ESP-IDF

This chapter includes the following sections. Please read as needed:

• ESP-IDF Getting Started
• Setting Up the ESP-IDF Development Environment
• Example

ESP-IDF Getting Started

New to ESP32 ESP-IDF development and looking to get started quickly? We have prepared a general Getting Started Tutorial for you.

• Section 1: Environment Setup
• Section 2: Running Examples
• Section 3: Creating a Project
• Section 4: Using Components
• Section 5: Debugging
• Section 6: FreeRTOS
• Section 7: Peripherals
• Section 8: Wi-Fi Programming
• Section 9: BLE Programming

Please Note: This tutorial uses the ESP32-S3-Zero as a teaching example, and all hardware code is based on its pinout. Before you start, it is recommended that you check the pinout of your development board to ensure the pin configuration is correct.

Setting Up the ESP-IDF Development Environment

info

For the ESP32-S3-RS485-WLED development board, ESP-IDF version V6.0.2 or above is required.

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.

Version Selection

The screenshots in this section use ESP-IDF V5.5.2 as an example. When installing, please select the ESP-IDF version that matches your board's example.

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 the ESP-IDF version you need (the version shown in the screenshot is for reference only — choose the version that fits your actual needs).

   

   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).

   

   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.

   

   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.

   

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

   

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

   

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 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.

   

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.

Example

01_led_example

• This example demonstrates three LED strip driving examples
  • WS2812: RGB-27-5V-160D
  • RGBWC: RGBWC-150-24V-IP65-1428D
  • PWM: 4000K-20-12V-480D

Notes

• The external power supply voltage must match the rated voltage of the LED strip.

Hardware Connection

• Connect the LED strip data line to GPIO2' or GPIO16'.
• Connect the LED strip power to VOUT+ and VOUT-.

Expected Behavior

• The LED strip displays colors according to the program settings.

02_rs485_uart

• This example implements RS485 communication based on the ESP-IDF UART driver.

Expected Behavior

• Data transmission, reception, and echo. When data is sent out from the RS485 interface, the green LED lights up; when data is sent back from the RS485 interface, the blue LED lights up.

03_audio

• This example demonstrates using I2S to drive the ES8389 Codec chip to play built-in audio, with support for stereo playback.

Hardware Connection

• Connect the development board to the computer.
• Connect a speaker or headphones.

Code Analysis

• Built-in audio file, which can be modified

    #define SPIFFS_BASE_PATH "/spiffs"
    #define MP3_FILE_PATH    SPIFFS_BASE_PATH "/music/test.mp3"
    #define MP3_FILE_URI     "file://spiffs/music/test.mp3"

Expected Behavior

• Audio playback