This guide shows how to get started with the ESP-WROVER-KIT V3 development board and also provides information about its functionality and configuration options. For the description of other ESP-WROVER-KIT versions, please check :doc:`../../hw-reference/index`.
ESP-WROVER-KIT is an ESP32-based development board produced by `Espressif <https://espressif.com>`_. This board features an integrated LCD screen and microSD card slot.
Its another distinguishing feature is the embedded FTDI FT2232HL chip - an advanced multi-interface USB bridge. This chip enables to use JTAG for direct debugging of ESP32 through the USB interface without a separate JTAG debugger. ESP-WROVER-KIT makes development convenient, easy, and cost-effective.
Most of the ESP32 I/O pins are broken out to the board's pin headers for easy access.
..note::
The version with the ESP32-WROVER module uses ESP32's GPIO16 and GPIO17 as chip select and clock signals for PSRAM. By default, the two GPIOs are not broken out to the board's pin headers in order to ensure reliable performance.
Functionality Overview
----------------------
The block diagram below shows the main components of ESP-WROVER-KIT and their interconnections.
- External precision 32.768 kHz crystal oscillator serves as a clock with low-power consumption while the chip is in Deep-sleep mode.
* - 0R
- Zero-ohm resistor intended as a placeholder for a current shunt, can be desoldered or replaced with a current shunt to facilitate the measurement of ESP32's current consumption in different modes.
* - ESP32 Module
- Either ESP32-WROOM-32 or ESP32-WROVER with an integrated ESP32. The ESP32-WROVER module features all the functions of ESP32-WROOM-32 and integrates an external 32-MBit PSRAM for flexible extended storage and data processing capabilities.
* - FT2232
- The FT2232 chip serves as a multi-protocol USB-to-serial bridge which can be programmed and controlled via USB to provide communication with ESP32. FT2232 also features USB-to-JTAG interface which is available on channel A of the chip, while USB-to-serial is on channel B. The FT2232 chip enhances user-friendliness in terms of application development and debugging. See `ESP-WROVER-KIT V3 schematic`_.
* - UART
- Serial port. The serial TX/RX signals of FT2232 and ESP32 are broken out to the inward and outward sides of JP11 respectively. By default, these pairs of pins are connected with jumpers. To use ESP32's serial interface, remove the jumpers and connect another external serial device to the respective pins.
* - SPI
- By default, ESP32 uses its SPI interface to access flash and PSRAM memory inside the module. Use these pins to connect ESP32 to another SPI device. In this case, an extra chip select (CS) signal is needed. Please note that the interface voltage for the version with ESP32-WROVER is 1.8V, while that for the version with ESP32-WROOM-32 is 3.3V.
* - CTS/RTS
- Serial port flow control signals: the pins are not connected to the circuitry by default. To enable them, short the respective pins of JP14 with jumpers.
* - JTAG
- JTAG interface. JTAG signals of FT2232 and ESP32 are broken out to the inward and outward sides of JP8 respectively. By default, these pairs of pins are disconnected. To enable JTAG, short the respective pins with jumpers as shown in Section `Setup Options`_.
* - EN
- Reset button.
* - Boot
- Download button. Holding down **Boot** and then pressing **EN** initiates Firmware Download mode for downloading firmware through the serial port.
* - USB
- USB interface. Power supply for the board as well as the communication interface between a computer and the board.
* - Power Key
- Power On/Off Switch. Toggling toward **USB** powers the board on, toggling away from **USB** powers the board off.
* - Power Select
- Power supply selector interface. The board can be powered either via USB or via the 5V Input interface. Select the power source with a jumper. For more details, see Section `Setup Options`_, jumper header JP7.
* - 5V Input
- The 5 V power supply interface can be more convenient when the board is operating autonomously (not connected to a computer).
* - LDO
- NCP1117(1A). 5V-to-3.3V LDO. NCP1117 can provide a maximum current of 1A. The LDO on the board has a fixed output voltage. Although, the user can install an LDO with adjustable output voltage. For details, please refer to `ESP-WROVER-KIT V3 schematic`_.
* - Camera
- Camera interface, a standard OV7670 camera module.
* - RGB LED
- Red, green and blue (RGB) light emitting diodes (LEDs), can be controlled by pulse width modulation (PWM).
* - I/O
- All the pins on the ESP32 module are broken out to pin headers. You can program ESP32 to enable multiple functions, such as PWM, ADC, DAC, I2C, I2S, SPI, etc.
* - microSD Card Slot
- Useful for developing applications that access microSD card for data storage and retrieval.
* - LCD
- Support for mounting and interfacing a 3.2” SPI (standard 4-wire Serial Peripheral Interface) LCD, as shown on figure :ref:`get-started-esp-wrover-kit-v3-board-back`.
Some pins/terminals of ESP32 are allocated for use with the onboard or external hardware. If that hardware is not used, e.g., nothing is plugged into the Camera (JP4) header, then these GPIOs can be used for other purposes.
Some of the pins, such as GPIO0 or GPIO2, have multiple functions and some of them are shared among onboard and external peripheral devices. Certain combinations of peripherals cannot work together. For example, it is not possible to do JTAG debugging of an application that is using SD card, because several pins are shared by JTAG and the SD card slot.
In other cases, peripherals can coexist under certain conditions. This is applicable to, for example, LCD screen and SD card that share only a single pin GPIO21. This pin is used to provide D/C (Data/Control) signal for the LCD as well as the CD (Card Detect) signal read from the SD card slot. If the card detect functionality is not essential, then it may be disabled by removing R167, so both LCD and SD may operate together.
The JP1 connector consists of 14x2 male pins whose functions are shown in the middle two "I/O" columns of the table below. The two "Shared With" columns on both sides describe where else on the board a certain GPIO is used.
Since GPIO32 and GPIO33 are connected to the oscillator by default, they are not connected to the JP1 I/O connector to maintain signal integrity. This allocation may be changed from the oscillator to JP1 by desoldering the zero-ohm resistors from positions R11/R23 and re-soldering them to positions R12/R24.
The module's flash bus is connected to the jumper block JP13 through zero-ohm resistors R140 ~ R145. If the flash memory needs to operate at the frequency of 80 MHz, for reasons such as improving the integrity of bus signals, you can desolder these resistors to disconnect the module's flash bus from the pin header JP13.
Please proceed to :doc:`../../get-started/index`, where Section :ref:`get-started-step-by-step` will quickly help you set up the development environment and then flash an example project onto your board.
