Want to Build Yourself an ESP32 Cluster? Just Add a Little Broccoli!

The rise of inexpensive SBCs (single-board computers) have made computing clusters attainable for just about anyone. We’ve seen plenty of Raspberry Pi clusters over the past few years, and they are great for distributing computing tasks across multiple units. But, a single Raspberry Pi 3B+ still costs at least $35 — far more than the roughly $7 that you can get an ESP32 for.

Thanks to the Broccoli project on GitHub, you can now build a cluster using those low-cost ESP32s. That hasn’t been an easy task until now, because, unlike a Raspberry Pi, an ESP32 isn’t really a full-fledged computer. However, it does have a processor, memory, and storage, which still makes it useful for distributed computing.

There are other software solutions for creating ESP32 clusters, but Broccoli is unique because every node is identical and multipurpose. Most other clusters require some nodes to act as managers, and others to act as workers. With Broccoli, that paradigm has been shifted to make every node capable of wearing multiple hats. So, each ESP32 is a worker, broker, and task queue manager, which makes a cluster easier to setup and more versatile. If you want to experiment with Broccoli, head over the to the GitHub page to get started.