VALTRACK V4 VTS ESP32 C3
Vehicle tracking board with ESP32-C3 and GPS - designed for automotive monitoring and asset tracking.
VALTRACK V4 VTS ESP32 C3 Pinout
13 pins| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | TX1 | safe | - | |
| 2 | 1 | RX1 | safe | - | |
| 3 | 2 | A0D0GPIO_ANALOG_IN | strapping | adc | |
| 4 | 3 | A1D1GPIO_INT1 | safe | adc | |
| 5 | 4 | A2D2GPIO_TPS_ENABLEGPIO_CHG_IN | strapping | adc | |
| 6 | 5 | SDAA3D3GPIO_IIC_DATA | strapping | adc · i2c | |
| 7 | 6 | SCLD4GPIO_IIC_CLOCK | strapping | i2c | |
| 8 | 7 | D5GPIO_PWRKEY | strapping | - | |
| 9 | 8 | SCKD8GPIO_LED_SIGNAL | strapping | spi | |
| 10 | 9 | MISOD9GPIO_SOS | strapping | spi | |
| 11 | 10 | MOSID10GPIO_GSM_ENABLE | safe | spi | |
| 12 | 20 | RXSSD7 | uart | spi · uart | |
| 13 | 21 | TXD6 | uart | uart |
Start with these
4 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
9 pins · 9 things to knowA0GPIO2 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).
A2GPIO4 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
SDAGPIO5 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
SCLGPIO6 Bootstrapping pin; JTAG TCK; Flash clock (FSPICLK in internal-flash models) JTAG
Used during boot; JTAG TCK for debugging; provides flash clock in internal-flash variants
D5GPIO7 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
SCKGPIO8 Bootstrapping pin (needs HIGH at reset); also gates ROM boot message printing (UART_PRINT_CONTROL efuse) Strapping
Must be held high during reset (if low, UART flashing/boot may not work)
MISOGPIO9 Bootstrapping pin; selects boot mode (HIGH = SPI flash boot, LOW = UART download) Strapping
Controls boot mode on reset (HIGH for normal flash boot, LOW enters serial download mode)
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
The VALTRACK V4 VTS ESP32 C3 pinout brings out 13 GPIO pins - every one of them usable in your project.
For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO5 and SCL on GPIO6; 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 4 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring.
If you want zero surprises, TX1, RX1, A1 and MOSI are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 9 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-C3 (A0, A2, SDA and 6 more).
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutesBoard: ESP32C3 Dev Module USB CDC On Boot: Enabled Flash Size: 4MB (32Mb) Flash Mode: QIO Partition Scheme: Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS) Upload Speed: 921600
// 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);
}[env:VALTRACK_V4_VTS_ESP32_C3]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-c3-devkitm-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600esp32-c3-devkitm-1 - or type it after board =.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_outesp32-c3-devkitm-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).esptool.py --chip esp32c3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
--baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).Specifications
ESP32-C3 · 43 × 34 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →Dimensions
About this board
At its core is the ESP32-C3 - a single-core RISC-V and the budget low-power pick.
Expect to pay about $66.88 - above the ~$10 typical for ESP32-C3 boards.
Onboard you'll find GPS, a motion sensor (LIS3DH), cellular connectivity (A7672) and battery charging (MP2617).
It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-C3 boards.
- IP67 waterproof enclosure
- Nano SIM card slot
- 3 RGB status LEDs
- Reverse-polarity-protected 12-42V vehicle input
Where to buy
prices are typical street pricesResources
Similar boards
