SparkFun Thing Plus - ESP32-S2 WROOM

The SparkFun ESP32-S2 WROOM Thing Plus is a highly-integrated, Feather form-factor development board equipped with a 2.4 GHz WiFi System-on-Chip (SoC), from Espressif. The ESP32-S2 WROOM module addresses the security flaws in the original ESP8266 and ESP32 by featuring transparent external flash and RAM encryption, secure boot features allowing only signed firmware, as well as included HMAC and Digital Signature modules that use software inaccessible keys to generate SHA-MAC and MAC signatures! With the ESP32-S2's IoT and connectivity based application focus, this board provides a robust option for connected projects and applications.

All of that can sound a little daunting, but Sparkfun assure you that the ESP32-S2 Thing Plus is anything but! SparkFun's Thing Plus footprint only adds to the board's feature set with the LiPo charging & power circuit making it perfect for home automation or wearable tasks. Possibly the biggest change for the S2 is the ULP (RISC-V) Co-processor. This allows you even more options to balance performance with power consumption over the original ESP32.

Additional new features of the ESP32-S2 include dedicated output pins for, DVP Camera Interface, LCD Interface, and integrated temp sensor. If your project needs even more peripherals, Sparkfun have included a Qwiic connector on board for easy integration into any of SparkFuns Qwiic ecosystem equipped sensors and accessories. You will also find that this Thing Plus utilizes a USB-C connector instead of the microB USB found on its predecessor.

Keep in mind that while the ESP32-S2 does include an Integrated 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Transceiver allowing for speeds up to 150Mbps, it lacks the Bluetooth^® capabilities of the original ESP32 module. Additionally, the SRAM & ROM have been reduced. However, the support for larger external storage should easily be able to compensate for this.

The SparkFun Qwiic Connect System is an ecosystem of I²C sensors, actuators, shields and cables that make prototyping faster and less prone to error. All Qwiic-enabled boards use a common 1mm pitch, 4-pin JST connector. This reduces the amount of required PCB space, and polarized connections mean you can't hook it up wrong.

Features

• ESP32-S2 Module
  • Xtensa® Single-Core 32-bit LX7 Microprocessor (up to 240MHz)
    • RISC-V ULP Coprocessor
    • 128KB ROM and 320KB SRAM
    • 4MB of Embedded SPI Flash Storage
  • Cryptographic Hardware Accelerators
    • AES, ECB/CBC/OFB/CFB/CTR, GCM, SHA, RSA, and ECC (Digital Signature)
  • Physical Security Features
    • Transparent external flash and RAM encryption (AES-XTS)
    • Secure Boot feature ensures only signed firmware (with RSA-PSS signature) is booted
    • HMAC and Digital Signature modules use software inaccessible keys to generate SHA-MAC and MAC signatures
  • Integrated 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 2.4GHz Transceiver (up to 150Mbps)
  • Integrated Temperature Sensor (-20°C to 110°C)
  • Operating Voltage: 3.0 to 3.6V
    • WiFi: 310mA (peak)
    • Light-Sleep: 550µA
    • Deep-Sleep: 20-235µA
• 21 Available GPIO
  • 16x 12-bit ADC Channels
  • 2x 8-bit DAC
  • 14x Capacitive Touch Sensing
  • 4x SPI (only one is configured by default in the Arduino IDE)
  • 1x I²S
  • 2x I²C (only one is configured by default in the Arduino IDE)
  • 2x UART (only two are configured by default in the Arduino IDE, one UART is used for bootloading/debug)
  • 8x PWM Channels
• JST LiPo Battery Connector
• Qwiic Connector
• USB-C Connector
• JTAG PTH Pins
• Feather Footprint

Documents

• Schematic (PDF)
• Eagle Files (ZIP)
• Board Dimensions (PDF)
• Graphical Datasheet (PDF)
• Hookup Guide
• Hardware Component Information:
  • ESP32-S2 Datasheet
  • ESP32-S2 WROOM Module Datasheet
  • ESP32-S2 Hardware Design Guidelines
• Espressif's ESP32 Arduino Core * .json file needed for Epressif's ESP32 Arduino Core: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json
• Qwiic Info Page
• GitHub Hardware Repository