Practical ESP32-C3 Development Board ESP32

Table of Contents

Practical ESP32-C3 Development Board. Compared to traditional development boards, practical development boards are closer to the appearance of actual products. They can not only be used as full-function development boards, but also as actual products for use in work and daily life. The development board almost includes all the achievable functions of ESP32-C3, maximizing the performance of ESP32-C3. It features a color screen display (2 inches), complete audio input (microphone) and output (speaker) functions. Combined with its integrated posture sensor, geomagnetic sensor, temperature and humidity sensor, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it can be used to create more practical and interesting IoT applications.

The development board is compact in size (69*41*12mm), and not only integrates many sensors internally, but also leaves two expansion interfaces for connecting more external sensor modules and actuators. The shell adopts a screwless design, allowing it to be opened and installed by hand without the need for screwdrivers or other tools, making it easier for users to learn hardware and structural knowledge.

Welcome to use the Practical ESP32-C3 Development Board! This tutorial is the accompanying documentation for the development board, with a clear and progressive structure. After completing it, you can easily use the ESP32-C3 for practical projects.

There are many ways to develop with ESP32, such as Arduino, MicroPython, ESP-IDF, etc. This manual explains using the official ESP-IDF development method from Espressif, requiring developers to have a certain foundation in C or C++ language. In addition, the ESP-IDF SDK uses the freeRTOS operating system, so developers need experience with using the freeRTOS operating system. If you do not have a background in C and freeRTOS, but still want to learn ESP32 through this tutorial, you can refer to relevant learning materials to solve any related C and freeRTOS basic problems.

Practical Esp32-C3 Development Board Esp32 Size 3

Overview The development board

Is based on the ESP32-C3 main control chip, with an external FLASH capacity of 8MB and an internal SRAM capacity of 400kB.
In terms of display, it integrates a 2.0-inch IPS high-definition color LCD screen, which can be used for various display applications. It also has a capacitive touch screen for finger-controlled applications.
In terms of audio, it integrates the audio codec chip ES8311, with microphone input for sound and speaker for sound playback.
It also integrates a 6D attitude sensor, a magnetometer sensor for attitude display, compass, etc., as well as a temperature and humidity sensor for displaying temperature and humidity.
There are two external interfaces, one I2C interface and one multifunction interface. The I2C interface can connect external sensors that support I2C communication.
The multifunction interface provides 2 GPIO pins of the ESP32, which can be used as normal GPIO pins, configured as serial ports, I2C, or CAN ports.
The development board integrates a USB to TTL chip, allowing power supply, download, and data observation through a TYPE-C interface with just one data line.
It also has a reset button and a user-defined button.
With the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functions of the ESP32-C3, the development board can be used for many interesting applications.

Hardware parameters

Main control chip	ESP32-C3	Low power RISC-V single-core processor, main frequency of 160MHz, SRAM 400kB, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) Bluetooth 5 (LE)
flash Flash chip	MX25L6433FM2I-08G	8MB Capacity
Display screen	ST7789	2.0 inch, IPS full viewing angle, resolution 240*320, SPI interface
Touch screen	FT6336	Capacitive touch, I2C interface
Gesture sensor	QMI8658C	Three-axis accelerometer, thirteen-axis gyroscope, I2C interface.
Magnetic sensor	QMC5883L	Three-axis geomagnetic, 12C interface
Temperature and humidity sensor	GXHTC3	Accuracy: Humidity ±3 %RH Temperature ±0.3 & I2c interface
Audio codec chip	ES8311	ADC+DAC, I2S audio interface, I2C control interface
Audio power amplifier chip	NS4150B	3W single-channel Class D audio amplifier
Microphone	ZTS6216	Simulated output
Speaker	DB1811AB50	1811 sound cavity speaker, 1W
USB to serial port chip	CH343P	Baud rate up to 6Mbps
Type-C interface		Used for power supply, program download, program debugging.
GH1.25 interface		Expandable sensor interface, can provide 5V and 3.3V power to external sensors, USB, GPIO, CAN, UART.
Key		One reset button, one user-defined button

Development Board Resource Annotation Diagram

Practical Esp32-C3 Development Board Esp32 Detail 2

Product dimensions

Schematic Practical ESP32-C3 Development Board ESP32

Currently, there are 5 models in the ESP32-C3 series of chips, as shown in the following figure. The figure is taken from the official manual. The model of the main control chip of our development board is the first one in the list above: ESP32-C3. The difference from other models is that there is no integrated FLASH inside the chip, it needs to be external. The other three models all have 4MB of built-in flash, and the external FLASH chip capacity on our development board is 8MB.

The diagram above are the schematics of ESP32-C3 and NOR FLASH storage chip, which is equivalent to the minimum system of ESP32-C3. The network label names of ESP32-C3 pins are named using GPIO numbers + peripheral functions, so that by looking at the name, you can know the purpose of the pin and its GPIO number. This naming convention is very friendly for programming.

The diagram above shows the external expansion interface circuit. There are two expansion interfaces on the development board, one is an I2C interface, and the other is a multi-functional custom interface. They use 5-pin GH terminals, which can output 3.3V and 5V to power external sensors.

The I2C interface shares a single I2C interface with all the sensors and capacitive touch screens above, so it can only be used for I2C, do not reuse it for other functions.

The other multi-purpose interface leads out GPIO18 and 19, these two pins are by default the USB interface of the ESP32, which can be used to download programs through this interface as the second program download interface of the development board. It can also be used as a general GPIO, or reused as a serial port, I2C port, CAN port, etc.

Schematic Practical Esp32-C3 Development Board Esp32 2 — Schematic

The diagram above is the interface circuit for the LCD screen and touch screen. The LCD screen uses SPI communication, while the touch screen uses I2C communication. The LCD screen supports program control of backlight on/off and PWM brightness adjustment.

The diagram above is an audio circuit. The audio chip used is ES8311, which is connected to ESP32-C3 via I2S interface. ES8311 is also connected to a microphone and a speaker. The microphone is connected to the analog microphone interface of ES8311, and a audio amplifier chip NS4158B is also connected between the speaker and ES8311.

Schematic Practical Esp32-C3 Development Board Esp32 3 — Schematic

The diagram above shows a USB to serial circuit, connected to the serial port 0 of ESP32, which can achieve automatic program downloading and serial terminal debugging functions. The USB to serial chip used is CH343P, which requires driver installation.

The diagram above shows a button circuit with two buttons in total: one is the reset button, and the other is the user button. The reset button is used to restart the microcontroller. The user button can be used to implement custom functions. If there is no automatic download circuit for the previous program, when downloading the program, you need to press and hold the BOOT button first, then press the RESET button to start the download. Because BOOT and RESET are already controlled by the automatic download circuit, the BOOT button here actually becomes a user button and can be used for custom input functions.

The diagram above shows three sensors on the development board, including a temperature and humidity sensor, a 6D attitude sensor, and a magnetic sensor. These three sensors all communicate with the ESP32-C3 using the same I2C interface. Additionally, the mentioned touchscreen also uses the same I2C interface as these sensors.

BOM Practical ESP32-C3 Development Board ESP32

Parts	Value	Description	Quantity
Resistors
R1,R1,R6,R6,R22,R22,R23,R23	100kΩ	R0402 – SMD resistor	8
R2,R2,R7,R7,R15,R15,R16,R16,R18,R18,R21, R21,R24,R24,R35,R35	10kΩ	R0402 – SMD resistor	16
R3,R3	0R	R0402 – SMD resistor	2
R4,R4,R5,R5	4.7kΩ	R0402 – SMD resistor	4
R8,R8	499Ω	R0402 – SMD resistor	2
R13,R13,R14,R14	5.1kΩ	R0402 – SMD resistor	4
R17,R17,R25,R25,R26,R26,R27,R27,R28,R28, R29,R29,R30,R30,R31,R31,R32,R32,R33,R33	0Ω	R0402 – SMD resistor	20
R19,R19	10Ω	R0402 – SMD resistor	2
R20,R20	1kΩ	R0402 – SMD resistor	2
R34,R34	220Ω	R0402 – SMD resistor	2
Capacitors
C1,C1,C25,C25,C26,C26,C56,C56	10uF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	8
C2,C2,C5,C5,C9,C9,C10,C10,C11,C11,C12, C12,C13,C13,C14,C14,C15,C15,C16,C16,C17, C17,C22,C22,C23,C23,C24,C24,C27,C27,C28, C28,C29,C29,C32,C32,C33,C33,C34,C34,C35, C35,C55,C55,C57,C57,C59,C59	100nF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	48
C3,C3,C6,C6	NC	C0402 – SMD capacitor	4
C4,C4,C37,C37,C40,C40,C41,C41,C42,C42, C43,C43,C44,C44,C45,C45,C46,C46,C51,C51, C52,C52	1uF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	22
C7,C7,C8,C8	13pF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	4
C18,C18,C19,C19,C20,C20,C21,C21	NFM18PC104R1C3D	SMD-3P,0.8×1.6mm Feed Through Capacitor	8
C30,C30,C31,C31,C36,C36,C38,C38,C39,C39, C47,C47,C49,C49	22pF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	14
C48,C48,C53,C53	22uF	C0805 – SMD capacitor	4
C50,C50,C54,C54	1nF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	4
C60	220nF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	1
C60	220nF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	1
C61	4.7uF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	1
C61	4.7uF	C0402 – SMD capacitor	1
Semiconductors
D1,D1,D2,D2,D3,D3,D4,D4,D5,D5,D6,D6,D7,D7	RCLAMP0521T-ES	Bidirectional 5V DFN1006-2L ESD and Surge Protection (TVS/ESD)	14
Q1,Q1	LMBT3904DW1T1G	SOT-363 NPN Bipolar transistor	2
Q2,Q2	SI2301CDS-T1-GE3-ES	P-Channel SOT-23 MOSFET	2
MIC1,MIC1	ZTS6216	Omni-directional -38dB 100Ω 65dB SMD-4P,1.9×2.8mm MEMS Microphone	2
U2,U2	MX25L6433FM2I-08G	SOP-8-200mil NOR FLASH	2
U3	ESP32-C3	400KB 22 3V~3.6V RISC-V 160MHz QFN-32-EP(5×5) Microcontroller	1
U3	ESP32-C3	400KB 22 3V~3.6V RISC-V 160MHz QFN-32-EP(5×5) Microcontroller	1
U4,U4	CH343P	QFN-16-EP(3×3) USB Converter	2
U5,U5	ME6217C33M5G	800mA Fixed 3.3V Positive SOT-23-5 Voltage Regulator Linear, Low Drop Out (LDO)	2
U6,U6	GXHTC3	DFN-6-EP(2×2) Temperature and Humidity Sensor	2
U7,U7	ES8311	WQFN-20-EP(3×3) Low Power Mono Audio CODEC	2
U8,U8	NS4150B	3Wx1@4Ω Class D Audio Amplifier MSOP-8	2
U9	QMI8658C	LGA-14 Accelerometer	1
U9	QMI8658C	LGA-14 Accelerometer	1
U10	QMC5883L	LGA-16(3×3) 3D Magnetic Sensor	1
U10	QMC5883L	LGA-16(3×3) 3D Magnetic Sensor	1
Miscellaneous
F1,F1	BSMD0603L-100	F0603 – 6V 1A 0603 Resettable Fuse	2
J1,J1,J2,J2	HC-GH-5PWT	1x5P 5P 1.25mm Horizontal attachment SMD connector	4
J3,J3	AFC34-S06FIA-00	6P Dual-sided contacts top and bottom connection Horizontal attachment 0.5mm SMD, Right Angle FFC, FPC (Flat Flexible) Connector	2
J4,J4	AFC34-S10FIA-00	10P Dual-sided contacts top and bottom connection Horizontal attachment 0.5mm SMD, Right Angle FFC, FPC (Flat Flexible) Connector	2
J5,J5	X9821WRS-02-9TSN	1x2P 1.25mm Horizontal attachment SMD Right Angle Connector	2
L1,L1	2nH	L0402 – SMD inductor	2
L2,L2	24nH	L0402-RD – SMD inductor	2
L4,L4	UPZ1608U221-2R2TF	220Ω@100MHz 0603 Ferrite Bead	2
SW1,SW1,SW2,SW2	TS-1073A-A2B3-D4	Rectangle button SPST Tactile Switch	4
U1,U1	ANT3216LL00R2400A	5.05dBi Chip Antenna Linear 160MHz 2.45GHz 1206	2
USB1,USB1	TYPEC-304-ACP16	3A 16P Female Type-C SMD USB Connector	2
X1,X1	40MHz	40MHz SMD3225-4P Crystal	2