ESP32-M1 Reach Out Development Board for Long-Range Communication

Bison Science is launching a project that is expected to participate in Crowd Supply's Qorvo RF Accelerator, which is looking for the next generation of wireless solutions. The Wi-Fi range limitations of the existing boards have motivated the company to develop the ESP32-M1 Reach Out, which can increase the range up to two to three times, and is quoted to more than 1.2km. Some of the projects like LimeRFE and XYNC with the latest inclusion of the ESP32-M1 Reach Out are part of the Qorvo RF Accelerator.

ESP32-M1 Reach Out powered by Qorvo technology is a compact 1W (30dBm) Wi-Fi radio ESP32-M1 development board featuring Bluetooth and USB power. The board is designed to develop robust communication systems using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth protocols, and can achieve long-range communication via Wi-Fi 802.11b.

The board is based on the ESP32-D0WDQ6 RF SoC clocked up to the frequency of 240MHz and comes with 32Mbit flash memory as well. The small form factor board measures 40x60 mm, featuring 15 GPIOs in addition to two accessible input-only IOs. It also includes a CP2102 USB Serial Bridge (USB to UART Converter) along with digital external interfaces and external antenna connectors.

Long-range capabilities with Wi-Fi have increased applications that include remote monitoring and sensing, drone radios, long-range video streaming, and security purposes, to name a few. The range can even be extended further if the radio behaves as a repeater.

The board is powered with USB +5V and approximately more than 750mA when using high power Wi-Fi front end operation. While for normal Wi-Fi, BT and the general operation takes input same as for before but with less than 300 mA current. The design also features 3 different voltage outputs of +3.3V, +4.85V, and USB Voltage.

The project is expected to launch soon and signup to get notified when the campaign goes live.