Lesson plan

Embedded on the ESP32-C3 lesson plan

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.

7 chapters, 13 lessons, about 11 hours, on the ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install.

Start a class from this course

The unit

Objectives and materials

By the end, students can

One pin, then six, and what a GPIO matrix is for.
A pin that reads, and a handler that runs the moment it changes.
UART0 both ways, and the start of every protocol.
One unit of time, and everything else in proportion to it.
PWM by hand, a filter that averages it, and what the peripheral would have cost.
Seven segments, then a screen on two wires, then color on one.
A memory game and a console, both on a breadboard.

Materials for the whole unit

Addressable RGB LEDs
Capacitor
ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
LED x 6
OLED display, 128x64
Piezo speaker
Pushbutton x 4
Resistor x 6
Seven segment display
TFT display, 240x320

Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too.

Chapter 1. About 1 h 40 min

First light

One pin, then six, and what a GPIO matrix is for.

Lesson	Time	What students do
First light on the C3One 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.	50 min	The board, and where it sits Run it The lamp on the breadboard Pick a resistor for 3.3 V Blink it five times a second What a GPIO matrix is
Six pins and a moving dotAn 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.	50 min	Six lamps, six pins Run it All the way along Watch a pin in the middle Make it slow Where six pins stops working

Materials

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
LED x 6
Resistor x 6

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "Six pins and a moving dot" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Where six pins stops working".

Chapter 2. About 1 h 40 min

Reading the world

A pin that reads, and a handler that runs the moment it changes.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Reading a pin at 3.3 VA 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.	50 min	A button with no resistor Watch it go low And the lamp follows Check the output pin too Turn it round What a floating pin actually does
Interrupts, and what they costA 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.	50 min	Something that happens without being asked Run it Press it Press five, and read the number Catch the contacts bouncing Debounce it, and know what it costs

Materials

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
LED
Pushbutton
Resistor

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "Interrupts, and what they cost" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Debounce it, and know what it costs".

Chapter 3. About 1 h 40 min

Talking to your computer

UART0 both ways, and the start of every protocol.

Lesson	Time	What students do
The board talksUART0, 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.	50 min	Nothing is wired, and that is the lesson Say hello A number with no hardware behind it The uptime, from a 52 bit counter Add a line of your own What printing costs
The board listensCharacters arriving into a FIFO, read without blocking, and echoed back with their hex. The first half of every protocol you will ever write.	50 min	Two calls, and neither one waits Run it Type a letter Type a capital and read the hex Press enter on its own From echo to protocol

Materials

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "The board listens" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "From echo to protocol".

Chapter 4. About 50 min

Timing you can hear

One unit of time, and everything else in proportion to it.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Timing you can hearMorse 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.	50 min	One number decides everything Run it and read the log Watch the lamp And listen to it Move to the next message Change the speed

Materials

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
LED
Piezo speaker
Pushbutton
Resistor

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "Timing you can hear" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Change the speed".

Chapter 5. About 50 min

Brightness

PWM by hand, a filter that averages it, and what the peripheral would have cost.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Brightness without a PWM peripheralThe 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.	50 min	Two branches, on purpose Run it and watch it breathe Read the filtered node And the lamp behind the filter Make the breath faster What it would cost in hardware

Materials

Capacitor
ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
LED x 2
Resistor x 3

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "Brightness without a PWM peripheral" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "What it would cost in hardware".

Chapter 6. About 2 h 30 min

Showing something

Seven segments, then a screen on two wires, then color on one.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Showing a numberSeven LEDs in the shape of an eight, a table of digits, and a die that tumbles. Where a pin budget starts to hurt.	50 min	Seven LEDs and a table Run it Roll it Watch a segment pin One resistor for all of it Count the pins
A screen on two wiresA 128x64 OLED over I2C, bit-banged on two pins. Addresses, acknowledgments, a frame buffer in RAM, and what a redraw costs.	50 min	Two wires, many devices Run it Something on the screen A screen is a buffer in your RAM What a frame costs Put your own thing on it
Color on one wireSixteen addressable LEDs on a single pin, and a protocol where the length of a pulse is the bit. The timing is the whole problem.	50 min	Every LED has a chip in it Run it Count the lit ones All sixteen Slow the wheel down What sixteen LEDs actually draw

Materials

Addressable RGB LEDs
ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
OLED display, 128x64
Pushbutton
Resistor
Seven segment display

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "Color on one wire" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "What sixteen LEDs actually draw".

Chapter 7. About 1 h 40 min

Two things to play

A memory game and a console, both on a breadboard.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Project: a memory gameFour lamps, four buttons and a sequence that grows. State, arrays and input handling in one thing you can actually play.	50 min	The game, stated before it is built Run it Watch it show you Answer it Get it wrong on purpose Make it better
Project: a consoleA 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.	50 min	A screen, two buttons and a speaker Run it Play it Miss it Where the 25 milliseconds go Make it your game

Materials

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
Full-size breadboard
LED x 4
Piezo speaker
Pushbutton x 4
Resistor x 4
TFT display, 240x320

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "Project: a console" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Make it your game".

Your class

Teach this unit as a class

Start a class from this course and its 13 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you.

The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way.

Start a class from this course See the demo class

More units

Other lesson plans

Electronics basics20 lessons, about 10 h.Embedded on the Arduino Uno16 lessons, about 12 h.Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico7 lessons, about 6 h.Build your own fight stick5 lessons, about 4 h.Embedded on the STM32F4116 lessons, about 6 h.C++ on a board13 lessons, about 10 h.Digital logic and memory4 lessons, about 4 h.Interactive devices on the Uno9 lessons, about 8 h.From gates to a computer23 lessons, about 16 h.Build a claw machine8 lessons, about 6 h.Build a vending machine6 lessons, about 5 h.Every unitAll the courses as ready-made units, on the teachers page.