Source: https://mokxi.com/learn/path/embedded-esp32c3 Updated: 2026-11-11 All paths # Embedded on the ESP32-C3 A 32 bit RISC-V board at 160 MHz. Its own peripherals, its own 3.3 V rules, and a console at the end of it. ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 Free 13 lessons 11 h 7 chapters 3,492 XP Embedded engineering ยท Intermediate +150 XP 0 of 13 done Start the course free First light on the C3 Lesson plan for teachers What you will build ## 5 projects, built step by step 13 lessons in 7 chapters, about 11 hours on a simulated ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1. Free, in your browser, every step checked by the simulator. Chapter 1 project ### Six pins and a moving dot An array of pin numbers, a loop that walks it, and a sweep that bounces. The first sketch where the code shape matters more than the wiring. Open it in the simulator Chapter 2 project ### Interrupts, and what they cost A handler that runs the moment a pin falls, a counter shared with the main loop, and the bounce that makes one press count as four. Open it in the simulator Chapter 3 project ### The board listens Characters arriving into a FIFO, read without blocking, and echoed back with their hex. The first half of every protocol you will ever write. Open it in the simulator Chapter 6 project ### Color on one wire Sixteen addressable LEDs on a single pin, and a protocol where the length of a pulse is the bit. The timing is the whole problem. Open it in the simulator Chapter 7 project ### Project: a console A color TFT, two buttons and a piezo, running a game at forty frames a second. What a frame budget is and where it all goes. Open it in the simulator The map ## Chapter by chapter Each lesson opens when the one before it is done, and each chapter ends in a project. Chapter 1 ## First light One pin, then six, and what a GPIO matrix is for. Open 200 XP ### First light on the C3 One pin, one lamp, one program on a RISC-V board. Why 3.3 V changes the resistor you pick, and what the board does while it waits. 0 of 6 steps Start What is in it Project Locked 400 XP ### Six pins and a moving dot An array of pin numbers, a loop that walks it, and a sweep that bounces. The first sketch where the code shape matters more than the wiring. 0 of 6 steps Chapter 2 ## Reading the world A pin that reads, and a handler that runs the moment it changes. Locked 200 XP ### Reading a pin at 3.3 V A button on GPIO 9 with the pad pull-up on. Why pressed reads low, what 45 k means, and what a floating input really does. 0 of 6 steps Project Locked 364 XP ### Interrupts, and what they cost A handler that runs the moment a pin falls, a counter shared with the main loop, and the bounce that makes one press count as four. 0 of 6 steps Chapter 3 ## Talking to your computer UART0 both ways, and the start of every protocol. Locked 200 XP ### The board talks UART0, the monitor, and the uptime. What a baud rate costs in time, and why printing a float works on a chip that cannot do arithmetic with one. 0 of 6 steps Project Locked 400 XP ### The board listens Characters arriving into a FIFO, read without blocking, and echoed back with their hex. The first half of every protocol you will ever write. 0 of 6 steps Chapter 4 ## Timing you can hear One unit of time, and everything else in proportion to it. Locked 200 XP ### Timing you can hear Morse is timing and nothing else. One unit of time, five rules, a lamp and a piezo, and a button that moves to the next message. 0 of 6 steps Chapter 5 ## Brightness PWM by hand, a filter that averages it, and what the peripheral would have cost. Locked 200 XP ### Brightness without a PWM peripheral The C3 has an LED PWM peripheral and Mokxi does not model it, so this sketch does it in software. Two lamps, one through a filter, and the cost of doing it by hand. 0 of 6 steps Chapter 6 ## Showing something Seven segments, then a screen on two wires, then color on one. Locked 182 XP ### Showing a number Seven LEDs in the shape of an eight, a table of digits, and a die that tumbles. Where a pin budget starts to hurt. 0 of 6 steps Locked 182 XP ### A screen on two wires A 128x64 OLED over I2C, bit-banged on two pins. Addresses, acknowledgments, a frame buffer in RAM, and what a redraw costs. 0 of 6 steps Project Locked 400 XP ### Color on one wire Sixteen addressable LEDs on a single pin, and a protocol where the length of a pulse is the bit. The timing is the whole problem. 0 of 6 steps Chapter 7 ## Two things to play A memory game and a console, both on a breadboard. Locked 200 XP ### Project: a memory game Four lamps, four buttons and a sequence that grows. State, arrays and input handling in one thing you can actually play. 0 of 6 steps Project Locked 364 XP ### Project: a console A color TFT, two buttons and a piezo, running a game at forty frames a second. What a frame budget is and where it all goes. 0 of 6 steps Syllabus ## Every lesson in the course All 13 lessons, in order, each with what it covers. Any of them opens in the editor right away. Chapter 1 ### First light - First light on the C3 One pin, one lamp, one program on a RISC-V board. Why 3.3 V changes the resistor you pick, and what the board does while it waits. - Six pins and a moving dot An array of pin numbers, a loop that walks it, and a sweep that bounces. The first sketch where the code shape matters more than the wiring. Chapter 2 ### Reading the world - Reading a pin at 3.3 V A button on GPIO 9 with the pad pull-up on. Why pressed reads low, what 45 k means, and what a floating input really does. - Interrupts, and what they cost A handler that runs the moment a pin falls, a counter shared with the main loop, and the bounce that makes one press count as four. Chapter 3 ### Talking to your computer - The board talks UART0, the monitor, and the uptime. What a baud rate costs in time, and why printing a float works on a chip that cannot do arithmetic with one. - The board listens Characters arriving into a FIFO, read without blocking, and echoed back with their hex. The first half of every protocol you will ever write. Chapter 4 ### Timing you can hear - Timing you can hear Morse is timing and nothing else. One unit of time, five rules, a lamp and a piezo, and a button that moves to the next message. Chapter 5 ### Brightness - Brightness without a PWM peripheral The C3 has an LED PWM peripheral and Mokxi does not model it, so this sketch does it in software. Two lamps, one through a filter, and the cost of doing it by hand. Chapter 6 ### Showing something - Showing a number Seven LEDs in the shape of an eight, a table of digits, and a die that tumbles. Where a pin budget starts to hurt. - A screen on two wires A 128x64 OLED over I2C, bit-banged on two pins. Addresses, acknowledgments, a frame buffer in RAM, and what a redraw costs. - Color on one wire Sixteen addressable LEDs on a single pin, and a protocol where the length of a pulse is the bit. The timing is the whole problem. Chapter 7 ### Two things to play - Project: a memory game Four lamps, four buttons and a sequence that grows. State, arrays and input handling in one thing you can actually play. - Project: a console A color TFT, two buttons and a piezo, running a game at forty frames a second. What a frame budget is and where it all goes. Keep going ## The next course on your track Embedded on the ESP32-C3 is part of the embedded track, a ladder of courses from zero to expert. Next course ### Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico A dual core Cortex-M0+ at 125 MHz. PWM on every pin, a 64 bit clock, and pins that do not forgive 5 V. Open the next course Track ### Embedded track Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi Pico and STM32: pins, timing, buses, motors, WiFi, registers and debugging, every lesson checked on a simulated board. See every course on the track Kits ## Build it on your bench too Every lesson runs in the simulator with nothing to buy. When you want the real thing, these kits have the parts. Have a kit already? ### Find your kit Pick the starter kit you own and run every lesson in its manual with the same parts on the same pins. See every kit Questions ## About Embedded on the ESP32-C3 Is Embedded on the ESP32-C3 free? Yes. All 13 lessons of Embedded on the ESP32-C3 are free and run in your browser, with nothing to install and no parts to buy before you start. Do I need a real ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1? No. Every lesson runs on a simulated ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 with its parts on the canvas, and the simulator checks each step as you go. When you want to build it for real, the same wiring and code work on a real board. How long does Embedded on the ESP32-C3 take? About 11 hours: 13 lessons in 7 chapters, each one a few short steps. Your progress is kept, so you can stop after any lesson and pick up where you left off. What will I build? Each chapter ends in a project that puts it together: Six pins and a moving dot, Interrupts, and what they cost, The board listens, Color on one wire and Project: a console. Where do I start? With "First light on the C3", and each lesson builds on the one before it. New to circuits? Electronics basics is the course that starts from zero.