Also known as: ESP32
The ESP32 is a low-cost, dual-core microcontroller with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, often around a couple of dollars.1
Overview
That combination of price and wireless connectivity makes the ESP32 the workhorse of DIY smart-home gadgets and the Internet of Things. Common variants include the S3 and C3, alongside the older and simpler ESP8266 that preceded it.
Where it fits
You can program an ESP32 in C/C++ — using either Espressif’s ESP-IDF or the Arduino toolchain — or in MicroPython. Wired to sensors over its GPIO pins and talking over Wi-Fi, it is exactly the kind of cheap wireless node that crowds the airwaves GopherTrunk listens to, even though it is far too small to run GopherTrunk itself.