Microduino-CoreESP32

Stackable ESP32 board in Microduino form - perfect for modular electronics projects and classroom use.

Microduino-CoreESP32 board
27.94 × 25.4 mm
ESP32
MCU
240MHz
clock
4MB
flash
520KB
SRAM
24· 12 ADC
GPIO
BLE 4.2+ WiFi
radio
On this page

Pinout

33 pins · 2.54 mm pitch
View:
Microduino-CoreESP32 pinout diagram
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
10T1strappingtouch
21TXWIRE1_PIN_DEFINEDD1PWMuartuart
32T2PWMstrappingtouch
43RXD0PWMuartuart
54A3D17T0PWMstrappingadc · touch
65SSD10PWMstrappingspi
712MTDISDA1A0D14T5PWMstrappingadc · touch
813MTCKSCL1A1D15T4PWMstrappingadc · touch
914MTMSA13T6PWMstrappingadc · touch
1015MTDOA2D16T3PWMstrappingadc · touch
1116D2PWMstrapping-
1217D3PWMstrapping-
1318SCKD13PWMsafespi
1419MISOD12PWMsafespi
1521D19PWMsafe-
1622D18PWMsafe-
1723MOSID11PWMsafespi
1825A10DAC1PWMsafeadc · dac
1926A11DAC2PWMsafeadc · dac
2027A12T7PWMsafeadc · touch
2132A8T9PWMsafeadc · touch
2233A9T8PWMsafeadc · touch
2337A7D21strappingadc
2438A6D20strappingadc
25-LED_BUILTINsafe-
26-SDAsafei2c
27-SCLsafei2c
28-D4safe-
29-D5safe-
30-D6safe-
31-D7safe-
32-D8safe-
33-D9safe-

Start with these

10 pins with no boot or system involvement
SCKD13MISOD12D19PWMD18PWMMOSID11A10DAC1A11DAC2A12T7A8T9A9T8

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

Fine - with a little care

sampled at boot or shared with debug/serial
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
T1GPIO0Must be HIGH during boot for normal startup; if held LOW on reset, forces flash programming mode.Strapping
T2GPIO2If driven HIGH on reset (while IO0 is LOW), selects an unsupported SDIO boot mode, causing boot failure.Strapping
A3GPIO4Sampled at reset for boot config; should not be driven at boot (affects boot mode timing).Strapping
SSGPIO5Must be HIGH during boot; if pulled LOW at reset, alters SDIO slave timing and may prevent normal boot.Strapping
MTDIMTDI (GPIO12)Keep LOW during boot (internal PD); pulling HIGH at reset selects 1.8V flash mode, causing flash brownout if 3.3V flash is used.Strapping
MTCKMTCK (GPIO13)Used for JTAG debugging (TCK); avoid using as GPIO if JTAG is needed.Other
MTMSMTMS (GPIO14)Used for JTAG debugging (TMS); driving it as GPIO may interfere with JTAG or produce spurious signals at boot.Other
MTDOMTDO (GPIO15)Keep HIGH during boot (internal PU); if LOW on reset, bootloader log is silenced and boot mode may change.Strapping
A7GPIO37 (SENSOR_CAPP)Cannot be used as output; only suitable for input.Other
A6GPIO38 (SENSOR_CAPN)Cannot be used as output; only suitable for input.Other

Only if you know the tricks

wired to flash or USB - expect a fight
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
TXU0TXD (GPIO1)Connected to on-board USB-UART for uploading and logs; drives serial output at boot, so using as GPIO can disrupt programming or console.USB
RXU0RXD (GPIO3)Used for receiving data from USB-UART (programming); also pulled HIGH at boot for console communication, so using as GPIO can disrupt uploads.USB
D2GPIO16Connected to internal PSRAM on PSRAM-enabled modules; not usable as GPIO on those modules.Flash
D3GPIO17Connected to internal PSRAM on PSRAM-enabled modules; not usable as GPIO on those modules.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.
Pinout notes The Microduino-CoreESP32 pinout brings out 33 pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - 24 usable GPIO. For peripherals, the SPI bus ( MOSI , MISO , SCK , SS ) is broken out…

The Microduino-CoreESP32 pinout brings out 33 pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - 24 usable GPIO.

For peripherals, the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full, while TX/RX on GPIO1 and GPIO3 cover serial logging and flashing.

On the analog side there are 12 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 10 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.

If you want zero surprises, SCK, MISO, D19, D18 and 6 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 10 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32 (T1, T2, A3 and 7 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
The onboard LED on GPIO18 blinks - swap the pin if your board's LED differs.
Set these in Tools · leave everything else at default
Arduino IDE 2.x — Tools Copy
Board: "ESP32 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: ESP32 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 ▸ ESP32 Dev Module
blink.ino Copy
// blink the onboard LED
void setup() {
  pinMode(18, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(18, HIGH); delay(500);
  digitalWrite(18, LOW);  delay(500);
}
board to selectesp32dev⧉ copy
platformio.ini Copy
[env:CoreESP32]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
Find it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search esp32dev — or type it after board =.
board to selectesp32dev⧉ copy
device.yaml Copy
esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  variant: Microduino-esp32
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# blink - GPIO18
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 18
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out
Find it: search ESPHome's board list for esp32dev (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 esp32 --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 · 27.94 × 25.4 mm
Compute
MCU
ESP32
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
520 KB · 4MB
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
4.2 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
24 · 12
UART · I²C · SPI
3 · 2 · 4
PWM
16 channels
Power
USB
None
Serial
-
Boot address
0x1000
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · DIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB
25.4 mm27.94 mm
27.94 × 25.4 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm
The Microduino-CoreESP32 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 - a dual-core Xtensa with both Bluetooth Classic and BLE.

  • No onboard USB - flashed by stacking a separate Microduino USBTTL (FT232R) module

Resources

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