Waveshare ESP32-C3 Zero: high-resolution pinout, datasheet, and specs

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The ESP32-C3-Zero (and ESP32-C3-Zero-M with soldered headers) is an ultra-miniaturized module built around Espressif’s ESP32-C3FH4 SoC. Measuring just over 24 × 17 mm, it combines a 32-bit RISC-V core (up to 160 MHz), 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth 5.0 LE, plus 4 MB of onboard flash and a ceramic chip antenna—all exposed via castellated pads for easy PCB integration. A USB-C connector provides firmware flashing and power, while built-in security accelerators (AES, RNG, HMAC, digital signature) meet modern IoT requirements

Board Overview

• SoC: ESP32-C3 FN4, RISC-V single-core @ 160 MHz
• Memory: 400 KB SRAM, 384 KB ROM, 4 MB onboard flash
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0 LE
• Power:
  • Input: USB-C or external 5 V (3.3–6 V)
  • Output: Regulated 3.3 V up to 500 mA
• I/O Voltage: 3.3 V
• Deep-sleep current: ~43 µA
• Interfaces: ADC, PWM, SPI, I²C, UART, GPIO
• Dimensions: 24 × 17 mm
• Form-Factor: Castellated module with onboard chip antenna; Zero-M variant adds pin headers

Advanced Peripheral Interfaces

• 22 or 16 programmable GPIOs
• Digital interfaces:
  • 3 × SPI
  • 2 × UART
  • 1 × I2C
  • 1 × I2S
  • Remote control peripheral, with 2 transmit
    channels and 2 receive channels
  • LED PWM controller, with up to 6 channels
  • Full-speed USB Serial/JTAG controller
  • General DMA controller (GDMA), with 3
    transmit channels and 3 receive channels
  • 1 × TWAI® controller compatible with ISO
    11898-1 (CAN Specification 2.0)
• Analog interfaces:
  • 2 × 12-bit SAR ADCs, up to 6 channels
  • 1 × temperature sensor
• Timers:
  • 2 × 54-bit general-purpose timers
  • 3 × digital watchdog timers
  • 1 × analog watchdog timer
  • 1 × 52-bit system timer

Wi­Fi

• IEEE 802.11 b/g/n-compliant
• Supports 20 MHz, 40 MHz bandwidth in 2.4
  GHz band
• 1T1R mode with data rate up to 150 Mbps
• 4 × virtual Wi-Fi interfaces
• 802.11mc FTM

Bluetooth

• Bluetooth LE: Bluetooth 5, Bluetooth mesh
• High power mode (21 dBm)
• Speed: 125 Kbps, 500 Kbps, 1 Mbps, 2 Mbps
• Advertising extensions
• Multiple advertisement sets
• Channel selection algorithm
• Internal co-existence mechanism between Wi-Fi
  and Bluetooth to share the same antenna

Security

• Secure boot
• Flash encryption
• 4096-bit OTP, up to 1792 bits for use
• Cryptographic hardware acceleration:
  • AES-128/256 (FIPS PUB 197)
• Permission Control
• SHA Accelerator (FIPS PUB 180-4)
• RSA Accelerator
• Random Number Generator (RNG)
• HMAC
• Digital signature

PINs

UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter) pins:

• U0RXD (GPIO20): This pin serves as the UART0 receive (RX) pin, which is used for receiving serial data.
• U0TXD (GPIO21): This pin serves as the UART0 transmit (TX) pin, which is used for transmitting serial data.

I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) pins: The ESP32-C3 does not have dedicated I2C pins. However, you can implement software-based I2C (bit-banging) using any available GPIO pins. For instance, you could use GPIO12 (SPIHD) and GPIO13 (SPIWP) for the I2C SCL (clock) and SDA (data)

Buttons:
BOOT (GPIO9): Hold low to enter serial bootloader
RESET (CHIP_EN): Active-low to restart the SoC

LED: WS2812 RGB LED driven via GPIO10 (see WS2812 spec)

Flash Memory: 4 MB SPI-NOR connected on GPIO11–GPIO14 and SPI_CLK/CS

Note: GPIO12–GPIO17 are internally used by the flash and are not available for user I/O. Avoid placing any components over the ceramic antenna area to maintain RF performance

How to

1. ESP32: pinout, specs and Arduino IDE configuration
2. ESP32: integrated SPIFFS Filesystem
3. ESP32: manage multiple Serial and logging
4. ESP32 practical power saving
   1. ESP32 practical power saving: manage WiFi and CPU
   2. ESP32 practical power saving: modem and light sleep
   3. ESP32 practical power saving: deep sleep and hibernation
   4. ESP32 practical power saving: preserve data, timer and touch wake up
   5. ESP32 practical power saving: external and ULP wake up
   6. ESP32 practical power saving: UART and GPIO wake up
5. ESP32: integrated LittleFS FileSystem
6. ESP32: integrated FFat (Fat/exFAT) FileSystem
7. ESP32-wroom-32
   1. ESP32-wroom-32: flash, pinout, specs and IDE configuration
8. ESP32-CAM
   1. ESP32-CAM: pinout, specs and Arduino IDE configuration
   2. ESP32-CAM: upgrade CamerWebServer with flash features
9. ESP32: use ethernet w5500 with plain (HTTP) and SSL (HTTPS)
10. ESP32: use ethernet enc28j60 with plain (HTTP) and SSL (HTTPS)
11. How to use SD card with esp32
12. esp32 and esp8266: FAT filesystem on external SPI flash memory

13. Firmware and OTA update management
    1. Firmware management
       1. ESP32: flash compiled firmware (.bin)
       2. ESP32: flash compiled firmware and filesystem (.bin) with GUI tools
    2. OTA update with Arduino IDE
       1. ESP32 OTA update with Arduino IDE: filesystem, firmware, and password
    3. OTA update with Web Browser
       1. ESP32 OTA update with Web Browser: firmware, filesystem, and authentication
       2. ESP32 OTA update with Web Browser: upload in HTTPS (SSL/TLS) with self-signed certificate
       3. ESP32 OTA update with Web Browser: custom web interface
    4. Self OTA uptate from HTTP server
       1. ESP32 self OTA update firmware from the server
       2. ESP32 self OTA update firmware from the server with version check
       3. ESP32 self-OTA update in HTTPS (SSL/TLS) with trusted self-signed certificate
    5. Non-standard Firmware update
       1. ESP32 firmware and filesystem update from SD card
       2. ESP32 firmware and filesystem update with FTP client

14. Integrating LAN8720 with ESP32 for Ethernet Connectivity with plain (HTTP) and SSL (HTTPS)
15. Connecting the EByte E70 to ESP32 c3/s3 devices and a simple sketch example
16. ESP32-C3: pinout, specs and Arduino IDE configuration
17. Integrating W5500 with ESP32 Using Core 3: Native Ethernet Protocol Support with SSL and Other Features
18. Integrating LAN8720 with ESP32 Using Core 3: Native Ethernet Protocol Support with SSL and Other Features
19. Dallas ds18b20:
    • Dallas ds18b20 with esp32 and esp8266: introduction and parasite mode
    • Dallas ds18b20 with esp32 and esp8266: pull-up P-MOSFET gate and alarms
    • Dallas ds18b20 with esp32 and esp8266: all OneWire topologies, long stubs and more devices
20. Guide to I2C on ESP32: Communication with Heterogeneous 5V and 3.3V Devices, Additional Interface Management and Scanner
21. Display

• Complete Guide: Using an ILI9341 Display with the TFT_eSPI Library
• Integrating Touch Screen Functionality with Your ILI9341 TFT Display
• SSD1683 eInk Display with GxEPD and ESP32 (and CrowPanel 4.2″ HMI): basics and configuration
• SSD1683 eInk Display with GxEPD and ESP32 (and CrowPanel 4.2″ HMI): fonts, shapes, and images
• ESP32 e Display eInk SSD1683: come realizzare una Semplice Stazione Meteo (anche su CrowPanel 4.2″ HMI) con le API di OpenWeatherMap

Datasheet

ESP32c3 datasheet

ESP32-C3-zero Schematic

PCB size

Thanks

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