ESP32 Basic Starter Kit

A hands-on course that takes you from your first blinking LED to Wi-Fi web servers, cloud dashboards, and an IoT device you build yourself.

LAFVIN Basic Starter Kit · ESP32 DEVKIT V1
Basics Sensors Wi‑Fi / Web Display Cloud / MQTT Capstone Reference
VIR
F1Foundations

Electronics & Communication Basics

Voltage, current, polarity, DC power & grounds, 3.3 V logic, and UART / I²C / SPI: the must‑know theory.

Read first · no wiring
ESP32 pinout
F2Foundations

Introduction, Board Tour & Setup

What the ESP32 is, the pinout, safe GPIOs, Arduino IDE setup, and uploading your first sketch.

Start here · no wiring
Arduino IDE Boards Manager
F3Toolchain

Arduino IDE Setup (with screenshots)

Install the Arduino IDE and ESP32 support step by step, then upload a test sketch.

Do this once · software only
Project 1 schematic
01Basics

Inputs & Outputs: Button → LED

Read a digital input and drive a digital output. Pushbutton turns an LED on and off.

Pins GPIO 4 in · GPIO 5 out
Project 2 schematic
02Basics

Analog Inputs (ADC)

Read a potentiometer as a 0–4095 value with analogRead() and watch it change.

Pin GPIO 4 (ADC)
Project 3 schematic
03Basics

PWM: Analog Output (LED Fade)

Use the LED PWM controller to smoothly fade an LED brighter and dimmer.

Pin GPIO 4 (PWM)
Project 4 schematic
04Sensors

PIR Motion Sensor + Buzzer

Detect motion with an HC‑SR501 and sound a buzzer, using non‑blocking timers.

PIR GPIO 27 · Buzzer GPIO 26
Project 5 schematic
05Wi‑Fi / Web

Switch Web Server (2 LEDs)

Host a web page on the ESP32 to toggle two LEDs from your phone or laptop.

LEDs GPIO 26, GPIO 27
Project 6 schematic
06Wi‑Fi / Web

RGB LED Web Server (Color Picker)

Pick any color in the browser; the ESP32 mixes it on an RGB LED with PWM.

R/G/B GPIO 13/12/14
Project 7 schematic
07Wi‑Fi / Web

Relay Web Server

Switch a relay from a web page: the basis for controlling real appliances.

Relay IN GPIO 26
Project 8 schematic
08Wi‑Fi / Web

Output State Synchronization

Control one LED from both a web toggle and a physical button, kept in sync.

LED GPIO 2 · Button GPIO 4
Project 9 schematic
09Sensors

DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Server

Read a DHT11 and show live temperature/humidity on an auto‑updating web page.

DHT11 GPIO 4
Project 10 schematic
10Display

OLED Display (SSD1306)

Drive a 128×64 I²C OLED to show text and scrolling messages.

I²C SDA 21 · SCL 22
11Cloud / MQTT

MQTT + Ubidots Cloud Dashboard

Publish DHT11 data to a live cloud dashboard and switch an LED or relay from anywhere.

DHT11 GPIO 4 · Out GPIO 26
12Cloud / MQTT

Telegram Bot

Chat with your board: read the sensor and switch the light from Telegram, anywhere.

DHT11 GPIO 4 · Out GPIO 26 · PIR GPIO 27
13Capstone

Build Your Own IoT Device

Team project: combine sensors, actuators, and the cloud into one device, then demo it.

Starter sketch + idea menu + rubric
ESP32 pinout
📌Reference

GPIO Reference

Full pin table: safe / strapping / input‑only pins, ADC, touch, DAC, and bus defaults.

Look‑up table
Kit components
🧩Reference

Components Glossary

Every part in the kit: what it is, how to identify it, polarity, and where it's used.

Look‑up table
🧭Reference

Going Further

Deep sleep, Wi‑Fi resilience, persistent storage, and NTP time: capabilities none of the 13 builds use but every one can.

Look‑up table
Cheat Sheet (printable) Safety Notes