Originally published at: https://blog.golioth.io/connecting-esp32-c6-to-golioth-over-openthread/
While we are excited about our advancements in Bluetooth announced on Tuesday, we are still big proponents of Thread. One of the biggest benefits is each end/leaf node in a Thread network having an IP address (IPv6, of course). Then there are the added benefits of meshing, which can extend range and enable even more resilient networks. OpenThread powers these low-power, mesh-based networks for IoT applications. In our previous demo, we showed how to connect an nRF52840-based device to Golioth with the GL-S200 border router. Today we take it a step further by using the ESP32-C6 development board from Espressif, demonstrating how we successfully connected it to Golioth over OpenThread using ESP-IDF with minimal changes to the Firmware SDK. Why ESP32-C6 for OpenThread? The ESP32-C6 is Espressif’s first RISC-V-based SoC with integrated 802.15.4 radio, making it ideal for OpenThread applications. This chip also supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 (LE), and Thread support, allowing it to operate in low-power, wireless mesh networks. Since OpenThread operates over IEEE 802.15.4, the ESP32-C6, with its onboard 802.15.4 radio, can run the OpenThread stack without requiring additional external radios. This makes it an excellent choice for IoT projects that need reliable and scalable connectivity while maintaining low power consumption. How we built it We created a new esp32-openthread repository in our Golioth Labs account that works with ESP-IDF and OpenThread. There are files in the src folder that mirror the Reference Design Template Check out the README for the latest directions on how to build/use it, but here’s a summary: cd <INSTALL_LOCATION> git clone --recursive [email protected]:goliothlabs/esp32-openthread.git cd <INSTALL_LOCATION>/esp32-openthread/golioth-firmware-sdk git submodule update --init --recursive Configure the following options in sdkconfig.defaults file: OPENTHREAD_NETWORK_NAME – Name of your…