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DFRobot Firebeetle 2 ESP32-S3
An ESP32-S3 board with an onboard camera interface and independent power supply circuit, designed for image recognition applications.
60 × 25.4 mm
ESP32-S3
MCU
240MHz
clock
16MB
flash
512KB
SRAM
24· 6 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
Pinout
25 pins · 2.54 mm pitch| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | D9 | strapping | - | |
| 2 | 1 | SDAT1PWM | safe | touch · i2c | |
| 3 | 2 | SCLT2PWM | safe | touch · i2c | |
| 4 | 3 | D2T3GDI_DCPWM | strapping | touch | |
| 5 | 4 | A0T4PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 6 | 5 | A1T5PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 7 | 6 | A2T6PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 8 | 7 | D5T7GDI_FCSPWM | safe | touch | |
| 9 | 8 | A3T8PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 10 | 9 | D7T9GDI_SDCSPWM | strapping | touch | |
| 11 | 10 | SSA4T10PWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 12 | 11 | A5T11PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 13 | 12 | D12T12GDI_TCSPWM | strapping | touch | |
| 14 | 13 | D11T13GDI_INTPWM | strapping | touch | |
| 15 | 14 | D10T14GDI_BUSY_TEPWM | strapping | touch | |
| 16 | 15 | MOSIPWM | safe | spi | |
| 17 | 16 | MISOPWM | safe | spi | |
| 18 | 17 | SCKPWM | safe | spi | |
| 19 | 18 | D6GDI_CSPWM | safe | - | |
| 20 | 21 | D13GDI_BLKPWM | safe | - | |
| 21 | 38 | D3GDI_RESPWM | strapping | - | |
| 22 | 43 | TXPWM | strapping | uart | |
| 23 | 44 | RXPWM | strapping | uart | |
| 24 | 47 | D14 | strapping | - | |
| 25 | - | LED_BUILTIN | safe | - |
Start with these
12 pins with no boot or system involvementSDAT1SCLT2A0T4A1T5A2T6D5T7A3T8MOSIPWMMISOPWMSCKPWMD6GDI_CSD13GDI_BLK
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| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| D9 | GPIO0 | Must be pulled high (default) or low (to enter UART download mode) at reset. Using it for other functions can interfere with boot mode configuration. | Strapping |
| D2 | GPIO3 | Sampled at reset to select JTAG interface (USB Serial/JTAG controller vs. external pins). Improper use can disable external JTAG or alter debug interface. | Strapping |
| TX | U0TXD (GPIO43) | Used for bootloader output and UART console logs. If repurposed, you will lose the default serial output (and programming via UART0). | Other |
| RX | U0RXD (GPIO44) | Used for bootloader input (download mode via serial). If repurposed, you cannot use the default UART0 download mode for programming the chip. | Other |
Only if you know the tricks
wired to flash or USB - expect a fight| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| D7 | FSPIHD | Connected to external flash (data/hold signal) on most modules. Not recommended for use as GPIO, since it must remain dedicated to flash communication. | Flash |
| SS | FSPICS0 | Used to select the external flash chip. It is required for flash access and cannot be repurposed without losing flash connectivity | Flash |
| A5 | FSPID | Used as a data line for flash (and in-package PSRAM). It should not be used as GPIO when the flash/PSRAM is in use. | Flash |
| D12 | FSPICLK | Drives the flash (and PSRAM) clock. This critical signal must be reserved for memory and not used as general GPIO. | Flash |
| D11 | FSPIQ | Used as a data line for flash/PSRAM transfers. Not available for other uses when flash/PSRAM is connected. | Flash |
| D10 | FSPIWP | Connected to external flash (data/write-protect signal). Not recommended as GPIO because it’s reserved for flash operations. | Flash |
| D3 | FSPIWP | On flash-equipped chips, this pin is tied to the flash’s WP# (or D3) line. It should be avoided for other use, as it’s needed for flash operations. | Flash |
| D14 | SPICLK_P | Used only on variants with Octal SPI interface (e.g. ESP32-S3R16V) as part of the differential clock pair. On such chips it operates at 1.8 V and is reserved for the high-speed octal SPI clock, not for general GPIO use. | 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 DFRobot Firebeetle 2 ESP32-S3 pinout brings out 25 pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - 24 usable GPIO. For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO1 and SCL on…
The DFRobot Firebeetle 2 ESP32-S3 pinout brings out 25 pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - 24 usable GPIO.
For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO1 and SCL on GPIO2; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO43 and GPIO44 cover serial logging and flashing.
On the analog side there are 6 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring and 14 capacitive-touch inputs.
If you want zero surprises, SDA, SCL, A0, A1 and 8 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 4 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (D9, D2, TX and 1 more).
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes1
Connect over USB
Native USB - shows up as a port right away, no driver needed. 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 GPIO1 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: "ESP32S3 Dev Module"▸
USB CDC On Boot: "Enabled"▸
Flash Size: "16MB (128Mb)"▸
Flash Mode: "DIO"▸
PSRAM: "OPI PSRAM"▸
Partition Scheme: "16M Flash (3MB APP / 9.9MB FATFS)" (default)▸
Upload Speed: "921600"▸
▸ every other Tools option — leave at default
Board: ESP32S3 Dev Module USB CDC On Boot: Enabled Flash Size: 16MB (128Mb) Flash Mode: DIO PSRAM: OPI PSRAM Partition Scheme: 16M Flash (3MB APP / 9.9MB FATFS) Upload Speed: 921600
Find it: Tools ▸ Board ▸ ESP32 Arduino ▸ ESP32S3 Dev Module
// blink the onboard LED
void setup() {
pinMode(1, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(1, HIGH); delay(500);
digitalWrite(1, LOW); delay(500);
}board to selectesp32-s3-devkitc-1⧉ copy
[env:dfrobot_firebeetle2_esp32s3]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
board_build.arduino.memory_type = qio_opi
build_flags = -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAMFind it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search
esp32-s3-devkitc-1 — or type it after board =.board to selectesp32-s3-devkitc-1⧉ copy
esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: dfrobot_firebeetle2_esp32s3
framework:
type: esp-idf
psram:
mode: octal
speed: 80MHz
# blink - GPIO1
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 1
id: led_out
light:
- platform: binary
name: "LED"
output: led_outFind it: search ESPHome's board list for
esp32-s3-devkitc-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.
esptool.py --chip esp32s3 --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-S3 · 60 × 25.4 mmCompute
MCU
ESP32-S3
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
512 KB · 16MB · 8MB (OPI) PSRAM
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
24 · 6
UART · I²C · SPI
3 · 2 · 4
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
Native (CDC)
Boot address
0x0
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · QIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB
60 × 25.4 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm
The DFRobot Firebeetle 2 ESP32-S3 uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is DIO with QIO 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-S3 - a dual-core Xtensa with vector extensions suited to AI workloads.
Expect to pay about $19.90 - less than the ~$30 most ESP32-S3 boards go for.
Onboard you'll find 8MB (OPI) PSRAM, battery charging (ETA6003) and Reset/Boot buttons.
It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S3 boards.
- OV2640 (2MP, 1600x1200) camera interface via an onboard DVP connector with independent power supply
- 16MB flash and 8MB octal PSRAM (ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 module)
- Independent RF, camera and system power circuits to reduce interference for low-noise, low-power use
- GDI display interface connector for compatible screens
- ETA6003 Li-ion charger (up to 1A) with on/off power control
- AI acceleration for speech and image recognition
- DFR0975-U variant adds an external IPEX/u.FL antenna (ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U-N16R8)
Where to buy
prices are typical street pricesDFRobot Firebeetle 2 ESP32-S3
$19.90per unit, typical
Resources
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