Give Your ESP32-CAM Board a Major Range Upgrade with This Low-Cost LoRa Add-on Module

Designed for deployments where Wi-Fi simply won't give you the range you need, this LoRa add-on board is compact and clever.

Cardiff-based maker StuartsProjects has launched an add-on for the ESP32-CAM, designed to add long-range low-power wireless LoRa communication capabilities at a low cost.

The ESP32-CAM launched three years ago, combining a compact development board built around Espressif's ESP32-S Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled microcontroller with a compact two megapixel imaging sensor. Give the board a little power, and you've got a tiny low-power smart camera — but what do you do if Wi-Fi simply doesn't have the range?

"[This] LoRa module will allow the transfer of the images taken by the ESP32-CAM over very much longer distances than would be possible with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth," the eponymous Stuart explains of his creation. "With a second Long Range Wireless Adapter board acting as the receiver the images can be automatically saved to an SD card or transferred via a serial link to a folder on a PC."

The board, which is supplied in kit form with the surface-mount components already soldered into place, uses a DRF1278F 434MHz LoRa module — plus a bit of clever coding that reuses the pin normally assigned to the ESP32-CAM's white LED to reach the five general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins needed to interface with the LoRa module.

Stuart also offers a tip for reducing power draw: "If you remove the ESP32-CAM's AMS1117 regulator, with a soldering iron or very carefully with a fine pair of wire cutters," Stuart notes, "you can fit the Long Range Wireless Adapter board with a low drop-out voltage regulator which would then allow operation from a single lithium battery or 3× AA batteries."

The adapter board is now available to purchase via the StuartsProjects Tindie store at $11.50, with example source code available on GitHub. Assembly instructions can be found on the StuartsProjects GitHub page.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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