ESP32-S2 Kaluga Dev Kit (v1.2) featuring WROVER
by Espressif
The ESP32-S2-Kaluga-1 version 1.2 kit is a full featured development kit by Espressif for the ESP32-S2. From TFTs to touch panels, this dev board has it all. Espressif designed this kit to demonstrate the ESP32-S2’s human-computer interaction functionalities and provide the users with the tools for development of human-computer interaction applications based on their new WiFi modules with the ESP32-S2 chip.
A newer version, 1.3, was released starting in Summer 2020, and also has a CircuitPython port. The pinouts are slightly different between the two versions. You can tell which version you have by the silkscreen on the bottom of the main board.
The Kaluga comes with a WROVER module, which has 2 MB (16 Mbit) PSRAM mounted for a roomy development environment!
The micro USB connector on the Kaluga is wired through a CP210x USB to serial converter chip for debugging and programming. The native USB is not available on a USB connector - instead you’ll want to pick up a Micro B USB connector breakout, USB-C connector breakout or USB data cable and hand-wire D19/D20 to D- and D+ pads.
There are many ways of how the ESP32-S2’s abundant functionalities can be used. For starters, the possible use cases may include:
- Smart home: From simplest smart lighting, smart door locks, smart sockets, to video streaming devices, security cameras, OTT devices, and home appliances
- Battery-powered equipment: Wi-Fi mesh sensor networks, Wi-Fi-networked toys, wearable devices, health management equipment
- Industrial automation equipment: Wireless control and robot technology, intelligent lighting, HVAC control equipment, etc.
- Retail and catering industry: POS machines and service robots
Each order comes with a nice boxed kit containing:
- Main board: ESP32-S2-Kaluga-1
- ESP-LyraT-8311A audio player extension board
- ESP-LyraP-TouchA touch panel extension board
- ESP-LyraP-LCD32 3.2” LCD screen extension board
- ESP-LyraP-CAM camera board extension board
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CircuitPython 9.2.1
This is the latest stable release of CircuitPython that will work with the ESP32-S2 Kaluga Dev Kit (v1.2) featuring WROVER.
Use this release if you are new to CircuitPython.
Built-in modules available: _asyncio, _pixelmap, adafruit_bus_device, adafruit_pixelbuf, aesio, alarm, analogbufio, analogio, array, atexit, audiobusio, audiocore, audiomixer, audiomp3, binascii, bitbangio, bitmaptools, board, builtins, builtins.pow3, busdisplay, busio, busio.SPI, busio.UART, canio, codeop, collections, countio, digitalio, displayio, epaperdisplay, errno, espcamera, espidf, espnow, espulp, fontio, fourwire, framebufferio, frequencyio, getpass, gifio, hashlib, i2cdisplaybus, io, ipaddress, jpegio, json, keypad, keypad.KeyMatrix, keypad.Keys, keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys, keypad_demux, keypad_demux.DemuxKeyMatrix, locale, math, max3421e, mdns, memorymap, microcontroller, msgpack, neopixel_write, nvm, onewireio, os, os.getenv, paralleldisplaybus, ps2io, pulseio, pwmio, qrio, rainbowio, random, re, rgbmatrix, rotaryio, rtc, sdcardio, select, sharpdisplay, socketpool, socketpool.socketpool.AF_INET6, ssl, storage, struct, supervisor, synthio, sys, terminalio, time, touchio, traceback, ulab, usb, usb_cdc, usb_hid, usb_midi, vectorio, warnings, watchdog, wifi, zlib
Features: Wi-Fi
Absolute Newest
Every time we commit new code to CircuitPython we automatically build binaries for each board and language. The binaries are stored on Amazon S3, organized by board, and then by language. These releases are even newer than the development release listed above. Try them if you want the absolute latest and are feeling daring or want to see if a problem has been fixed.
Previous Versions of CircuitPython
All previous releases of CircuitPython are available for download from Amazon S3 through the button below. For very old releases, look in the OLD/ folder for each board. Release notes for each release are available at GitHub button below.
Older releases are useful for testing if you something appears to be broken in a newer release but used to work, or if you have older code that depends on features only available in an older release. Otherwise we recommend using the latest stable release.
Install, Repair, or Update UF2 Bootloader
Latest version: 0.20.1
The UF2 bootloader allows you to load CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino programs. The bootloader is not CircuitPython. If a UF2 bootloader is installed, you can check its version by looking in the INFO_UF2.TXT file when the BOOT drive is visible (FTHRS2BOOT, MAGTAGBOOT, HOUSEBOOT, etc.)
It is not necessary to reinstall a UF2 bootloader you unless a BOOT drive is not visible when in UF2 bootloader mode, or you know of a problem with your current UF2 bootloader.
If a UF2 bootloader has never been installed on the board, or the UF2 bootloader was removed by erasing or overwriting the flash, the UF2 bootloader must be installed in order to flash .uf2 files onto the board. .bin files can be uploaded without a UF2 bootloader, using the ESP Web Flasher or esptool.py.
Note: update.uf2 files are not currently working on ESP32-S2 or ESP32-S3 boards.
Important: this will erase previously flashed firmware and sketches from the board, but needs to be perfomed only once.
The instructions here are general. We recommend you consult the manufacturer's board documentation for detailed instructions, which may be different.
- Unzip to find the file combined.bin.
- Place board in bootloader mode:
- Plug board into a USB port on your computer using a data/sync cable. Make sure it is the only board plugged in, and that a charge-only cable is not being used.
- Press and hold down the BOOT or 0 button.
- Press and release the RESET or RST button.
- Release the BOOT button.
- Upload combined.bin (Google Chrome 89 or newer):
- Open ESP Web Flasher in a new window/tab.
- Select 460800 Baud from the pull-down menu (top-right).
- Click Connect (top-right).
- Select the COM or Serial port from the pop-up window.
- After successful connection, click Erase.
- After successful erase, click any Choose a file..., then locate and select the combined.bin file unzipped earlier.
- After successfully choosing combined.bin, click Program.
- After the TinyUF2 firmware update is complete, press the RESET button on the board. A new drive BOOT should be visible in your file browser.
After installing the UF2 bootloader, enter the bootloader by double-clicking the reset button. On boards with an RGB status LED, tap reset once, wait for the LED to turn purple, and tap again before the purple goes away. On other boards, consult the board documentation.
After you update, check INFO_UF2.TXT to verify that the bootloader version has been updated. Then you will need to load or reload CircuitPython using the .uf2 file.