I currently have a piece of equipment that runs on a PIC16/PIC18, running an LCD display, a couple of pushbuttons, some LEDs, a relay board and reads an anolog input. It's a few years old design and the software, developed with successive versions of Flowcode, is mature.
It needs an ADC input and 20 digital I/O's, a 12 bit ADC with external reference.
I want to extend this unit with WiFi/BT, Ethernet and USB connectivity, to allow external readout and control. Also want to upgrade the LCD display to a small graphic color display. I've been looking at the ESP32 family as they offer WiFi/BT/Ethernet modules. But the available modules and combinations are overwhelming for someone new to ESP. So please give me some advise. I have identified a couple of ways forward which may or may not make sense:
1 - stay with the PIC with its USB connectivity and add some external module like the ESP32 WROVER which adds WiFi/BT and maybe Ethernet, not sure, probably this needs a PHY add-on board? Must be FC9 or FC10 compatibe;
2 - at the other end of the choice range, go for an ESP32-Ethernet-Kit which has WiFi. BT, Ethernet and USB, but the disadvantage is that there's only a very limited set of free use I/Os and is quite expensive.
I'd rather stay with option 1, but I am confused about which module is exactly supported by the listed modules in the Flowcode communications pack.
Would appreciate any pointers to get me on the best way forward!
Jan Didden
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