DPU ESP32
ESP32 dev platform built for deep integration with sensors and actuators - suitable for edge computing.
DPU ESP32 Pinout
24 pins| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | A11T1 | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 2 | 1 | TXPWM | uart | uart | |
| 3 | 2 | A12T2PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 4 | 3 | RXPWM | uart | uart | |
| 5 | 4 | A10T0SDAPWM | safe | adc · touch · i2c | |
| 6 | 5 | SCLPWM | strapping | i2c | |
| 7 | 12 | A15T5MISOPWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 8 | 13 | A14T4MOSIPWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 9 | 14 | A16T6SCKPWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 10 | 15 | A13T3SSTFT_CSPWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 11 | 18 | TFT_BLPWM | safe | - | |
| 12 | 19 | TP_INTPWM | safe | - | |
| 13 | 21 | TP_RSTPWM | safe | - | |
| 14 | 22 | SD_CDPWM | safe | - | |
| 15 | 23 | SD_CSPWM | safe | - | |
| 16 | 25 | A18DAC1PWM | safe | adc · dac | |
| 17 | 26 | A19DAC2PWM | safe | adc · dac | |
| 18 | 27 | A17T7TFT_DCPWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 19 | 32 | A4T9TFT_RSTPWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 20 | 33 | A5T8PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 21 | 34 | A6 | strapping | adc | |
| 22 | 35 | A7 | strapping | adc | |
| 23 | 36 | A0 | strapping | adc | |
| 24 | 39 | A3 | strapping | adc |
Start with these
11 pins with no boot or system involvementFreely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.
Fine - with a little care
13 pins · 12 things to knowA11GPIO0 Bootstrapping pin (enter bootloader when low); internal pull-up. Strapping
Must be HIGH during boot for normal startup; if held LOW on reset, forces flash programming mode.
TXGPIO1 Default UART0 TX pin for USB-serial programming and console. UART
Connected to on-board USB-UART for uploading and logs; drives serial output at boot, so using as GPIO can disrupt programming or console.
A12GPIO2 Bootstrapping pin (must be low or floating at reset); internal pull-down. Strapping
If driven HIGH on reset (while IO0 is LOW), selects an unsupported SDIO boot mode, causing boot failure.
RXGPIO3 Default UART0 RX pin for USB-serial programming (console input). UART
Used for receiving data from USB-UART (programming); also pulled HIGH at boot for console communication, so using as GPIO can disrupt uploads.
SCLGPIO5 Bootstrapping pin; internal pull-up; VSPI CS0 (default SPI chip-select); acts as FSPIWP (flash write-protect) on internal-flash variants. Strapping
Must be HIGH during boot; if pulled LOW at reset, alters SDIO slave timing and may prevent normal boot.
A15GPIO12 Bootstrapping pin; JTAG TDI; sets flash voltage (VDD_SDIO); also HSPIQ (flash data line). Strapping
Keep LOW during boot (internal PD); pulling HIGH at reset selects 1.8V flash mode, causing flash brownout if 3.3V flash is used.
A14GPIO13 JTAG clock pin (TCK); also ADC2 channel 4 / Touch4 input. JTAG
Used for JTAG debugging (TCK); avoid using as GPIO if JTAG is needed.
A16GPIO14 JTAG mode select pin (TMS); also HSPI CLK and PWM-capable GPIO. JTAG
Used for JTAG debugging (TMS); driving it as GPIO may interfere with JTAG or produce spurious signals at boot.
A13GPIO15 Bootstrapping pin; JTAG TDO; controls UART0 boot log output; also HSPICS0 (secondary SPI CS). Strapping
Keep HIGH during boot (internal PU); if LOW on reset, bootloader log is silenced and boot mode may change.
A6GPIO34 Input-only GPIO (no output driver); ADC1 channel 6. Other
Cannot be used as output (no drive capability); only suitable for analog/digital input.
A7GPIO35A3GPIO39 Input-only GPIOs with ADC1 channels - no output driver Other
Cannot be used as output; only suitable for input.
- A7Input-only GPIO (no output driver); ADC1 channel 7.
- A3Input-only GPIO (no output); ADC1 channel 3, Hall sensor VN.
A0GPIO36 Input-only GPIO (no output); ADC1 channel 0, Hall sensor VP. Other
Cannot be used as output; only suitable for input (e.g., analog read).
All 24 pins on the DPU ESP32 are usable GPIO.
Peripheral wiring is straightforward: 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 GPIO1 and GPIO3 cover serial logging and flashing.
Beyond plain digital I/O you get 16 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 10 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.
13 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32 (A11, TX, A12 and 10 more) - check the guidance above before wiring anything to them. A10, TFT_BL, TP_INT, TP_RST and 7 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks.
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutesBoard: ESP32 Wrover Module Flash Size: 8MB (64Mb) Flash Mode: DIO PSRAM: QSPI PSRAM Partition Scheme: 8M with spiffs (3MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS) Upload Speed: 921600
// toggle GPIO4 - wire an LED and resistor to it
void setup() {
pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(4, HIGH); delay(500);
digitalWrite(4, LOW); delay(500);
}[env:dpu_esp32]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
board_build.arduino.memory_type = qio_qspi
build_flags = -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAMesp32dev - or type it after board =.esp32:
board: esp32dev
variant: esp32
framework:
type: esp-idf
psram:
mode: quad
speed: 80MHz
# blink - GPIO4
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 4
id: led_out
light:
- platform: binary
name: "LED"
output: led_outesp32dev (same ids as PlatformIO).esptool.py --chip esp32 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
--baud 921600 write_flash 0x1000 firmware.bin--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).Specifications
ESP32 · vs other ESP32 chips →About this board
Inside sits the ESP32 - a dual-core Xtensa with both Bluetooth Classic and BLE.
Around the module: 8MB (QSPI) PSRAM, an IPS LCD 2.8" 320x240 display with touch, a microSD slot, a Qwiic connector, battery charging (LTC4054) via JST-PH 2.0 and Reset/IO0 buttons.
Resources
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