Quick Start

1. Plug It In

Connect the board to your computer with a USB-C cable. The ESP32-S3 has native USB, so there is no driver chip and no drivers to install — the board appears as a serial port on its own.

USB also powers the board and charges a connected battery.

2. Set Up Arduino IDE

Install the ESP32 board support package (Espressif Systems) from the Boards Manager, then select:

• Board: ESP32S3 Dev Module
• Port: whichever port appears when you plug the board in

3. Turn On The Matrix

The matrix has a power switch on GPIO47 that must be driven LOW before the LEDs will light. This catches people out — the data line can be perfect and the matrix will stay dark if its power is off.

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
 
#define MATRIX_PIN    3    // 5x5 matrix data
#define MATRIX_POWER  47   // LOW = LEDs powered
#define NUM_PIXELS    25
 
Adafruit_NeoPixel matrix(NUM_PIXELS, MATRIX_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
 
void setup() {
  pinMode(MATRIX_POWER, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(MATRIX_POWER, LOW);   // power the matrix
 
  matrix.begin();
  matrix.setBrightness(40);          // keep it modest
  matrix.show();
}
 
void loop() {
  for (int i = 0; i < NUM_PIXELS; i++) {
    matrix.clear();
    matrix.setPixelColor(i, matrix.Color(0, 40, 80));
    matrix.show();
    delay(60);
  }
}

4. Make A Sound

The buzzer sits on GPIO48 and is loudest around 4 kHz.

#define BUZZER 48
 
void beep(int freq, int ms) {
  tone(BUZZER, freq, ms);
  delay(ms);
  noTone(BUZZER);
  digitalWrite(BUZZER, LOW);   // always leave it LOW
}
 
void setup() {
  pinMode(BUZZER, OUTPUT);
  beep(4000, 120);
}
 
void loop() {}

The Two Buttons

RESET

Restarts the ESP32-S3, exactly like pulling the RST pin low. The sensors and regulator stay powered; only the ESP32-S3 restarts.

BOOT

Connected to GPIO0 with a 10 kΩ pull-up, and it does two jobs.

Upload mode. Uploads over USB normally start by themselves. If one fails, or the board doesn't show up as a port, hold BOOT, press and release RESET, then release BOOT. The board waits in download mode until the upload finishes — press RESET afterwards to run your program.

As a normal button. Once your program is running, read GPIO0 like any button:

void setup() {
  pinMode(0, INPUT_PULLUP);
}
 
void loop() {
  if (digitalRead(0) == LOW) {
    // BOOT button is pressed
  }
}

Troubleshooting First Uploads