Add custom sensors to existing ESP-Device

ESPHome
1

Hello together!

I bought an Ulanzi TC001 and flashed with ESPHOME. Everything works wonderfully.

Now I have looked into the housing. A regular ESP32 is installed. If you look at the PIN assignment in the ESPHOME-yaml, only the PINs GPIO 14, 15, 21, 22, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35 are used.

Now I would like to add a BME680 to the board. Can I solder them directly to the contacts of the black ESP board?

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So could I just grab VCC / GND at the top left two pins of the board and connect SDA/SDL to GPIO36/39 and get the BME680 sensor connected that way?

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So far I have only ever worked with dev boards, so I have not connected my sensors directly to the ESP but to the board’s PINs. Therefore, I can not judge whether there is something else to consider here.

Thanks for your help!

2

Yes, exactly. Should work the exact same way as you would use a esp32 or breakout board. :rocket:

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3

Is it possible that other PINs are used for some internal stuff, which I can’t see in ESPHOME-yaml? It would be a pity if I solder the sensor to a PIN that is actually already used. Can I check this somehow without relying on my eye where really ladder tracks are connected?

4

Yes, can check here the list and what pins are :ok: to use as Input and/or Output :point_down:

You can try with a multi meter if you get the expected high/low (0/3.3v) states when adding a pin config (as switch for example) to your esphome yaml and toggle it. If it works “cleanly” probably nothing is interfering/connected to that pin and it should be safe for you to use :+1:

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