Espressif Launches ESP32-S3-BOX, an All-in-One ESP32-S3 Dev System for TinyML, Edge AI Work

Espressif has launched an all-in-one development kit for tinyML, edge AI, and human-machine interface projects, built around its ESP32-S3 system-on-chip: the ESP32-S3-BOX.

The device's form factor is built around a 2.4" 320x240 capacitive touch display, which sits at the front of a compact housing with wall-mount support and integrated speaker, dual microphones, and two Pmod headers for hardware expansion. Designed with tinyML and edgeAI in mind, the box houses an ESP32-S3 system-on-chip with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 Low Energy connectivity, 512kB of static RAM (SRAM), 8MB of octal pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM), and 16MB of QSPI flash.

The device's form factor is built around a 2.4" 320x240 capacitive touch display, which sits at the front of a compact housing with wall-mount support and integrated speaker, dual microphones, and two Pmod headers for hardware expansion. Designed with tinyML and edge AI in mind, the box houses an ESP32-S3 system-on-chip with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 Low Energy connectivity, 512kB of static RAM (SRAM), 8MB of octal pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM), and 16MB of QSPI flash.

Espressif unveiled the ESP32-S3 design late last year, adding a second 240MHz Xtensa LX7 core to its earlier ESP32-S2 chip while retaining an ultra-pow-power RISC-V coprocessor, security block, on-board radio, and peripherals. Key to Espressif's offering are a series of instruction set extensions designed to improve its capabilities for neural network and audio processing workloads — two of the key areas at which the ESP32-S3-BOX is targeted.

"ESP32-S3-BOX features an online and offline voice assistant which can be used as either a stand-alone voice assistant, or a voice-enablement module that can be integrated into other devices," Inamdar explains. "ESP32-S3-BOX has a 320x240 capacitive touchscreen that can be used for HMI applications, such as control panels. ESP32-S3-BOX can support several Espressif chip series through its Pmod headers, so that developers can easily build a smart gateway and integrate into it various communication protocols. This ensures connectivity for a variety of devices in a seamless way."

Espressif has published the device's hardware reference design and user guides to GitHub under the permissive Apache 2.0 license, and has announced that it will be taking orders for the device through Amazon in the US at $45. More information is available on the Espressif blog.