Sequent Microsystems' ESP32-Pi Aims to Address Raspberry Pi Supply Shortages for Some Use Cases

Sequent Microsystems is looking to bring aid to anyone in the Raspberry Pi ecosystem struggling to find reasonably-priced boards: an Espressif ESP32-Powered "Pi Emulator," designed for minimum cost.

"According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer," writes Sequent Microsystem's Mihai Beffa of his company's latest creation. "Low cost, until you try to buy it. At the time of this writing, [they are] approaching or exceeding $200 on Amazon. Introducing the ESP32-Pi: a really low cost alternative to an overpriced Pi."

While the Espressif ESP32 and the Broadcom BCM2711 are in no way directly comparable — the former being a low-power microcontroller and the latter a high-performance application processor — Beffa isn't trying to design a true single-board computer. Rather, the ESP32-Pi instead offers an alternative for those who have been building around the Raspberry Pi's 40-pin General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) header — and in particular those with a drawer full of Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) add-on boards.

"The ESP32-Pi has the same dimensions with all Raspberry Pis equipped with the 2×20 GPIO connector," Beffa explains. "It has a pin-compatible GPIO connector, accepting all HATs designed for Raspberry Pi (well, maybe most of them. For sure all the Sequent Microsystems HATs.) You can write your applications using the Arduino IDE or OpenPLC. We are in the process of developing OpenPLC blocks for all Sequent Microsystems HATs, which will work seamlessly with ESP32-Pi."

There's no HDMI video output on the ESP32-Pi, nor any USB ports. It does have a Fast Ethernet port, alongside the ESP32 module's integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios — key to Sequent's positioning of the part as an ideal Raspberry Pi alternative for those building smart home, Internet of Things (IoT), and other projects where the lack of Linux support or video outputs are less important than affordability and availability.

Sequent is currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to fund production of the ESP32-Pi boards, priced at $40 per unit — a 20 per cent discount on its eventual retail price, the company promises, rising to 25 per cent if you buy a four-pack. All hardware is expected to ship in July this year.