AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3

Compact ESP32-C3 core board - suitable for integrating Wi-Fi and BLE into custom embedded designs.

USB-C
AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3 board
51 × 21 mm
ESP32-C3
RISC-V MCU
160MHz
clock
4MB
flash
400KB
SRAM
12· 6 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
On this page

AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3 Pinout

12 pins · 2.54 mm pitch
AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3 pinout diagram
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
10A0safeadc
21A1safeadc
32SCKA2strappingadc · spi
43MOSIA3safeadc · spi
54SDAA4strappingadc · i2c
65SCLA5strappingadc · i2c
77SSstrappingspi
810MISOsafespi
912LED_BUILTINstrapping-
1013LED_BUILTIN_AUXstrapping-
1120RXuartuart
1221TXuartuart
12 GPIOs broken out 4 free · 6 need care · 2 to avoid

Start with these

4 pins with no boot or system involvement
A0GPIO0A1GPIO1MOSIGPIO3MISOGPIO10

Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.

Fine - with a little care

6 pins · 6 things to know
SCKGPIO2 Strapping pin, but it does not select the boot mode - GPIO9 does. Espressif only recommend pulling it up against reset-time glitches. Floating by default. Strapping

A strapping pin: Espressif recommend an external pull-up against glitches at reset, so avoid heavy capacitive loads or a strong low drive here. It does not put the chip into download mode (that is GPIO9).

SDAGPIO4 Bootstrapping pin; JTAG TMS; Flash data (FSPIHD in internal-flash models) JTAG

Used during boot; JTAG TMS for debugging; acts as Quad-SPI flash IO (hold data line) in internal-flash variants

SCLGPIO5 Bootstrapping pin; JTAG TDI; Flash data (FSPIWP in internal-flash models) JTAG

Used during boot; JTAG TDI for debugging; acts as Quad-SPI flash IO (write-protect data line) in internal-flash variants

SSGPIO7 Bootstrapping pin; JTAG TDO; Flash data (FSPID in internal-flash models) JTAG

Used during boot; JTAG TDO for debugging; acts as Quad-SPI flash IO (data line) in internal-flash variants

RXGPIO20 UART0 RXD (default serial input) UART

Used as UART0 receive (console/bootloader); repurposing may disable serial programming and debug logs

TXGPIO21 UART0 TXD (default serial output) UART

Used as UART0 transmit (console/bootloader); repurposing may disable serial console output and printing

Only if you know the tricks

2 pins · 2 things to know
LED_BUILTINGPIO12 Quad-SPI flash data line (HOLD# signal) Flash

Connected to flash HOLD#; not recommended for other use as it's reserved for flash communication

LED_BUILTIN_AUXGPIO13 Quad-SPI flash data line (WP# signal) Flash

Connected to flash WP#; not recommended for other use (used to interface with SPI flash)

These are recommendations, not hard rules - with the right pull-ups, timing and boot-state awareness most pins can be made to work. When in doubt, start green.

The AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3 pinout brings out 12 GPIO pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - every one of them usable in your project.

For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO4 and SCL on GPIO5; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO21 and GPIO20 cover serial logging and flashing.

On the analog side there are 6 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring.

If you want zero surprises, A0, A1, MOSI and MISO are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 6 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-C3 (SCK, SDA, SCL and 3 more).

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes
Tool:
1
Connect over USB
Install your USB-serial driver (CH340 / CP210x) if no port appears. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.
2
Match & flash
Set the Tools options shown, then click Upload.
3
Verify it runs
GPIO0 toggles - wire an LED and resistor to it, or change the pin to your board's own LED.
Set these in Tools · leave everything else at default
Arduino IDE 2.x - Tools Copy
Board: "ESP32C3 Dev Module"▸
Flash Size: "4MB (32Mb)"▸
Flash Mode: "DIO"▸
Partition Scheme: "Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)" (default)▸
Upload Speed: "921600"▸
▸ every other Tools option - leave at default
Board: ESP32C3 Dev Module
Flash Size: 4MB (32Mb)
Flash Mode: DIO
Partition Scheme: Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)
Upload Speed: 921600
Find it: Tools ▸ Board ▸ ESP32 Arduino ▸ ESP32C3 Dev Module
blink.ino Copy
// toggle GPIO0 - wire an LED and resistor to it
void setup() {
  pinMode(0, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(0, HIGH); delay(500);
  digitalWrite(0, LOW);  delay(500);
}
board to selectesp32-c3-devkitm-1⧉ copy
platformio.ini Copy
[env:AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-c3-devkitm-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
Find it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search esp32-c3-devkitm-1 - or type it after board =.
board to selectesp32-c3-devkitm-1⧉ copy
device.yaml Copy
esp32:
  board: esp32-c3-devkitm-1
  variant: esp32c3
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# blink - GPIO0
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 0
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out
Find it: search ESPHome's board list for esp32-c3-devkitm-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).
esptool doesn't pick board settings - a prebuilt .bin already has them baked in. This is just the raw flash command.
terminal Copy
esptool.py --chip esp32c3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  --baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin
--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).
Build details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DIO

Specifications

ESP32-C3 · 51 × 21 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →
Compute
MCU
ESP32-C3 · RISC-V
Clock
160 MHz
SRAM · Flash
400 KB · 4MB
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
12 · 6
UART · I²C · SPI
2 · 1 · 1
PWM
6 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
CH343
Boot address
0x0
Electrical
Input
5V USB · 5V/3.3V pins
Consumption
-
Regulator
ME6212C33M5G
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · DIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB

Dimensions

21 mm51 mm
51 × 21 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm
The AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3 uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is DIO with DIO boot mode. The maximum sketch size is 1.25 MB with 320 KB available for data.

About this board

At its core is the ESP32-C3 - a single-core RISC-V and the budget low-power pick.

Onboard you'll find status LEDs (D4, D5) and Reset/Boot buttons.

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices
AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3
AirM2M_CORE_ESP32C3
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Resources

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