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Working with ESP-IDF

This chapter includes the following sections, please read as needed:

Setting up the Development Environment​

info

For the ESP32-C6-LCD-1.3 development board, it is recommended to use ESP-IDF V5.5.0 or higher.

note

The following guide uses Windows as an example, demonstrating development using VS Code + the ESP-IDF extension. macOS and Linux users should refer to the official documentation.

Install the ESP-IDF Development Environment​

  1. Download the installation manager from the ESP-IDF Installation Manager page. This is Espressif's latest cross-platform installer. The following steps demonstrate how to use its offline installation feature.

    Click the Offline Installer tab on the page, then select Windows as the operating system and choose your desired version from the filter bar.

    Download EIM and offline package

    After confirming your selection, click the download button. The browser will automatically download two files: the ESP-IDF Offline Package (.zst) and the ESP-IDF Installer (.exe).

    Download EIM and offline package 2

    Please wait for both files to finish downloading.

  2. Once the download is complete, double-click to run the ESP-IDF Installer (eim-gui-windows-x64.exe).

    The installer will automatically detect if the offline package exists in the same directory. Click Install from archive.

    Auto-detect offline package

    Next, select the installation path. We recommend using the default path. If you need to customize it, ensure the path does not contain Chinese characters or spaces. Click Start installation to proceed.

    Select installation path

  3. When you see the following screen, the ESP-IDF installation is successful.

    Installation successful

  4. We recommend installing the drivers as well. Click Finish installation, then select Install driver.

    Install drivers via ESP-IDF Installation Manager

Install Visual Studio Code and the ESP-IDF Extension​

  1. Download and install Visual Studio Code.

  2. During installation, it is recommended to check Add "Open with Code" action to Windows Explorer file context menu to facilitate opening project folders quickly.

  3. In VS Code, click the Extensions icon Extensions Icon in the Activity Bar on the side (or use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + X) to open the Extensions view.

  4. Enter ESP-IDF in the search box, locate the ESP-IDF extension, and click Install.

    Search and install ESP-IDF extension in VS Code

  5. For ESP-IDF extension versions ≥ 2.0, the extension will automatically detect and recognize the ESP-IDF environment installed in the previous steps, requiring no manual configuration.

Demo​

01_ESP32-C6-LCD-1.3-Test​

Demo Description​

  • This example demonstrates a drawn LVGL interface, with the RGB LED dynamically switching between colors like red, green, yellow, etc., using a breathing light animation effect.

Hardware Connection​

  • Connect the development board to the computer

Operation Result​

  • LCD Display: After the device powers on, the LCD lights up automatically, showing the UI interface drawn by LVGL with a stable refresh rate (typically 30-60 fps).
  • RGB LED Effect: By default, it displays preset colors. The RGB LED dynamically switches between colors like red, green, yellow, etc., using a breathing light animation effect.