Features​

• Equipped with the ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8 chip, which integrates a high-performance Xtensa® 32-bit LX7 dual-core processor, an ultra-low-power co-processor, Wi-Fi baseband, Bluetooth baseband, RF module, and rich peripherals
• Supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth® 5 (LE) with an integrated onboard antenna
• Built-in 512KB SRAM and 384KB ROM, with stacked 8MB PSRAM and external 8MB Flash storage
• Features a Type-C interface, enhancing user convenience and device compatibility
• Onboard 0.85inch capacitive LCD screen with 128 × 128 resolution
• Built-in GC9107 driver IC, communicating via SPI interface, minimizing GPIO pin usage
• Onboard PLUS and BOOT buttons, both customizable for function development
• Onboard 3.7V 1.2mm lithium battery charging/discharging interface
• Exposes 1-ch I2C, 1-ch USB and 1-ch UART pads for external devices connection and debugging, enabling flexible peripheral configuration
• Onboard TF card slot supporting storage expansion and high-speed data transfer, facilitating functions like data logging and media playback while simplifying circuit design

Onboard Resources​

1. ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8 High-performance Xtensa® 32-bit LX7 dual-core processor, up to 240 MHz
2. NS4150 Audio power amplifier chip
3. ES8311 Audio codec chip
4. Battery charge/discharge management chip
5. ES7210
6. PLUS Button
7. PWR Power Button Controls power on/off and supports custom functions
8. BOOT Button used for device startup and functional debugging
9. Microphone
10. TF Card Slot
11. Onboard Antenna Supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth 5 (LE)
12. Battery Header MX1.25 2PIN connector for 3.7V lithium battery, supports charging and discharging
13. USB Type-C Interface ESP32-S3 USB interface for program flashing and log printing
14. Speaker Interface

LCD and Its Controller​

• The built-in controller used for this LCD is the GC9107, an LCD controller with 128 x RGB x 160 pixels, while the LCD itself has a resolution of 128(H)RGB x 128(V). Since the initialization can be set to both landscape and portrait modes, the internal RAM of the LCD is not fully utilized
• This LCD supports 8-bit, 9-bit, and 16-bit input color formats, namely RGB444 and RGB565. This example uses the RGB565 color format, which is a common RGB format
• The LCD uses a 4-wire SPI communication interface, which significantly saves GPIO pins while maintaining relatively fast communication speeds

SPI Communication Protocol:

• Note: Unlike the traditional SPI protocol, because only display functionality is needed, the data line from the slave to the master is omitted

• RESX is the Reset pin; it is pulled low during module power-up and is normally set to 1.

• CSX is the slave chip select pin; the chip is enabled only when CS is low

• D/CX is the data/command control pin of the chip. When DC = 0, commands are written; when DC = 1, data is written.

• SDA is the data transmission pin, specifically for RGB data.

• SCL is the SPI communication clock pin.

• For SPI communication, data transmission follows a specific timing sequence, which are determined by the combination of clock phase (CPHA) and clock polarity (CPOL):

• The level of CPHA determines whether data is captured on the first or second clock transition edge of the serial synchronous clock. When CPHA = 0, data is captured on the first transition edge;

• The level of CPOL determines the idle level of the serial synchronous clock. CPOL = 0 means the idle state is low level.

• As shown in the diagram, data transmission begins on the first falling edge of SCLK, with 8 bits of data transferred per clock cycle using SPI mode 0, transmitting bits from MSB to LSB

Pinout Definition​

Dimensions​

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

• Arduino Getting Started
• Setting Up Development Environment
• Demo

Arduino Getting Started​

New to Arduino ESP32 development and looking for a quick start? We have prepared a comprehensive Getting Started Tutorial for you.

• Section 0: Getting to Know ESP32
• Section 1: Installing and Configuring Arduino IDE
• Section 2: Arduino Basics
• Section 3: Digital Output/Input
• Section 4: Analog Input
• Section 5: Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
• Section 6: Serial Communication (UART)
• Section 7: I2C Communication
• Section 8: SPI Communication
• Section 9: Wi-Fi Basics
• Section 10: Web Server
• Section 11: Bluetooth
• Section 12: LVGL GUI Development
• Section 13: Comprehensive Project

Note: This tutorial uses the ESP32-S3-Zero as a reference example, and all hardware code is based on its pinout. Before you start, we recommend checking the pinout of your development board to ensure the pin configuration is correct.

Setting Up Development Environment​

1. Installing and Configuring Arduino IDE​

Please refer to the tutorial Installing and Configuring Arduino IDE to download and install the Arduino IDE and add ESP32 support.

2. Installing Libraries​

To run the demo, you need to install the corresponding library. You can click this link to download the demo package for the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85 development board. The Arduino\libraries directory within this package contains all the necessary library files required for this tutorial.

Installation Steps:

1. Unzip the downloaded demo package.

2. Copy all folders (ESP32-audioI2S-master, GFX_Library_for_Arduino, etc.) from its Arduino\libraries directory to the Arduino libraries folder.

   INFO

   The path to the Arduino libraries folder is typically: c:\Users\<username>\Documents\Arduino\libraries.

   You can also locate it in the Arduino IDE by going to File > Preferences and checking the "Sketchbook location". The libraries folder is the libraries subfolder within this path.

3. For other installation methods, please refer to: Arduino Library Management Tutorial.

Installation Instructions for the ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-1.54 Required Board

3. Other Tips​

For the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85, you need to select and configure the board.

1. Select the ESP32S3 Dev Module for ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.
2. Select the USB port.
3. The ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85 uses the ESP32-S3 native USB interface, not a UART-to-USB bridge. For serial communication:

   • The printf() function can be used directly;

   • To use the Serial.println() function, additional configuration is required: enable the "USB CDC On Boot" option in the IDE's Tools menu, or declare an HWCDC object in your code to handle USB serial communication.

4. Select 8MB Flash
5. Select a Partition Table of the appropriate size

Demo​

The Arduino demos are located in the Arduino/examples directory of the demo package.

01_audio_out​

This example demonstrates the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85 reading an audio file from a TF card and playing it through the speaker. The screen shows no output. It supports formats like MP3, AAC, WAV, etc.

Code​

Code Analysis​

• Initialize the TF card:

    if (!SD_MMC.setPins(clk, cmd, d0, d1, d2, d3)) {
    Serial.println("Pin change failed!");
    return;
  }
  if (!SD_MMC.begin()) {
    Serial.println("Card Mount Failed");
    return;
  }
  

• Set I2S pins and volume:

  audio.setPinout(I2S_BCLK, I2S_LRC, I2S_DOUT,I2S_MCLK);
  audio.setVolume(21);  // 0...21
  

• Set the audio file to play:

  audio.connecttoFS(SD_MMC, "music/1.mp3");
  

Operation Result​

• The device will play auido directly without showing content on the screen

02_button_example​

This demo demonstrates how to use the OneButton library to read button states such as single click, double click, and long press, and print them via the serial monitor.

Code​

Code Analysis​

• Bind callback functions:

  button1.attachClick(click1);
  button1.attachDoubleClick(doubleclick1);
  button1.attachLongPressStart(longPressStart1);
  button1.attachLongPressStop(longPressStop1);
  button1.attachDuringLongPress(longPress1);
  

Operation Result​

• The screen shows no output
• Button information is printed to the serial monitor
  
  

03_ws2812b_example​

This example uses the FastLED library to drive the ws2812b RGB LED on the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85, changing to a random color every 500ms.

Code​

Code Analysis​

• Initialize ws2812b and set brightness:

  FastLED.addLeds<WS2812B, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);  // GRB ordering is typical
  FastLED.setBrightness(100); // 0-255
  

Operation Result​

• The screen shows no output
• The RGB LED changes to a random color every 500ms
• Opening the serial monitor shows printed accelerometer and gyroscope data for the x, y, and z axes
  
  

04_gfx_helloworld​

This demo demonstrates the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85 using the GFX_Library_for_Arduino library to drive the screen and display "HelloWorld” on the screen.

Code​

Code Analysis​

• Configure the screen interface and screen resolution, etc.

  Arduino_DataBus *bus = new Arduino_ESP32SPI(45 /* DC */, 21 /* CS */, 38 /* SCK */, 39 /* MOSI */, -1 /* MISO */);
  Arduino_GFX *gfx = new Arduino_ST7789(
  bus, 40 /* RST */, 0 /* rotation */, true, 240, 240);
  

Operation Result​

• The screen displays as follows:
  
  

05_esp_wifi_analyzer​

This demo demonstrates the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85 using a GFX_Library_for_Arduino library to display the signal strength of the WiFi band

Code​

Operation Result​

• The screen displays as follows:
  
  

06_gfx_u8g2_font​

This demo demonstrates how ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85 uses GFX_Library_for_Arduino libraries to load font libraries to display them in various languages

Code​

Operation Result​

• The screen displays as follows:
  
  

07_sd_card_test​

This demo tests the TF card read/write functionality on the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.

Code​

Code Analysis​

• TF card initialization:

  if (!SD_MMC.setPins(clk, cmd, d0, d1, d2, d3)) {
      Serial.println("Pin change failed!");
      return;
    }
    if (!SD_MMC.begin()) {
      Serial.println("Card Mount Failed");
      return;
    }
  

Operation Result​

• The screen shows no output
• Open the serial monitor
  

08_lvgl_example_v8​

This demo demonstrates how to run the lvgl demos (v8.4.0) on the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.

• It is required to install lvgl v8.4.0 version. If you have installed other version, please reinstall.
  
  

Code​

Operation Result​

• The screen displays as follows:
  
  

09_lvgl_example_v9​

This demo demonstrates how to run the lvgl (v9.3.0) demos on the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.

• It is required to install lvgl v9.3.0 version. If you have installed other version, please reinstall.
  
  

Code​

Operation Result​

• The screen displays as follows:
  
  

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

• ESP-IDF Getting Started
• Setting Up Development Environment
• Demo

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 Development Environment​

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.

   
   

   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.

Demo​

The ESP-IDF demos are located in the ESP-IDF directory of the demo package.

01_factory​

This example demonstrates a comprehensive demo for the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85, and it is also the factory default flashed example.

Specific Operations​

• Press and hold the left button, the speaker will play the sound captured by the microphone in real time
• Double-click the middle button to turn off the screen; double-click again to restore the display
• When powered by battery, long press the middle button to power on; long press again and release to power off
• Long press the right button, the LED lights up and cycles through 4 colors; long press again to turn off the LED
• Click the left or right button to switch pages

Operation Result​

• The first page displays red, green, and blue colors in rotation
• The second page displays development board information
• The third page displays the IP address of the connected WiFi (if not connected or connection fails, it shows 0.0.0.0) and the scanned WiFi networks

02_button_example​

This example demonstrates how to use the espressif/button library to read button states such as single click, double click, and long press, and print them via serial port.

Code Analysis​

• Bind callback functions:

    ret = iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_PRESS_DOWN, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_PRESS_UP, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_PRESS_REPEAT, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_PRESS_REPEAT_DONE, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_SINGLE_CLICK, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_DOUBLE_CLICK, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_LONG_PRESS_START, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_LONG_PRESS_HOLD, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_LONG_PRESS_UP, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
    ret |= iot_button_register_cb(boot_btn, BUTTON_PRESS_END, NULL, button_event_cb, NULL);
  

Operation Result

• Open the serial monitor
  
  

03_ws2812b_example​

This example demonstrates how to use the ESP32's RMT peripheral to control a WS2812 LED strip, achieving LED on/off control.

Code Analysis​

• Configure LED strip parameters and initialize:
• Loop to control the LED strip's on/off state:

    led_strip_config_t strip_config {
        .strip_gpio_num = LED_STRIP_GPIO_PIN, // The GPIO that connected to the LED strip's data line
        .max_leds = LED_STRIP_LED_COUNT,      // The number of LEDs in the strip,
        .led_model = LED_MODEL_WS2812,        // LED strip model
        .color_component_format = LED_STRIP_COLOR_COMPONENT_FMT_GRB, // The color order of the strip: GRB
        .flags = {
            .invert_out = false, // don't invert the output signal
        }
      while (1) {
        if (led_on_off) {
            /* Set the LED pixel using RGB from 0 (0%) to 255 (100%) for each color */
            for (int i = 0; i < LED_STRIP_LED_COUNT; i++) {
                ESP_ERROR_CHECK(led_strip_set_pixel(led_strip, i, 5, 5, 5));
            }
            /* Refresh the strip to send data */
            ESP_ERROR_CHECK(led_strip_refresh(led_strip));
            ESP_LOGI(TAG, "LED ON!");
        }else{
            ESP_ERROR_CHECK(led_strip_clear(led_strip));
            ESP_LOGI(TAG, "LED OFF!");
        }
  
        led_on_off = !led_on_off;
        vTaskDelay(pdMS_TO_TICKS(500));
    }
  

Operation Result​

• The screen shows no output
• The LED beads will blink simultaneously at 500ms intervals
  
  
• Open the serial monitor
  
  

04_sd_card_test​

This demo tests the TF card read/write functionality on the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.

• Insert the TF card into the card slot (TF card needs to be formatted as FAT32)

Code Analysis​

• Initialize and mount the TF card:

    sdmmc_slot_config_t slot_config = SDMMC_SLOT_CONFIG_DEFAULT();
  #if EXAMPLE_IS_UHS1
      slot_config.flags |= SDMMC_SLOT_FLAG_UHS1;
  #endif
  
      // Set bus width to use:
  #ifdef CONFIG_EXAMPLE_SDMMC_BUS_WIDTH_4
      slot_config.width = 4;
  #else
      slot_config.width = 1;
  #endif
  
      // On chips where the GPIOs used for TF card can be configured, set them in
      // the slot_config structure:
  #ifdef CONFIG_SOC_SDMMC_USE_GPIO_MATRIX
      slot_config.clk = CONFIG_EXAMPLE_PIN_CLK;
      slot_config.cmd = CONFIG_EXAMPLE_PIN_CMD;
      slot_config.d0 = CONFIG_EXAMPLE_PIN_D0;
  #ifdef CONFIG_EXAMPLE_SDMMC_BUS_WIDTH_4
      slot_config.d1 = CONFIG_EXAMPLE_PIN_D1;
      slot_config.d2 = CONFIG_EXAMPLE_PIN_D2;
      slot_config.d3 = CONFIG_EXAMPLE_PIN_D3;
  #endif // CONFIG_EXAMPLE_SDMMC_BUS_WIDTH_4
  #endif  // CONFIG_SOC_SDMMC_USE_GPIO_MATRIX
  
      // Enable internal pullups on enabled pins. The internal pullups
      // are insufficient however, please make sure 10k external pullups are
      // connected on the bus. This is for debug / example purpose only.
      slot_config.flags |= SDMMC_SLOT_FLAG_INTERNAL_PULLUP;
  
      ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Mounting filesystem");
      ret = esp_vfs_fat_sdmmc_mount(mount_point, &host, &slot_config, &mount_config, &card);
  

Operation Result​

• Open the serial monitor
• Print TF card information
  
  

05_lvgl_example​

This demo demonstrates how to run the lvgl demos (LVGL v8 and LVGL v9) on the ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.

Code Analysis​

• Initialize:

     /* LCD HW initialization */
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(app_lcd_init());
  
    /* Touch initialization */
    app_touch_init();
  
    /* LVGL initialization */
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(app_lvgl_init());
  

Operation Result​

• The default LVGL version used is v9.3.0. To change the version, modify the LVGL configuration in the main/idf_component.yml file, for example, change it to lvgl/lvgl:^8.4.0.
  
  
• Operation effect
  
  

XiaozhiAI (XiaoZhi AI) is an open-source AI voice chatbot project based on the ESP32 development board, aiming to bring the general intelligence of large language models (LLMs) to edge devices. It provides a software-hardware integrated solution supporting full-duplex voice conversations and IoT device control, dedicated to assisting developers in building highly customized physical AI agents quickly and at low cost.

This article demonstrates how to flash firmware for Waveshare ESP32 development boards that support XiaoZhi AI, covering two methods: flashing without a development environment (directly flashing precompiled firmware) and flashing with a development environment (compiling from source and flashing).

0. Firmware Flashing Process Reference​

1. Flashing Without a Development Environment​

1.1 Download Firmware from XiaoZhi Official GitHub​

1. Visit the XiaoZhi GitHub to download the firmware file for your device. Click Assets to expand the full file list:

   
   

2. Refer to the Flash Firmware Flashing and Erasing Tutorial to complete the firmware flashing.

1.2 Download Firmware from Waveshare GitHub​

1. Visit the Waveshare GitHub repository and download the appropriate firmware version for your needs:

   
   

2. Refer to the Flash Firmware Flashing and Erasing Tutorial to complete the firmware flashing.

2. Flashing with ESP-IDF Environment​

2.1 Download the Project from XiaoZhi GitHub​

Visit the XiaoZhi AI Chatbot repository to download the complete project code:

2.2 Environment Setup​

Refer to the ESP-IDF Environment Setup Tutorial to configure the development environment.

2.3 Configuration and Compilation​

1. Click  to select the target device. Choose the chip model corresponding to your development board (e.g., esp32s3):

   
   

   TIP

   When setting the target device, ESP-IDF will automatically configure the corresponding toolchain and libraries. This process may take some time, please be patient. For more details, please refer to the Official Documentation.

2. Click to open the ESP-IDF terminal, then execute the command idf.py menuconfig to enter the configuration interface. Select Xiaozhi Assistant:

   
   

3. Select Board Type to choose the development board type:

   
   

4. Choose the product model corresponding to your development board:

   
   

5. Press the S key to save the configuration and exit. Then click the  to automatically complete compilation, flashing, and serial monitoring.

2.4 Start Network Provisioning​

1. Connect your phone or computer to the device's Wi-Fi hotspot: Xiaozhi-xxxxxx. After successful connection, the configuration page should automatically pop up. If not, manually open a browser and visit http://192.168.4.1.

2. On the network configuration page, select the Wi-Fi name you want to connect to (only 2.4G band is supported; to connect to an iPhone hotspot, enable Max Compatibility in your phone's system settings). The SSID will be auto-filled. Enter the password and click Connect to start connecting:

   
   

2.5 Add a New Device to the Management Console​

1. Ensure the device has successfully connected to the Internet. The device will then broadcast a 6-digit device verification code (you can wake the device again to replay the code).

2. Visit the XiaoZhi AI Console. If you haven't registered, complete the registration and log in:

   
   

   
   

   
   

3. Enter the 6-digit verification code. The device will automatically activate and appear on the Device Management page, ready for normal use.

4. Say the wake word "Hello XiaoZhi" to wake the device and start voice conversations.

5. ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 Button Instructions:

   • BOOT button: Press to wake XiaoZhi
   • PWR button: Short press to power on; long press for more than 6 seconds to power off

   
   

3. XiaoZhi Resources​

• XiaoZhi AI Chatbot Encyclopedia
• XiaoZhi AI Chatbot FAQ

1. Hardware Resources​

Development Board Design Files

• Schematic: ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85.pdf

2. Technical Manuals​

• Official ESP32-S3 Chip Manuals

  • Datasheet
  • Technical Manual

• Onboard Component Datasheets

  • ES8311 Datasheet
  • ES8311 User Manual
  • ES7210 Datasheet
  • WS2812B RGB LED Datasheet

3. Demo​

• Demo (ESP-IDF and Arduino): ESP32-S3-LCD-0.85_Demo.zip
• Flashing Tool: flash_download_tool_3.9.7_1.zip

4. Software Tools​

• Arduino:
  • Arduino IDE Official Download Link
• VScode:
  • VScode Official Download Link
• Debugging Tools:
  • Serial Port Debug Assistant
• Firmware Flashing Tool:
  • Flash_download_tool
• Other Resource Links:
  • ESP32-Arduino Official Documentation
  • ESP32-Arduino Official Resources
  • ESP-IDF Official Resources
  • MicroPython Official Documentation

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