Blinky with Rust on ESP32-C3

Updated on 19 October 2023

dev board ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1

chip ESP32-C3-MINI-1-N4

features rust blinky esp32c3 riscv

This tutorial is more than 1 year old. If the steps below do not work, then please check the latest versions and the documentations of the individual tools used.

Before starting

Dependancies

Ensure the following dependancies are downloaded and available:

Buy the components

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1

Code

Download code src/main.rs

use esp_idf_hal::{delay::FreeRtos, gpio::PinDriver, peripherals::Peripherals};
use esp_idf_sys as _;

fn main() {
    esp_idf_sys::link_patches();

    let peripherals = Peripherals::take().unwrap();
    let mut led_pin = PinDriver::output(peripherals.pins.gpio3).unwrap();

    loop {
        led_pin.set_low().unwrap();
        FreeRtos::delay_ms(1000);

        led_pin.set_high().unwrap();
        FreeRtos::delay_ms(1000);
        println!("blink");
    }
}

Makefile

PORT?=/dev/cu.usbserial-*
PROJECT_NAME=blinky-rust-esp32c3

.PHONY: default compile upload log clean

default: clean compile upload

help: ## Show help message
	@awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*##"; printf "\nUsage:\n  make \033[36m\033[0m\n"} /^[$$()% 0-9a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?##/ { printf "  \033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2 } /^##@/ { printf "\n\033[1m%s\033[0m\n", substr($$0, 5) } ' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)

compile: ## Compile rust
	cargo clean
	cargo build

upload: ## Upload the firmware to the board
	espflash flash target/riscv32imc-esp-espidf/debug/$(PROJECT_NAME)

log: ## Start the logs
	cargo espmonitor $(PORT) --chip esp32c3

clean: ## Remove all build files
	cargo clean

Prototype

A photo of the actual setup.

Schematic

Wire up the hardware accordingly

Serial console

Serial output from the firmware.

Description

Install dependancies

Install for RISC-V

 rustup target add riscv32imc-unknown-none-elf

Install Cargo sub-commands

 cargo install cargo-generate
 cargo install ldproxy
 cargo install espup
 cargo install espflash
 cargo install cargo-espmonitor

 cargo install --list

Generate the project

 cargo generate esp-rs/esp-idf-template cargo

With options:

project-name: blinky-rust-esp32c3
MCU target: esp32c3
Configure advanced template options: false

Typical output:

 $  cargo generate esp-rs/esp-idf-template cargo

 ⚠️   Favorite `esp-rs/esp-idf-template` not found in config, using it as a git repository: https://github.com/esp-rs/esp-idf-template.git
 🤷   Project Name: blinky-rust-esp32c3
 🔧   Destination: /Users/sayanee/Desktop/blinky-rust-esp32c3 ...
 🔧   project-name: blinky-rust-esp32c3 ...
 🔧   Generating template ...
 ✔ 🤷   Which MCU to target? · esp32c3
 ✔ 🤷   Configure advanced template options? · false
 🔧   Moving generated files into: `/Users/sayanee/Desktop/blinky-rust-esp32c3`...
 🔧   Initializing a fresh Git repository
 ✨   Done! New project created /Users/sayanee/Desktop/blinky-rust-esp32c3

Compile

Change directory into the project name
```
  $ cd blinky
```
Edit file src/main.rs with the blinky code.
Edit Cargo.toml to add dependencies

[package]
name = "blinky-rust-esp32c3"
version = "0.1.0"
authors = ["Sayanee <[email protected]>"]
edition = "2021"
resolver = "2"
rust-version = "1.66"

[profile.release]
opt-level = "s"

[profile.dev]
debug = true
opt-level = "z"

[features]
pio = ["esp-idf-sys/pio"]

[dependencies]
esp-idf-sys = { version = "0.33.2", features = ["binstart"] }
esp-idf-hal = "0.42"

[build-dependencies]
embuild = "0.31.3"

Compile / build the project
```
  $ cargo build
```

Upload the firmware

Plug in the board into the USB port.

Check the port address

 $ ls /dev/cu.*
 /dev/cu.usbserial-1410

Upload / Flash

  espflash flash target/riscv32imc-esp-espidf/debug/blinky

View the logs

Start the serial monitor

  cargo espmonitor /dev/cu.usbserial-1410 --chip esp32c3