The ESP8266 USB Host Shield contains all the digital logic necessary to implement a full-speed USB 2.0 host controller with your ESP8266 microcontroller. There is no need to spend hours writing complicated code to decode various USB descriptors. Instead, the USB Host Shield library 2.0 does all the heavy lifting for you with the capabilities of the ESP8266, and maybe you may create a new game, control robots or implement DIY intelligent home automation with an old unused controller laying around.

Add USB host capabilities with the ESP8266 USB Host Shield and control network devices wireless with standard USB HID devices like a keyboard, mouse, and game controller. Adding the shield board on top of the ESP8266 D1-mini will let you control other WiFi devices wireless without being forced to dedicate an entire computer for such tasks.

Install the Arduino library in the IDE; within minutes, the library recognizes your HID device. Then, use the host shield and, for example, a gaming joystick to interface with and remotely control any microcontroller-based device with WiFi. It is indeed a plug-and-play solution.

The host controller MAX4321E chip uses a four-wire serial interface to communicate with ESP8266. A USB type A female connector supplies 5V as any regular USB port would do. The SPI of 26MHz is fast; forget any sluggish UART communication.

• The shield supplies any attached devices with +5V (VBUS) via the connected ESP8266 USB connector.
• With the ESP8266 USB host shield, there is no risk of wiring it up incorrectly.
• This device comes fully assembled, and there is no need to program the shield itself.
• SPI bus voltage levels are 3.3V, thus compatible with modern microcontrollers.
• The host complies with USB Specification Revision 2.0, i.e., full-/low-Speed 12Mbps/1.5Mbps USB communication.
• The ESP8266 board power the shield and the MAX3421E with 3.3V.

The additional unnecessary built-in GPIO pins from MAX3421E are not connected, and some other signals with the limited availability of pins on the ESP8266 D1-mini. See the schematic for all details.

The Arduino host shield library is for the Arduino Host shield implementation with MAX3421E. However, we have found that USB devices are generally recognized with the ESP8266 USB Host Shield since it also uses the MAX3421E. For planned changes, improvements, and possible encountered issues, please visit the Github issues tracker.

• Wemos/Lolin ESP8266 D1-mini microcontroller.
• Female headers for ESP8266 D1-mini.
• HID devices such as keyboards, mice, gaming joysticks, etc.

Various sellers sell ESP8266 cloned boards on AliExpress and Amazon. Alternatively, buy the original version of ESP8266 D1-mini at Lolin official shop.

Add the shield board on top of the ESP8266 D1-mini such that both USB connectors are above each other.

• Confirm that the shield cut-out is above the ESP8266 RESET button before connecting power!

Please, see the Arduino library installation documentation, and how-to install the Arduino library USB Host Shield 2.0.

Verify that the USB host shield library can use the device with the Arduino sketch USBHID_desc, found among the many examples.

To remotely control ESP8266 with UDP broadcasts, see the example ESP8266RemoteWiFiClientServer for a start. Furthermore, you can get confirmation of the actions from Packet Sender. There is no need to create web interfaces or any other complex cloud solution if your goal is to control devices in your home and within WiFi reach. Instead, a minimal number of lines of code is required to accomplish that task.

• Operating voltage: 3.3V - (via ESP8266)
• The shield size is 26.5 x 31.5 mm (1.04" x 1.24") and fabricated as a four-layer board for superior signal integrity.
• Board thickness: 1.6 mm (63 mils).
• Formfactor and pinout: Wemos/Lolin ESP8266 D1-mini.
• Weight: 6 gram (0.21 ounce).
• Height: 17.5 mm (0.69")

The ESP8266 USB Host Shield board is available only fully assembled. Tindie has all the latest designed boards.

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