A progressive tutorial for the ESP32 S3 AIoT board, based on MicroPython.
I found this board on Taobao, and ordered the cheaper version to try it out (the main difference I can see is the slightly more expensive one has a camera, hence the AIoT mention). I have been wanting to write such a tutorial, and this board looked like a perfect fit. I wasn't disappointed: while there are a few quirks, typos and the like, by and large this board is VERY well made, and deserves some love. So here goes.
Ready for Lesson 01?
Head first to MicroPython Downloads for the Generic ESP32 S3. That's the one sold with the board (if you buy a full set) – in its ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 version: 16 MB Flash, 384 kB ROM, 8 MB SRAM. You will want the Firmware version with support for Octal-SPIRAM: the latest as of today being 20251209-v1.27.
Next you will need esptool. Which itself requires Python. Usually
pip install esptool
Should be enough to install esptool. Once you have that you can follow the Installation instructions. Basically:
cd ~/Downloads/ # or wherever you put the .bin file
esptool --port PORTNAME erase_flash
esptool.py --baud 460800 write_flash 0 ESP32_GENERIC_S3-SPIRAM_OCT-20251209-v1.27.0.binIf nothing breaks, reset the device to reboot it and open Thonny. It's not a great IDE but it is easy to use and will come in handy for handling files in a visual way. Select the correct port and MicroPython (ESP32). Accept and click on the red button connect/disconnect. The following message should appear.
If you're still with me, bravo, you have MP working! And it indeed has 8 MB of RAM. That's plenty!
Git clone or download this repository. In Thonny's file browser, on the left, up top, navigate to this folder – it's a bit quirky to use but a few clicks should do the job. Once you have the files and folders in the list, select the Lessons, the lib folder, and the boot.py file. Click on the burger icon and select Upload to. It will take a while but everything will be copied onto the ESP32.
I will add lessons as time permits – I do have a bit of time lately – and create of Table of Contents here.