Hello world ESP32-S3 with Rust

Updated on 6 January 2023

dev board ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1

chip ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8R2

features rust serial esp32s3

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-S3-DevKitC-1-N8R2

Code

Download code src/main.rs

use std::thread;
use std::time::Duration;
use esp_idf_sys as _;
use embedded_hal::digital::blocking::OutputPin;
use esp_idf_hal::peripherals::Peripherals;

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

  let peripherals = Peripherals::take().unwrap();
  let mut led = peripherals.pins.gpio5.into_output().unwrap();
  let n = 1;

  while n == 1 {
    led.set_high().unwrap();
    thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(1000));

    led.set_low().unwrap();
    thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(1000));

    println!("blink");
  }
}

Makefile

UPLOAD_PORT?=/dev/cu.usbmodem14*
PROJECT_NAME=blinky-rust-esp32s3

.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 $(UPLOAD_PORT) target/xtensa-esp32s3-espidf/debug/$(PROJECT_NAME)

log: ## Start the logs
	espmonitor $(UPLOAD_PORT)


clean: ## Remove all build files
	cargo clean

Prototype

A photo of the actual setup.

Serial console

Serial output from the firmware.

Use GPIO5 to add a simple external LED

Description

Install dependancies

Install for Xtensa

 git clone https://github.com/esp-rs/rust-build.git
 cd rust-build
 ./install-rust-toolchain.sh
 . export-esp.sh

Set $PATH

 export LIBCLANG_PATH="~/.espressif/tools/xtensa-esp32-elf-clang/esp-14.0.0-20220415-x86_64-apple-darwin/lib/"
 export PATH="~/.espressif/tools/xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc/8_4_0-esp-2021r2-patch3-x86_64-apple-darwin/bin/:~/.espressif/tools/xtensa-esp32s2-elf-gcc/8_4_0-esp-2021r2-patch3-x86_64-apple-darwin/bin/:~/.espressif/tools/xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gcc/8_4_0-esp-2021r2-patch3-x86_64-apple-darwin/bin/:$PATH"

Install Cargo sub-commands

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

Generate the project

 $ cargo generate --vcs none --git https://github.com/esp-rs/esp-idf-template cargo

 🤷   Project Name : hello
 🔧   Destination: /Users/sayanee/Desktop/hello ...
 🔧   Generating template ...
 ✔ 🤷   STD support · true
 ✔ 🤷   ESP-IDF native build version (v4.3.2 = previous stable, v4.4 = stable, mainline = UNSTABLE) · v4.4
 ? 🤷   Configure project to use Dev Containers (VS Code, GitHub Codespaces and Gitpod)? (beware: Dev Cont
 ✔ 🤷   Configure project to use Dev Containers (VS Code, GitHub Codespaces and Gitpod)? (beware: Dev Containers not available for esp-idf v4.3.2) · false
 ✔ 🤷   MCU · esp32s3
 [ 1/10]   Done: .cargo/config.toml
 [ 2/10]   Done: .cargo
 [ 3/10]   Done: .gitignore
 [ 4/10]   Done: .vscode
 [ 5/10]   Done: Cargo.toml
 [ 6/10]   Done: build.rs
 [ 7/10]   Done: rust-toolchain.toml
 [ 8/10]   Done: sdkconfig.defaults
 [ 9/10]   Done: src/main.rs
 [10/10]   Done: src
 🔧   Moving generated files into: `/Users/sayanee/Desktop/hello`...
 ✨   Done! New project created /Users/sayanee/Desktop/hello

Compile

Change directory into the project name
```
 $ cd hello
```
Edit file src/main.rs with the blinky code
Edit Cargo.toml to add dependancies
Compile / build the project
```
  $ cargo build
```

Upload the firmware

Plug in the board into the USB port (not the UART port).

Upload / Flash

  espflash /dev/cu.usbmodem14101 target/xtensa-esp32s3-espidf/debug/hello

View the logs

Start the serial monitor

  espmonitor /dev/cu.usbmodem14101