SparkFun ESP8266 Thing - Dev Board with Headers

---Description--- This is the SparkFun ESP8266 Thing Dev Board — a development board that has been solely designed around the ESP8266, with an integrated FTDI USB-to-Serial chip. The ESP8266 is a cost-effective and very capable WiFi-enabled microcontroller. Like any microcontroller, it can be programmed to blink LEDs, trigger relays, monitor sensors or automate coffee makers. With an integrated WiFi controller, the ESP8266 is a one-stop shop for almost any internet-connected project. To top it all off, the ESP8266 is incredibly easy to use; firmware can be developed in Arduino and uploaded over a simple serial interface. The ESP8266 Thing Development Board breaks out all of the module’s pins with pre-soldered headers, and the USB-to-serial converter means you don’t need any peripheral components to program the chip. Just plug in a USB cable, download the Arduino board definitions, and start IoT-ing. Why the name? We lovingly call it the “Thing” due to it being the perfect foundation for your Internet of Things (IoT) project. The Thing does everything from turning on an LED to posting data with phant.io, and can be programmed just like any microcontroller. You can even program the Thing through the Arduino IDE by installing the ESP8266 Arduino add-on. The ESP8266 Thing Development Board is a relatively simple board. The pins are broken out to two parallel, breadboard-compatible rows. The USB connector sits next to an optional power supply input, and an ON/OFF switch — controlling power to the ESP8266 — sits next to that. And LEDs toward the inside of the board indicate power, charge and status of the IC. The ESP8266’s maximum voltage is 3.6V, so the Thing has an onboard 3.3V regulator to deliver a safe, consistent voltage to the IC.