SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod

ESP32 processor board for the MicroMod ecosystem - ideal for modular embedded development.

SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod board
22 × 22 mm
ESP32
MCU
240MHz
clock
16MB
flash
520KB
SRAM
25· 2 ADC
GPIO
BLE 4.2+ WiFi
radio
On this page

Pinout

25 pins
View:
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
10T1strappingtouch
21TXWIRE1_PIN_DEFINEDPWMuartuart
32T2LED_BUILTINPWMstrappingtouch
43RXPWMuartuart
54I2C_INTT0PWMstrappingtouch
65SSPWMstrappingspi
712PWM1T5PWMstrappingtouch
813PWM0T4PWMstrappingtouch
914D0T6PWMstrappingtouch
1015G0T3PWMstrappingtouch
1116RX1G4AUD_INPWMstrapping-
1217TX1G3AUD_OUTPWMstrapping-
1318SCKPWMsafespi
1419MISOPWMsafespi
1521SDAPWMsafei2c
1622SCLPWMsafei2c
1723MOSIPWMsafespi
1825SCL1G1AUD_LRCLKDAC1PWMsafedac
1926SDA1G2AUD_BCLKDAC2PWMsafedac
2027D1T7PWMsafetouch
2132G5T9PWMsafetouch
2233G6T8PWMsafetouch
2334A0strappingadc
2435A1strappingadc
2539BATT_VINstrapping-

Start with these

10 pins with no boot or system involvement
SCKPWMMISOPWMSDAPWMSCLPWMMOSIPWMSCL1G1SDA1G2D1T7G5T9G6T8

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
I2C_INTGPIO4Sampled 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
PWM1MTDI (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
PWM0MTCK (GPIO13)Used for JTAG debugging (TCK); avoid using as GPIO if JTAG is needed.Other
D0MTMS (GPIO14)Used for JTAG debugging (TMS); driving it as GPIO may interfere with JTAG or produce spurious signals at boot.Other
G0MTDO (GPIO15)Keep HIGH during boot (internal PU); if LOW on reset, bootloader log is silenced and boot mode may change.Strapping
A0GPIO34Cannot be used as output (no drive capability); only suitable for analog/digital input.Other
A1GPIO35Cannot be used as output; only suitable for input.Other
BATT_VINGPIO39 (SENSOR_VN)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
RX1GPIO16Connected to internal PSRAM on PSRAM-enabled modules; not usable as GPIO on those modules.Flash
TX1GPIO17Connected 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 All 25 pins on the SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod are usable GPIO. Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO21 and SCL on GPIO22; the SPI bus…

All 25 pins on the SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod are usable GPIO.

Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO21 and SCL on GPIO22; 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 2 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 10 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.

11 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32 (T1, T2, I2C_INT and 8 more) - check the guidance above before wiring anything to them. SCK, MISO, SDA, SCL and 6 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks.

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes
Tool:
1
Connect over USB
Serial chip: onboard. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.
2
Flash with your tool
Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, ESPHome or esptool - copy the settings on the right.
3
Verify it runs
The blink example uses GPIO18 - swap for your board's LED pin if different.
Tools → Board settings Copy
Board:            Esp32 Micromod
Flash Size:       16MB · DIO
Upload Speed:     921600

// blink
pinMode(18, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(18, LOW);   // on (often inverted)
platformio.ini Copy
[env:esp32micromod]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
device.yaml Copy
esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  variant: esp32micromod
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# blink - GPIO18
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 18
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out
shell Copy
esptool.py --chip esp32 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin
Build details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DIO

Specifications

ESP32 · 22 × 22 mm
Compute
MCU
ESP32
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
520 KB · 16MB
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
4.2 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
25 · 2
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
22 mm22 mm
22 × 22 mm
The SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod 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

Inside sits the ESP32 - a dual-core Xtensa with both Bluetooth Classic and BLE.

The $19.95 price tag is typical for an ESP32 board.

Around the module: status LEDs (Status (GPIO2)).

  • No onboard USB - plugs into a MicroMod carrier board via the M.2 (E-key) edge connector
  • MicroMod M.2 form factor - the ESP32 is broken out through the edge connector, not 0.1" headers

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices
SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod
SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod
$19.95per unit, typical

Resources

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