Minimalist Microcontroller: Building a Bare-Bones Dev Board

The PCBs have arrived! https://youtu.be/zeSlRvCd6tg

It's surprisingly useful to know the bare-bones setup if you run into trouble when designing your own dev board :). Speaking from experience here....

It still boggles my mind that these chips are basically used as toys now days and yet when I was a kid desktop computers weren't that powerful. Even more mind boggling is how little energy it takes to run them.

Can I just say, you have absolutely saved my arse! Brilliant video, very easy to understand especially for a beginner and knowing how to setup a barebones no-nonsense esp has came in so much handy for me. I scoured everywhere and as of this moment, have not found a single tutorial better than this one. It gets straight to the point and explains beautifully exactly what you need to do. Not only have you earned my immense respect and thanks, but a sub. Thank you so much.

Note: You cannot reliably connect EN to the VCC without the resistor and capacitor, as the ESP32 can fail to boot/program if EN rises before the voltage is stable (the reason for the resistor and cap is to delay EN going high). I've tried this shortcut on PCB designs and it /may/ work for you, or may not. For a couple of pence in parts, it's not worth the risk.

Oh hey! This video came up in my recommendations again! <3 I wanted to say thankyou atomic14, for publishing this; this video inspired me to dive in headfirst and make my own ESP32-S3 board for a current project, instead of just wedging in breakout boards. I was particularly inspired by the built-in USB controller for programming. And... it was easy enough that even I could make it work first try! :D So thankyou for showing us how easily it could be done <3

If you feel like giving it another go, I suggest you scratch away the solder mask in opportune places and use the copper ground plane for ground connections - that should also give you enough rigidity to actually mount the USB connector straight to the module. Decoupling capacitors are not optional though. Under less than perfect conditions that suggestion will certainly get someone in trouble - eventually :)

I was just mulling over this selfsame question when contemplating the use of the ESP32-C3-WROOM for a bluetooth badge project. And this video provides all the answers. So, very many thanks for posting !!

You make a clever demonstration of how robust the ESP-32 is. We will be running out of IP addresses again if we put them in toys. Some wire wrap wire would make your task much easier. A search on `Manhatten type prototyping` and 'dead bug prototypes` should give you some ideas to make building things like this easier. You are putting a great deal of faith in the quality of power of the USB port the ESP-32 -plugs onto. Many years of experience have shown me that filters and bypass capacitors on B+ are needed. I've also learned to put a bleeder resistor across the B+ on computer boards others are going to install. A slow sagging B+ voltage can cause problems with some SRAM and EPROM. There is no way to tell how others will use the thing you make.

OMG! Just what I have been looking for (not that I put a lot of effort into searching)! I have some bare-bones ESP32s, but didn't know what to do with them. Thanks for the video!

You can also try the ESP32-S3 Mini Module and ESP32-C3 Mini Module, which are more tiny. I have tried the ESP32-C3 Mini Module for a tiny space project, i just has the same thought of your, just ignore the unncessary caps, and just connect D+ D- to PIN 18 & PIN 19. The S2,C3,S3 support USB-CDC,which make it possible, i really like this.

Neat! Appreciate the ESP info and ideas!

Great video! But may I offer a suggestion? I used to teach a solder-certification course for missiles,and in watching your soldering, I see your main difficulty is not using an external flux. The solder on your iron and components becomes oxidized leading to globing and lack of heat-conduction. I realize that many people forego flux because of the necessity for cleanup, but you would have a much easier time if you would add some. If you ‘flood-the-field’, you can use your existing iron tin, otherwise, with minimal flux, use new solder each time but added flux is still recommended. Anyway, appreciate your video and all your commenters. 😊

The capacitors on the USB lines are not used for noisy signals but as ESD protection. There should be at least a nF range cap on every pin to protect it against transients.

I really love this type of experimentation. Like maybe you do it for you or maybe you do it for us a little too, but I find this work, serves as a platform for people maybe like myself to create, aim higher. I could have tried to experiment on this type of work myself, but you did it for me! Thank you for this information, I will use it graciously and pursue it with higher ambitions on my project!

I remember datasheet says you should keep components away from antenna on both sides

i like to use 30 gauge kynar wire wrapping wire for soldering up like this. it's just the right size. thanks for doing this, as is being said it's very handy for quickly insuring what components and connections are necessary

Definitely needed, how often I find myself wanting so solder a small circuit in air! Thank you!

I loved how you edited the "schematics" on top of the real life footage at 6:55. Sometimes is just those small edits that tangle the whole video together and makes it way simpler to understand what was your endgoal

An advantage to this is that deep sleep will probably work a lot better compared to a standard dev board. The components on a dev board usualy keep using power during deep sleep or prevent it. I'm going to try this.