them out. Along, with the s3s I bought a few C3s and S2s all in the mini form factor. A few of these boards use external WiFi antennas and some use little ceramic antennas. In testing, all of them performed well. Those with the ceramic antennas had weaker WiFi reception but it was adequate if the WiFi network was good.
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The Xiao S3 however comes with an external sticker antenna for the WiFi. Even in places where I expected to have spotty connectivity it performed exceedingly well and the WiFi is solid. This little bugger is tiny for a size comparison see the pic below. The ESP32-WROOM module is on the left and the Xiao Mini ESP32s3 is on the right. The quarter is there for size comparison since that is about all the value it has these days.
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## The Moonshot
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Intrigued by the size of the little bugger, I decided that I would try my hand at miniaturization. The goal was to create the smallest ESPSomfy RTS device that I could without the benefit of a 3d printer or designing a PCB for it. After all I have a bunch of breadboards laying around. The goal was to make something as tiny as I could so just in case I decided to build a rocket to the moon I could take it with me while still having room for a couple of bottles of Scotch.
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## Parts List
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Digging around in my miscellaneous parts I came up with what I needed. Below is a pic of what I used and I created a table below to give a better description of what these items are and what they are used for. Again the quarter is only in the pic for reference. The numbers are not needed either so no need to make a bunch of numbers. What isn't shown in the pic is the wire I used to 28awg silicone wire. I used this wire because I have 10 different colors of it and silicone wire is very bendy so it can be pushed into tight spaces although any small gauge wire would do.
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The quarter is only there for size reference and the numbers were superimposed on the picture after it was taken. No need to get your hands on any of these items. The numbers are for reference to table below the pic.
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| # | Part | Description | Sourcing |
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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
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| 1 | ABS Box | 58 x 35 x 15mm ABS box. | I bought a pack of 5 of these from Amazon |
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| 2 | Breakout board | I had a Raspberry Pi breakout board laying around and figured why not. It has a section on it that nicely fit the ESP32 that I could solder the wires for the transceiver onto. More on this later. | You do not need this particular board but that is what was what I had laying around. |
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| 3 | E07-M1101D Module | I have collected many of these little modules and had this sitting around in the parts. | You can find these all over the interweb. Search for E04-M1101D |
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| 4 | ESP32s3 Mini | I used a Xiao ESP32s3 Mini for this build it is tiny, powerful and has that cool little WiFi antenna sticker. This is the basic version. You do not need the Sense or the camera version. | Another Amazon item |
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| 5 | Pin Header | The Xiao ESP32s3 does not come with pin headers. You will need a strip of 2.54mm single row header to solder the ESP32 to our breakout board. | I had these laying around but you can source them from lots of places |
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## Preparing for Assembly
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This build required a few steps for assembly. Most notably as you can see the breakout board I used will not fit in the ABS box. You will need to cut it down to fit. I also carefully removed the pins from E07-M1101D so it would fit into the tiny box.
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### Cut the Breadboard
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I carefully cut the breadboard so that it would fit tightly into the dimensions of the ABS box. In the pic below you can see where I cut the board so that it fit into the box and the separation between the pins could be on each side of the ESP32. My goal for using and cutting this board like I did so I could easily solder the wires to the E07-M1101D onto the section between the pin headers. Once you have cut the breadboard make sure it fits inside the ABS box.
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### Remove the E07-M1101D Pins
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The pins on the E07-M1101D had to be removed. These pins are too tall to fit within the ABS box. I suppose I could have used a larger box but that might take up space for Scotch on my moon journey. There is a trick to this as you do not want to damage the module pull out these pins. Take your time and do not try to force the pins out of the board.
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Begin by heating your iron and heating each pin from the top of the board while applying light pressure to the pin to push it flush. If a pin doesn't want to push flush go on to the next one. Eventually they will start to work their way through the board. Take care not to damage the board with your iron.
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Once the pins are flush you can now pull the remainder of the pin out using needlenose pliers. Don't force it if the pin is resisting, try another pin. The plastic part of the head is likely menacing you, eventually it will loosen against the pin. The more pins that get removed the easier it will become.
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After getting the pins removed you can use some solder removal braid to clean up the excess solder. If you do not have any braid it also works to take a thin solid wire, heat the hole and push the wire through the hole where the pin used to be. I used a leg of wire from an LED that I had in the e-scrounge. We are doing this so that we can simply push the connector wire into the transceiver for soldering.
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### Mount the Headers
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We are first going to mount the headers to the board we cut down. The location where I soldered the headers for mine is outlined in red below. I wanted the USB to be positioned as close to one edge of the box as possible but you can place these where you like. Just be sure that the spacing between them is the width of the ESP32s3. We are going to be mounting the ESP32 to the side where the long pins are located. The short side of the header should be pushed into the board and soldered from the back side. In the end you want the plastic part of the header to create a space (raceway) for the wires to route between the ESP32s3 and the breakout board.
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### Solder E07-M1101D
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I used 28awg silicone wire to connect the transceiver to the breadboard. I found it easiest to solder the wire first to the transceiver then solder it to the breadboard. If you have the wire colors that I have you can use the color coding below but if you do not I would suggest making a chart of your own and record which color wire you soldered to which pin on the transceiver.
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| Pin | Color | ESP32 | Description |
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| --- | ----- | ----- | -------- |
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| 7 | White | GPIO8 | MISO |
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| 8 | Yellow | GPIO4 | GDO2 - RX Pin |
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You want the wires coming out of the top of the board. If you examine the transceiver you will notice that the antenna is offset a bit so in order for it to lay flat in the bottom of the ABS box I routed the wire from top and soldered from the back. The top face of the board is the side with the screen printing.
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I cut one 4inch length of wire of each color (8 pieces) then carefully matched them to the pin number below. Once I got all of the wires soldered to the transceiver I used a short piece of shrink tube to keep them together. I did this so that it was less likely to stress any one wire while soldering them to the board or handling during assembly.
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