Arduino / ESP32 Microcontroller Boards

Cheap, beginner-friendly microcontroller boards commonly used to drive servos and read sensors.

Arduino is an open-source microcontroller platform started by an Italian team, with a simplified programming environment and a large library of ready-made code; ESP32 is a low-cost microcontroller chip from Espressif, with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, that can also be programmed in the Arduino environment. Both are microcontrollers (MCUs) with modest compute power — not enough to run large neural networks — but they offer good real-time response and low power draw, making them well-suited as a lower-level controller: driving servos and motors, reading encoders and IMUs, and communicating with a host computer over a serial link or wirelessly. They're commonly used when getting started with desktop robot arms, robot cars, and small bipeds, with a Raspberry Pi or a computer running vision and the policy above them.

ExampleIn a low-cost desktop robot arm, an ESP32 can receive joint-angle commands from a computer and drive each servo with a PWM signal.

Also called

Arduino, ESP32

Related

Microcontroller Unit (MCU) · Lower-Level Controller · STMicroelectronics STM32 MCU Family · Servo (Smart Serial Bus Servo) · Raspberry Pi · Open-Source Hardware (OSHW)

Sources

Arduino - Official Site
ESP32 - Espressif Systems