ESP-01 and ESP-01S Pinout and Configuration

A picture of an ESP-01 module showing the pinout. — Figure 1. ESP-01 ESP8266 Microcontroller Board Pinout

ESP-01 and its latest version ESP-01S are popular microcontrollers with Wi-Fi networking capabilities. They are part of the ESP8266 family of microcontrollers manufactured by Espressif Systems. In this article, we will learn the ESP-01 and ESP-01S pinout and configuration in actual applications.

ESP-01 Wi-Fi Module Specifications

Power Supply:
Voltage 3.0V ~ 3.6V
Current >300mA

Current Consumption:
Continuous Transmission: Average: ~ 71mA, Peak: 300mA
Modem Sleep: ~20mA
Light Sleep: ~2mA
Deep Sleep: ~0.02mA

SPI Flash Memory:
Default 8Mbit (1MB)

Interface:
UART/GPIO

IO Port:
2

UART Baud Rate:
Support 300 ~ 4608000 bps
Default 115200 bps

Frequency Range:
2412 ~ 2484MHz

Transmit Power:
802.11b: 16±2 dBm (@11Mbps)
802.11g: 14±2 dBm (@54Mbps)
802.11n: 13±2 dBm (@HT20, MCS7)

Receiving Sensitivity:
CCK, 1 Mbps : -90dBm
CCK, 11 Mbps: -85dBm
6 Mbps (1/2 BPSK): -88dBm
54 Mbps (3/4 64-QAM): -70dBm
HT20, MCS7 (65 Mbps, 72.2 Mbps): -67dBm

For a complete specifications, you may refer to the ESP-01 Product Specification PDF.

ESP-01 and ESP-01S Pinout

Have you just bought a new ESP-01 Wi-Fi module? Take a look at
How to Test an ESP-01 ESP8266 Module

Learn how to differentiate between ESP-01 and ESP-01S Wi-Fi modules, see:
Difference Between ESP-01 and ESP-01S

Pinout of ESP-01 and ESP-01S with the male header pins on the right. — Figure 3. ESP-01 Module Pinout B

Picture showing the pinout of ESP-01 and ESP-01S with the board oriented so that the header pins are at the bottom. — Figure 4. ESP-01 Module Pinout C

ESP-01 Pin Descriptions

TX – UART0 data send (transmit) pin, also known as GPIO1.
RX – UART0 data receive pin, also known as GPIO3.
CH_PD – Chip Power Down (also known as CH_EN or Chip Enable) – Chip enable pin, active high
RST – External reset pin, active low
GPIO2 – General Purpose Input / Output
GPIO0 – General Purpose Input / Output
VCC – +3.3 Volts Supply Positive
GND – Ground – Supply negative

ESP-01 Module Breadboarding and Adapters

When breadboarding, you can not insert the ESP-01 module as it is. A few years ago, you do all sort of tricks to breadboard an ESP-01 module, from bending the header pins to making your own DIY adapter. Luckily, now you can buy a cheap breadboard adapter for the ESP-01 module. See Figure 5.

A picture of an ESP-01 and ESP-01S adapter module with an ESP-01 board inserted into it. — Figure 5. Breadboard Adapter for ESP-01 Module

If you will be connecting the ESP-01 board to an Arduino board, you must remember two (2) things:

Do not supply the ESP-01 module with the 3.3V output from the Arduino board – the ESP-01 module, as per specification above, may require up to 300mA of current. The 3.3V regulator on the Arduino board may overheat and may become damaged.
Provide logic level translation between the ESP-01 and the Arduino board – the Arduino board uses 5V logic while the ESP-01 module uses 3.3V logic.

A good ESP-01 adapter that can satisfy the requirements for interfacing with Arduino boards is shown in Figure 6. It has a built-in 3.3V regulator and two (2) bi-directional logic level converters for the RX and TX pins. The schematic diagram for the adapter is shown in Figure 7.

Picture of another ESP-01 and ESP-01S adapter that is complete with a 3.3V voltage regulator and bi-directional logic level converters. — Figure 6. ESP-01 Adapter with Voltage Regulator and Logic Translator

Schematic diagram of the ESP-01 and ESP-01S Wi-Fi modules adapter shown in Figure 6. — Figure 7. Schematic Diagram of ESP-01 Adapter

ESP-01 Programmers

ESP-01 USB-to-Serial Converter Programmer Module

Unlike the other ESP8266 boards, ESP-01 boards need a programmer to be uploaded with programs or sketches from the Arduino IDE. An inexpensive programmer is shown below in Figure 8. The programmer uses a Silabs 2104 serial to USB converter chip. With this programmer, you just plug it into your computer’s USB port, select the proper COM port and start uploading sketches.

A USB-to-serial converter programmer for the ESP-01 and ESP-01S modules. — Figure 8. ESP-01 Programmer or Flasher

DIY USB-to-Serial Converter Programmer

If you do not have a programmer module but you have an available USB-to-serial converter, you can wire it up as an ESP-01 programmer. The schematic diagram of a DIY programmer is shown in Figure 9. With this programmer, you need to put the ESP-01 module into programming mode before uploading a sketch. This is done by holding down the Flash switch, pressing and releasing the Reset switch, and then releasing the Flash switch.

Shown below in Figures 10, 11, and 12 is my DIY ESP-01 programmer. The USB-to-serial converter connects to the programmer board via the 4-pin male header on the board.

Picture of an assembled DIY programmer for the ESP-01 ESP8266 Wi-Fi modules. — Figure 10. My DIY ESP-01 Programmer

Picture of a DIY USB-to-serial converter programmer with an ESP-01 module inserted on the female header. — Figure 11. My DIY ESP-01 Programmer with an ESP-01 Module

Picture of an USB-to-serial converter for use with ESP-01 DIY programmer. — Figure 12. USB-to-serial Converter

Arduino Board as ESP-01 Programmer
Another option for an ESP-01 programmer is to use an Arduino board. You may use any available Arduino board such as Arduino Uno, Arduino Nano, etc.

Schematic diagram of Arduino Uno used as an ESP-01 programmer that includes the pinout of both the ESP-01 and the Arduino Uno board. — Figure 13. Schematic Diagram of Arduino Uno as ESP-01 Programmer

The idea here is to use the Arduino board’s built-in USB-to-serial converter. The schematic diagram in Figure 13 is the same as the DIY ESP-01 programmer in Figure 9, but the USB-to-serial converter was replaced with an Arduino Uno.

As previously discussed above, the 3.3V output from the Arduino board should not be used. Instead, a 3.3V voltage regulator was provided for the ESP-01 module. Also, a logic level converter was used consisting of a 2.2K resistor in series with a 3.3K resistor acting as a voltage divider. This protects the RX pin of the ESP-01 module from being exposed to a 5V signal from the Arduino board. Note that the TX pin of the ESP-01 module was connected directly to the TX pin of the Arduino board. We can do away with the logic level converter because the TX pin is acting as an output (outgoing signal).

You may have noticed that the TX and RX pins of the Arduino board are connected to the corresponding TX and RX pins of the ESP-01 module. But in the DIY programmer in Figure 9, the TX and RX terminals are cross-wired. That is, the TX pin of the USB-to-serial converter is connected to the RX pin of the ESP-01 module and ,vice versa, the RX pin of the USB-to-serial converter is connected to the TX pin of the ESP-01 module.

If you want to find out why the Arduino board’s RX and TX pins are wired straight thru and not crossed over with the ESP-01 board, consult an Arduino board schematic and look at how the MCU chip and the USB-to-serial converter chip are wired. I am leaving this one as an exercise for the reader.

References on ESP-01 and ESP-01S Pinout and Configuration

ESP-01 Specification
ESP-01 Datasheet