ESP32 vs Pi Pico W for IoT thesis — which is more reliable for 24/7 data logging?

[mark_ee_qc]

Hi all, plinaplano ko thesis project — sensor node na nag-uupload ng readings every 10 seconds, 24/7 for 6 months. Hati ako between an ESP32 and a Raspberry Pi Pico W since both have built-in WiFi.

May naka-deploy na ba dito ng either of these for long-term unattended logging? Mainly curious about:

• Crash/reset rate over weeks of uptime
• Power draw when idle vs transmitting
• How does WiFi reconnect behave when the router reboots

Mas marami documentation yung ESP32 pero mas mura yung Pico W and the dual-core RP2040 sounds nice. Walang clear winner sa Reddit, parang both work fine. Sino dito may totoong months-long deploy story na pwedeng ishare?

[jm_robotics]

Sa robotics team namin, ESP32 ginagamit for telemetry — 4 hours of continuous bot ops, sends IMU + battery data every 100ms over WiFi. Crash rate near zero, pero kasi maikli yung sessions namin — hindi yan yung deployment scenario na tinatanong mo.

For 6-month unattended, things to think about beyond crash rate:

• Watchdog timer — set it. ESP32 may hardware WDT. Pag nag-hang yung WiFi stack, auto-reset.
• Wear-leveling — kung magsasave ka ng readings sa internal flash bago mag-transmit, mauubos yung flash cycles. Use SPIFFS sparingly.
• Heat — mainit kapag in an enclosure, ang WiFi IC throttles. Nakita ko ito sa weather station na namatay sa second month.

Pico W di pa ako naka-long-term-deploy, pero mga colleagues ko sabi mas mahirap yung WiFi reconnect. Mas battle-tested yung ESP32 networking code.

For 24/7 6 months, sigurado na ako: ESP32, plus external watchdog, plus log to SD card hindi internal flash.

[alex_repair]

+1 sa watchdog. Pasok din sa shop yung mga IoT board na "biglang patay" — usually USB regulator failure from voltage spikes, hindi naman firmware crash. Add a TVS diode sa USB rail kung deployment is unattended. Mga PHP 5 lang yung diode, sasalbahin ka sa repeat trips.

Power supply quality is also underrated. Yung mga "5V 1A" wall warts sa Divisoria, often actual output is 4.5V under load with terrible ripple. ESP32 brownouts intermittently because of this. Get a real Mean Well or recycle a quality phone charger. Sayang yung 6 months of data kung yung supply ang mauubusan.

Reliability comes from the boring parts: enclosure, supply, watchdog. Hindi sa pagpili ng tamang MCU.

[circuitrocks]

Both choices are valid and we stock them — ESP32 dev board and Pi Pico W.

On top of the great points above: bago mo i-commit ang 6 months sa isang platform, try a 2-week burn-in with both side by side. Same code, same WiFi network, same power source. Log uptime, packet loss, reconnects. By day 14 may data ka na, hindi opinions.

Better to find your deployment headaches early (router reboots, ISP outages) kaysa magdiscover ng MCU quirks 3 months in. Good luck po sa thesis!