MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board Hookup Guide

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Contributors: Alex the Giant, Ell C
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Introduction

Introducing the SparkFun MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board! This bad boy pops an M.2 connector onto the ESP32 so you can take advantage of all that lovely ESP32 power with any of our MicroMod carrier boards. Grab yourself an ESP32 MicroMod Processor Board and let's dive in!

SparkFun MicroMod ESP32 Processor

SparkFun MicroMod ESP32 Processor

WRL-16781
$16.95
1

Required Materials

In addition to your ESP32 Processor Board, you'll need a carrier board to get started. Here we use the Input and Display Carrier Board, but there are a number of others you can choose from.

SparkFun MicroMod ATP Carrier Board

SparkFun MicroMod ATP Carrier Board

DEV-16885
$19.95
1
SparkFun MicroMod Input and Display Carrier Board

SparkFun MicroMod Input and Display Carrier Board

DEV-16985
$59.95
4
SparkFun MicroMod Machine Learning Carrier Board

SparkFun MicroMod Machine Learning Carrier Board

DEV-16400
$19.95

You'll also need a USB-C cable to connect the Carrier to your computer and if you want to add some Qwiic breakouts to your MicroMod project you'll want at least one Qwiic cable to connect it all together. Below are some options for both of those cables:

SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit

SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit

KIT-15081
$8.95
20
Qwiic Cable - 100mm

Qwiic Cable - 100mm

PRT-14427
$1.50
Reversible USB A to C Cable - 2m

Reversible USB A to C Cable - 2m

CAB-15424
$8.95
1
USB 3.1 Cable A to C - 3 Foot

USB 3.1 Cable A to C - 3 Foot

CAB-14743
$5.50
4

Depending on which Carrier Board you choose, you may need a few extra peripherals to take full advantage of them. Refer to the Carrier Boards' respective Hookup Guides for specific peripheral recommendations.

Suggested Reading

The SparkFun MicroMod ecosystem is a unique way to allow users to customize their project to their needs. Do you want to send your weather data via a wireless signal? There's a MicroMod processor for that. Looking to instead maximize efficiency and processing power? You guessed it, there's a MicroMod processor for that. If you are not familiar with the MicroMod system, take a look here:

MicroMod Logo
MicroMod Ecosystem

We recommend taking a look through the following tutorials if you are not familiar with the concepts covered in them:

Getting Started with MicroMod

Dive into the world of MicroMod - a compact interface to connect a microcontroller to various peripherals via the M.2 Connector!

Designing with MicroMod

This tutorial will walk you through the specs of the MicroMod processor and carrier board as well as the basics of incorporating the MicroMod form factor into your own PCB designs!

SparkFun MicroMod Input and Display Carrier Board Hookup Guide

A short Hookup Guide to get started with the SparkFun MicroMod Input and Display Carrier Board

Hardware Overview

In this section we'll cover what's included on the MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board.

M.2 Connector

All of our MicroMod Processor boards come equipped with the M.2 MicroMod Connector, which leverages the M.2 standard and specification to allow you to install your MicroMod Processor board on your choice of carrier board.


M2 Connector from the Front M2 Connector from the Back

Espressif ESP32

Ahhh, the Espressif ESP32. It's one of the most unique microcontrollers on the market. In it's native form, it has a laundry list of features. On the MicroMod Processor Board, we include the following:

  • Dual-core Tensilica LX6 microprocessor
  • Up to 240MHz clock frequency
  • 520kB internal SRAM
  • Integrated 802.11 B/G/N WiFi transceiver
  • 2.7 to 3.6V operating range
  • 500µA sleep current under hibernation
  • 10-electrode capacitive touch support
  • Hardware accelerated encryption (AES, SHA2, ECC, RSA-4096)
  • 16MB Flash Storage

Espressif chip highlighted

Stat LED

Status LED highlighted

Wireless Antenna

Need wireless? The Espressif chip provides a WiFi transceiver which sends and receives data through a 2.4GHz Antenna.

Wireless Antenna highlighted

PinOut Notes

The ESP32 MicroMod has a few quirks. The ESP32's GPIO pins provide a lot of flexibility with what each pin can be used for. Whether it's I2C, I2S, SPI, UART, or PWM, the ESP32 MicroMod can do just about everything! However, with that flexibility and a fixed number of GPIO pins, the ESP32 isn't able to do it all at the same time. Below is a list of protocols the ESP32 supports, but pay close attention to the pins used, because some pins are assigned to two or possibly three functions.

Strapping Pins

One of the unique aspects of the ESP32 is the strapping pins. When the ESP32 comes out of reset, or as power is supplied, there are a few pins which control the behavior of the board. For a detailed description of these pins, check out the ESP32 Boot Mode Selection page on espressif's GitHub page. As a summary the strapping pins are:

GPIO 0

Having GPIO 0 pulled low as the ESP32 comes out of reset will enter the serial bootloader. Otherwise, the board will run the program stored in flash. On the MicroMod Processor, this pin is pulled high externally through a 10k resistor, and is connected to the boot button on the carrier boards, which can pull the pin low.

GPIO 2

Having GPIO 2 pulled high as the ESP32 comes out of reset will prevent the board from entering the serial bootloader. On the MicroMod Processor, this pin is connected to the status LED (active high) and does not interfere with the board from being able to enter the serial bootloader.

GPIO 12

If driven high, the flash voltage (VDD_SDIO) is set to 1.8V. If unconnected or pulled low, VDD_SDIO is set to 3.3V. The flash IC used on the MicroMod Processor has a minimum voltage of 2.7V, which would create a brownout condition and might corrupt the data stored to the flash, or simply prevent the program from running. On the ESP32 MicroMod Processor, this pin is connected to PWM1.

GPIO 15

If driven low, the boot messages printed by the ROM bootloader (at 115200 baud) are silenced. If unconnected or driven high, the messages will be printed as they normally are. On the ESP32 MicroMod Processor, this pin is connected to G0.

I2C

We love us some I2C! We've broken out two I2C buses, which can be used with our Qwiic system. The main I2C bus has dedicated GPIO pins 21/22 connected to MicroMod pads 12/14, along with a dedicated interrupt pin connected to GPIO pin 4, which is connected to pad 16 of the MicroMod connector.

If you need a second I2C bus, the ESP32 uses GPIO pins 25/26 (pads 42/44 on the MicroMod) for SCL1 and SDA1.

Note: The secondary I2C bus is shared with G1 and G2, as well as the I2S bus pins for AUD_LRCLK and AUD_BCLK.

UART

The ESP32 Processor has two UARTs available. The primary UART has dedicated GPIO pins 1 and 3 which can be used for programming as well as printing debug messages to a terminal window. These GPIO pins aren't directly broken out, but instead are converted to USB which is connected to MicroMod pads 3 and 5.

The second UART is connected GPIO pins 16 and 17 (pads 19 and 17 on the MicroMod) for RX1 and TX1.

Note: The secondary UART is shared with G3 and G4, as well as the I2S bus pins for AUD_OUT, and AUD_IN.

GPIO/BUS

The MicroMod connector supports a total of 12 general purpose IO pins, 7 of which are used on the ESP32 Processor, on top of the 6 dedicated pins. The dedicated pins are just that, and are not shared with any other pin, unlike the general purpose pins which may be shared with other pins. The pins used are:

Dedicated Pins

  • A0 - GPIO pin 34, pad 34 on the MicroMod (Input Only!)
  • A1 - GPIO pin 35, pad 38 on the MicroMod (Input Only!)
  • D0 - GPIO pin 14, pad 10 on the MicroMod
  • D1 - GPIO pin 27, pad 18 on the MicroMod
  • PWM0 - GPIO pin 13, pad 32 on the MicroMod
  • PWM1 - GPIO pin 12, pad 47 on the MicroMod

General Purpose IO pins

  • G0 - GPIO pin 15, pad 40 on the MicroMod
  • G1 - GPIO pin 25, pad 42 on the MicroMod - Shared with the I2S bus, and secondary I2C bus.
  • G2 - GPIO pin 26, pad 44 on the MicroMod - Shared with the I2S bus, and secondary I2C bus.
  • G3 - GPIO pin 17, pad 46 on the MicroMod - Shared with the I2S bus, and secondary UART.
  • G4 - GPIO pin 16, pad 48 on the MicroMod - Shared with the I2S bus, and secondary UART.
  • G5 - GPIO pin 32, pad 73 on the MicroMod - Shared with the 32KHz RTC crystal.
  • G6 - GPIO pin 33, pad 71 on the MicroMod - Shared with the 32KHz RTC crystal.

AUDIO

The ESP32 Processor supports audio using the I2S standard. The pins used are:

  • AUD_OUT - GPIO pin 17, pad 56 on the MicroMod, this is the digital audio output.
  • AUD_IN - GPIO pin 16, pad 54 on the MicroMod, this is the digital audio input.
  • AUD_LRCLK - GPIO pin 25, pad 52 on the MicroMod. Officially called "word select", and also known as "frame sync".
  • AUD_BCLK - GPIO pin 26, pad 50 on the MicroMod. Offically called "continuous serial clock, and also known as the "bit clock"
Note: The I2S bus is shared with the secondary UART, secondary I2C bus, and general purpose pins G1-G4.

SPI

The MicroMod standard supports two Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) buses, but because of the limited GPIO pins here, only the primary SPI bus is used. This primary SPI bus is dedicated to the following pins:

  • SCK - This is the clock pin, which is connected to GPIO 18, or MicroMod pad 57.
  • SDO - This is the serial data output of the ESP32, which is connected to GPIO 23, or MicroMod pad 59.
  • SDI - This is the serial data input of the ESP32, which is connected to GPIO 19, or MicroMod pad 61.
  • #CS - This is the chip select pin, which is connected to GPIO 5, or MicroMod pad 55.
Note: You may not recognize the COPI/CIPO labels for SPI pins. SparkFun is working to move away from using MISO/MOSI to describe signals between the controller and the peripheral. Check out this page for more on our reasoning behind this change.

ESP32 MicroMod Processor Pin Functionality

Graphical Datasheet

Click on image for a closer view of the graphical datasheet.

AUDIO UART GPIO/BUS I2C SDIO SPI0 Dedicated
Function Bottom
Pin
   Top   
Pin
Function
(Not Connected) 75 GND
3.3V 74 73 G5 / BUS5
RTC_3V_BATT 72 71 G6 / BUS6
SPI_CS1# SDIO_DATA3 (I/O) 70 69 G7 / BUS7
SDIO_DATA2 (I/O) 68 67 G8
SDIO_DATA1 (I/O) 66 65 G9 ADC_D- CAM_HSYNC
SPI_CIPO1 SDIO_DATA0 (I/O) 64 63 G10 ADC_D+ CAM_VSYNC
SPI COPI1 SDIO_CMD (I/O) 62 61 SPI_CIPO (I)
SPI SCK1 SDIO_SCK (O) 60 59 SPI_COPI (O) LED_DAT
AUD_MCLK (O) 58 57 SPI_SCK (O) LED_CLK
CAM_MCLK PCM_OUT I2S_OUT AUD_OUT 56 55 SPI_CS#
CAM_PCLK PCM_IN I2S_IN AUD_IN 54 53 I2C_SCL1 (I/O)
PDM_DATA PCM_SYNC I2S_WS AUD_LRCLK 52 51 I2C_SDA1 (I/O)
PDM_CLK PCM_CLK I2S_SCK AUD_BCLK 50 49 BATT_VIN / 3 (I - ADC) (0 to 3.3V)
G4 / BUS4 48 47 PWM1
G3 / BUS3 46 45 GND
G2 / BUS2 44 43 CAN_TX
G1 / BUS1 42 41 CAN_RX
G0 / BUS0 40 39 GND
A1 38 37 USBHOST_D-
GND 36 35 USBHOST_D+
A0 34 33 GND
PWM0 32 31 Module Key
Module Key 30 29 Module Key
Module Key 28 27 Module Key
Module Key 26 25 Module Key
Module Key 24 23 SWDIO
UART_TX2 (O) 22 21 SWDCK
UART_RX2 (I) 20 19 UART_RX1 (I)
CAM_TRIG D1 18 17 UART_TX1 (0)
I2C_INT# 16 15 UART_CTS1 (I)
I2C_SCL (I/0) 14 13 UART_RTS1 (O)
I2C_SDA (I/0) 12 11 BOOT (I - Open Drain)
D0 10 9 USB_VIN
SWO G11 8 7 GND
RESET# (I - Open Drain) 6 5 USB_D-
3.3V_EN 4 3 USB_D+
3.3V 2 1 GND
ESP32 Pin Alternate Function Primary Function Bottom Pin Top Pin Primary Function Alternate Function ESP32 Pin
73 G5 RTC 32
71 G6 RTC 33
61 SPI_CIPO 19
59 SPI_COPI 23
57 SPI_SCK 18
17 AUD_OUT TX1 G3 56 55 SPI_CS# 5
16 AUD_IN RX1 G4 54 53 SCL1 G1 AUD_LRCLK 25
25 AUD_LRCLK SCL1 G1 52 51 SDA1 G2 AUD_BCLK 26
26 AUD_BCLK SDA1 G2 50 49 BATT_VIN / 3 39
16 AUD_IN RX1 G4 48 47 PWM1 12
17 AUD_OUT TX1 G3 46
26 AUD_BCLK SDA1 G2 44
25 AUD_LRCLK SCL1 G1 42
15 G0 40 39 GND
35 A1 38
34 A0 34
13 PWM0 32 33 GND
19 G4 RX1 AUD_IN 16
27 CAM_TRIG D1 18 17 G3 TX1 AUD_OUT 17
4 I2C Interrupt 16
22 SCL 14
21 SDA 12 11 BOOT
14 D0 10 9 USB_VIN
7 GND
RESET 6 5 USB_D-
3 USB_D+
3.3V 2 1 GND
Signal Group Signal I/O Description Voltage
Power 3.3V I 3.3V Source 3.3V
GND Return current path 0V
USB_VIN I USB VIN compliant to USB 2.0 specification. Connect to pins on processor board that require 5V for USB functionality 4.8-5.2V
RTC_3V_BATT I 3V provided by external coin cell or mini battery. Max draw=100μA. Connect to pins maintaining an RTC during power loss. Can be left NC. 3V
3.3V_EN O Controls the carrier board's main voltage regulator. Voltage above 1V will enable 3.3V power path. 3.3V
BATT_VIN/3 I Carrier board raw voltage over 3. 1/3 resistor divider is implemented on carrier board. Amplify the analog signal as needed for full 0-3.3V range 3.3V
Reset Reset I Input to processor. Open drain with pullup on processor board. Pulling low resets processor. 3.3V
Boot I Input to processor. Open drain with pullup on processor board. Pulling low puts processor into special boot mode. Can be left NC. 3.3V
USB USB_D± I/O USB Data ±. Differential serial data interface compliant to USB 2.0 specification. If UART is required for programming, USB± must be routed to a USB-to-serial conversion IC on the processor board.
USB Host USBHOST_D± I/O For processors that support USB Host Mode. USB Data±. Differential serial data interface compliant to USB 2.0 specification. Can be left NC.
CAN CAN_RX I CAN Bus receive data. 3.3V
CAN_TX O CAN Bus transmit data. 3.3V
UART UART_RX1 I UART receive data. 3.3V
UART_TX1 O UART transmit data. 3.3V
UART_RTS1 O UART ready to send. 3.3V
UART_CTS1 I UART clear to send. 3.3V
UART_RX2 I 2nd UART receive data. 3.3V
UART_TX2 O 2nd UART transmit data. 3.3V
I2C I2C_SCL I/O I2C clock. Open drain with pullup on carrier board. 3.3V
I2C_SDA I/O I2C data. Open drain with pullup on carrier board 3.3V
I2C_INT# I Interrupt notification from carrier board to processor. Open drain with pullup on carrier board. Active LOW 3.3V
I2C_SCL1 I/O 2nd I2C clock. Open drain with pullup on carrier board. 3.3V
I2C_SDA1 I/O 2nd I2C data. Open drain with pullup on carrier board. 3.3V
SPI SPI_COPI O SPI Controller Output/Peripheral Input. 3.3V
SPI_CIPO I SPI Controller Input/Peripheral Output. 3.3V
SPI_SCK O SPI Clock. 3.3V
SPI_CS# O SPI Chip Select. Active LOW. Can be routed to GPIO if hardware CS is unused. 3.3V
SPI/SDIO SPI_SCK1/SDIO_CLK O 2nd SPI Clock. Secondary use is SDIO Clock. 3.3V
SPI_COPI1/SDIO_CMD I/O 2nd SPI Controller Output/Peripheral Input. Secondary use is SDIO command interface. 3.3V
SPI_CIPO1/SDIO_DATA0 I/O 2nd SPI Peripheral Input/Controller Output. Secondary use is SDIO data exchange bit 0. 3.3V
SDIO_DATA1 I/O SDIO data exchange bit 1. 3.3V
SDIO_DATA2 I/O SDIO data exchange bit 2. 3.3V
SPI_CS1/SDIO_DATA3 I/O 2nd SPI Chip Select. Secondary use is SDIO data exchange bit 3. 3.3V
Audio AUD_MCLK O Audio master clock. 3.3V
AUD_OUT/PCM_OUT/I2S_OUT/CAM_MCLK O Audio data output. PCM synchronous data output. I2S serial data out. Camera master clock. 3.3V
AUD_IN/PCM_IN/I2S_IN/CAM_PCLK I Audio data input. PCM syncrhonous data input. I2S serial data in. Camera periphperal clock. 3.3V
AUD_LRCLK/PCM_SYNC/I2S_WS/PDM_DATA I/O Audio left/right clock. PCM syncrhonous data SYNC. I2S word select. PDM data. 3.3V
AUD_BCLK/PCM_CLK/I2S_CLK/PDM_CLK O Audio bit clock. PCM clock. I2S continuous serial clock. PDM clock. 3.3V
SWD SWDIO I/O Serial Wire Debug I/O. Connect if processor board supports SWD. Can be left NC. 3.3V
SWDCK I Serial Wire Debug clock. Connect if processor board supports SWD. Can be left NC. 3.3V
ADC A0 I Analog to digital converter 0. Amplify the analog signal as needed to enable full 0-3.3V range. 3.3V
A1 I Analog to digital converter 1. Amplify the analog signal as needed to enable full 0-3.3V range. 3.3V
PWM PWM0 O Pulse width modulated output 0. 3.3V
PWM1 O Pulse width modulated output 1. 3.3V
Digital D0 I/O General digital input/output pin. 3.3V
D1/CAM_TRIG I/O General digital input/output pin. Camera trigger. 3.3V
General/Bus G0/BUS0 I/O General purpose pins. Any unused processor pins should be assigned to Gx with ADC + PWM capable pins given priority (0, 1, 2, etc.) positions. The intent is to guarantee PWM, ADC and Digital Pin functionality on respective ADC/PWM/Digital pins. Gx pins do not guarantee ADC/PWM function. Alternative use is pins can support a fast read/write 8-bit or 4-bit wide bus. 3.3V
G1/BUS1 I/O 3.3V
G2/BUS2 I/O 3.3V
G3/BUS3 I/O 3.3V
G4/BUS4 I/O 3.3V
G5/BUS5 I/O 3.3V
G6/BUS6 I/O 3.3V
G7/BUS7 I/O 3.3V
G8 I/O General purpose pin 3.3V
G9/ADC_D-/CAM_HSYNC I/O Differential ADC input if available. Camera horizontal sync. 3.3V
G10/ADC_D+/CAM_VSYNC I/O Differential ADC input if available. Camera vertical sync. 3.3V
G11/SWO I/O General purpose pin. Serial Wire Output 3.3V

Board Dimensions

The board measures 22mm x 22mm, with 15mm to the top notch and 12mm to the E key. For more information regarding the processor board physical standards, head on over to the Getting Started with MicroMod tutorial and check out the Hardware Overview section.

MicroMod Processor Board Dimensions

The overall thickness of the MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board is ~2.67mm. The height of the tallest component (ESP32 labeled as "U2" in the board file) on the Processor side is ~0.90mm. The PCB thickness is ~0.80mm. The height of the tallest component (transistor labeled as "Q2" in the board file) is about ~0.97mm.

Hardware Hookup

To get started with the ESP32 Processor Board, you'll need a carrier board. Here we are using the MicroMod Input and Display Carrier Board. Align the top key of the MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board to the screw terminal of the Input and Display Carrier Board and angle the board into the socket. Insert the board at an angle into the M.2 connector.

Note: There is no way to insert the processor backward since the key prevents it from mating with the M.2 connector and as an extra safeguard to prevent inserting a processor that matches the key, the mounting screw is offset so you will not be able to secure an improperly connected processor board.

MicroMod Processor Board inserted into the carrier board

The Processor Board will stick up at an angle, as seen here:

MicroMod Processor Board inserted into the carrier board

Once the board is in the socket, gently hold the MicroMod Processor Board down and tighten the screw with a Phillip's head.

screwing in the machine screw

Once the board is secure, your assembled MicroMod system should look similar to the image below!

Top down image of Input and Display Carrier Board with ESP32 Processor board inserted correctly

Connecting Everything Up

With your processor inserted and secured it's time to connect your carrier board to your computer using the USB-C connector on the Carrier. Depending on which carrier you choose and which drivers you already have installed, you may need to install drivers.

Note: If you've never connected a CP2104 device to your computer before, you may need to install drivers for the USB-to-serial converter. Check out our section on How to Install CP2104 Drivers for help with the installation.

Software Setup and Programming

Installing the CP2104 USB Driver

Note: Make sure to manually install the driver for the CP210X with the following instructions. The driver that Windows auto-installs will not work with the auto-reset circuit on the board and cause serial uploads to fail.

Users will need to install the SiLabs CP2104 Driver, which can be found here: USB to UART Bridge VCP Driver

Note: If applicable, make sure you are using the proper driver files for your CPU architecture. This is usually indicated by a folder or file name with "x86" for 32-bit processors or "x64" for 64-bit processors.

Arduino IDE

Note: For first-time users, who have never programmed before and are looking to use the Arduino IDE, we recommend beginning with the SparkFun Inventor's Kit (SIK), which includes a simpler board like the Arduino Uno or SparkFun RedBoard and is designed to help users get started programming with the Arduino IDE.

Most users may already be familiar with the Arduino IDE and it's use. However, for those of you who have never heard the name Arduino before, feel free to check out the Arduino website. To get started with using the Arduino IDE, check out our tutorials below:

Installing an Arduino Library

How do I install a custom Arduino library? It's easy! This tutorial will go over how to install an Arduino library using the Arduino Library Manager. For libraries not linked with the Arduino IDE, we will also go over manually installing an Arduino library.

What is an Arduino?

What is this 'Arduino' thing anyway? This tutorials dives into what an Arduino is and along with Arduino projects and widgets.

Installing Arduino IDE

A step-by-step guide to installing and testing the Arduino software on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Installing Board Definitions in the Arduino IDE

How do I install a custom Arduino board/core? It's easy! This tutorial will go over how to install an Arduino board definition using the Arduino Board Manager. We will also go over manually installing third-party cores, such as the board definitions required for many of the SparkFun development boards.

Install Board Definition

Install the latest ESP32 board definitions in the Arduino IDE (must be v1.8.13 or later).

Installing Board Definitions in the Arduino IDE

September 9, 2020

How do I install a custom Arduino board/core? It's easy! This tutorial will go over how to install an Arduino board definition using the Arduino Board Manager. We will also go over manually installing third-party cores, such as the board definitions required for many of the SparkFun development boards.

Note: For more instructions, users can follow this tutorial on Installing Additional Cores provided by Arduino. Users will also need the .json file for the Espressif Arduino core:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

When selecting a board to program in the Arduino IDE, users should select the SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod from the Tools drop down menu (i.e. Tools > Board > ESP32 Arduino > SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod).

With the SparkFun ESP32 Arduino core installed, you're ready to begin programming. Make sure you have the ESP32 MicroMod board definition selected under your Tools > Board menu.

Arduino board select
Having a hard time seeing? Click the image for a closer look.


Then select your serial port under the Tools > Port menu.

Port Selection for the ESP32 MicroMod Processor Board
Having a hard time seeing? Click the image for a closer look.


You can also select the Upload Speed: "921600" baud -- the fastest selectable rate -- will get the code loaded onto your ESP32 the fastest, but may fail to upload once-in-a-while. (It's still way worth it for the speed increase!)

Loading Blink

To make sure your toolchain and board are properly set up, we'll upload the simplest of sketches -- Blink! The STAT LED on the ESP32 Processor Board is perfect for this test. This is also a good time to test out serial communication. Copy and paste the example sketch below into a fresh Arduino sketch:

language:c
int ledPin = 2;

void setup()
{
    pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
    Serial.begin(115200);
}

void loop()
{
    Serial.println("Hello, world!");
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
    delay(500);
}

With everything setup correctly, upload the code! Once the code finishes transferring, open the serial monitor and set the baud rate to 115200. You should see Hello, world!'s begin to fly by. You may also notice that when the ESP32 boots up it prints out a long sequence of debug messages. These are emitted every time the chip resets -- always at 115200 baud.

Example serial port output

Having a hard time seeing? Click the image for a closer look.


You should also see some blinking happening on the ESP32 Processor Board! Blink Blink Blink!

Blinking Status LED on the processor board

Having a hard time seeing? Click the image for a closer look.


If the blue LED remains off, it's probably still sitting in the bootloader. After uploading a sketch, you may need to tap the reset button to get your ESP32 MicroMod to run the sketch.

Arduino Example: WiFi

The ESP32 Arduino core includes a handful of WiFi examples, which demonstrate everything from scanning for nearby networks to sending data to a client server. You can find the examples under the File > Examples > WiFi menu.

Here's another example using the WiFi library, which demonstrates how to connect to a nearby WiFi network and poll a remote domain (http://example.com/) as a client.

language:c
#include <WiFi.h>

// WiFi network name and password:
const char * networkName = "YOUR_NETWORK_HERE";
const char * networkPswd = "YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE";

// Internet domain to request from:
const char * hostDomain = "example.com";
const int hostPort = 80;

const int BUTTON_PIN = 0;
const int LED_PIN = LED_BUILTIN;

void setup()
{
  // Initilize hardware:
  Serial.begin(115200);
  pinMode(BUTTON_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT);

  // Connect to the WiFi network (see function below loop)
  connectToWiFi(networkName, networkPswd);

  digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW); // LED off
  Serial.print("Press the Boot button to connect to ");
  Serial.println(hostDomain);
}

void loop()
{
  if (digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN) == LOW)
  { // Check if button has been pressed
    while (digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN) == LOW)
      ; // Wait for button to be released

    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH); // Turn on LED
    requestURL(hostDomain, hostPort); // Connect to server
    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW); // Turn off LED
  }
}

void connectToWiFi(const char * ssid, const char * pwd)
{
  int ledState = 0;

  printLine();
  Serial.println("Connecting to WiFi network: " + String(ssid));

  WiFi.begin(ssid, pwd);

  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) 
  {
    // Blink LED while we're connecting:
    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, ledState);
    ledState = (ledState + 1) % 2; // Flip ledState
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
  }

  Serial.println();
  Serial.println("WiFi connected!");
  Serial.print("IP address: ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}

void requestURL(const char * host, uint8_t port)
{
  printLine();
  Serial.println("Connecting to domain: " + String(host));

  // Use WiFiClient class to create TCP connections
  WiFiClient client;
  if (!client.connect(host, port))
  {
    Serial.println("connection failed");
    return;
  }
  Serial.println("Connected!");
  printLine();

  // This will send the request to the server
  client.print((String)"GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n" +
               "Host: " + String(host) + "\r\n" +
               "Connection: close\r\n\r\n");
  unsigned long timeout = millis();
  while (client.available() == 0) 
  {
    if (millis() - timeout > 5000) 
    {
      Serial.println(">>> Client Timeout !");
      client.stop();
      return;
    }
  }

  // Read all the lines of the reply from server and print them to Serial
  while (client.available()) 
  {
    String line = client.readStringUntil('\r');
    Serial.print(line);
  }

  Serial.println();
  Serial.println("closing connection");
  client.stop();
}

void printLine()
{
  Serial.println();
  for (int i=0; i<30; i++)
    Serial.print("-");
  Serial.println();
}

Make sure you fill in the networkName and networkPswd variables with the name (or SSID) and password of your WiFi network! Once you've done that and uploaded the code, open your serial monitor.

WiFi example serial terminal output
Having a hard time seeing? Click the image for a closer look.


After your ESP32 connects to the WiFi network, it will wait for you to press the "Boot" button on your carrier board. Tapping that will cause the ESP32 to make an HTTP request to example.com. You should see a string of HTTP headers and HTML similar to the screenshot above.

Further Examples

With the MicroMod system, the possibilities for examples with all the processor/carrier board are endless, and we just can't cover them all. You'll notice that in this tutorial, we've selected the Input and Display Carrier Board, but have focused our examples on the Esp32 Processor Board. If you're interested in examples specifically for our carrier board, head on over to our SparkFun MicroMod Input and Display Carrier Board Hookup Guide.

Troubleshooting

With the MicroMod Processors, you can change out the processors with little to no changes in the code. But because each processor board's architecture is different, the way communication protocols are initialized might be a little bit different. For the ESP32 Processor, the two main protocols are the Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART), aka Serial, and I2C, aka Wire.

Secondary Serial/UART Initialization Tips

The UART is initialized with the begin function as:

void begin(unsigned long baud, uint32_t config, int8_t rxPin, int8_t txPin, bool invert, unsigned long timeout_ms)

The primary UART works like any other Arduino board being able to initialize and send messages back to your computer over the USB cable using using Serial.begin(115200) for a baud rate of 115200 as an example. If you wanted to communicate at the same 115200 baud rate on the secondary UART you would initialize Serial1 as:

Serial1.begin(115200, SERIAL_8N1, RX1,TX1);

Or if you want to use the GPIO pin numbers instead, it would be:

Serial1.begin(115200, SERIAL_8N1, 16, 17);

Secondary I2C Initialization Tips

The Wire bus is initialized with the begin function as:

bool begin(int sda, int scl, uint32_t frequency);  // returns true, if successful init of i2c bus

With the primary Wire bus, these pins use the default SCL and SDA pins connected to GPIO pins 22 and 21 and can be initialized by simply calling Wire.begin(). If you plan on using the secondary Wire bus, you need to provide the pins, and possibly the desired frequnecy if the default 400kHz is too fast. For most applications though you can use:

Wire1.begin(SDA1, SCL1);

Or if you wanted to use the GPIO pin numbers, it would be:

Wire1.begin(26, 25);

Resources and Going Further

For more information about the MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board, check out the following links:

For more information about the SparkFun MicroMod Ecosystem, take a look at the links below:

Looking for some project inspiration using your ESP32 Processor Board? The tutorials below can help you get started!

MicroMod Data Logging Carrier Board Hookup Guide

Get started with some customizable MicroMod data logging with the Data Logging Carrier Board.

MicroMod Machine Learning Carrier Board Hookup Guide

Get hacking with this tutorial on our Machine Learning Carrier Board!

MicroMod nRF52840 Processor Hookup Guide

Get started with the MicroMod nRF52840 Processor following this guide.

MicroMod Ethernet Function Board - W5500 Hookup Guide

Add Ethernet and PoE capabilities to your MicroMod project using the Ethernet Function Board - W5500.