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John Ajera
John Ajera

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Getting RGB LED Working on ESP32-C3 DevKitM-1 / Rust-1

#esp32 #arduino #iot #rgb

Getting RGB LED Working on ESP32-C3 DevKitM-1 / Rust-1

This guide shows how to configure Arduino IDE for the ESP32-C3 DevKitM-1 / Rust-1 board and control its onboard WS2812 RGB LED using GPIO2.

1. Configure Arduino IDE for ESP32-C3

  1. Go to File → Preferences and add the ESP32 board URL:

    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

  2. Open Tools → Board → Board Manager, search for esp32, and install it.

  3. Select Tools → Board → ESP32 Arduino → ESP32C3 Dev Module.

  4. Under Tools, choose the following:

    Setting Value
    Upload Speed 115200
    CPU Frequency 160 MHz
    Flash Frequency 80 MHz
    Flash Size 4 MB
    Partition Scheme Default 2 MB app, 2 MB SPIFFS

  5. Select the COM port under Tools → Port where the board is connected.

2. Install Required Library

Open Sketch → Include Library → Manage Libraries, search for Adafruit NeoPixel, and click Install.

3. Final RGB Blink + Serial Test Sketch

This sketch drives the onboard WS2812 RGB LED connected to GPIO2.
Open Serial Monitor at 115200 baud to see which color is active.

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>  #define LED_PIN 2 // ESP32-C3 DevKitM-1 / Rust-1 onboard RGB LED pin #define LED_COUNT 1  Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(LED_COUNT, LED_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); void setup() { Serial.begin(115200); delay(1000); Serial.println("✅ RGB LED test started on GPIO2"); strip.begin(); strip.setBrightness(50); strip.clear(); strip.show(); } void loop() { Serial.println("RED"); strip.setPixelColor(0, strip.Color(255, 0, 0)); strip.show(); delay(500); Serial.println("GREEN"); strip.setPixelColor(0, strip.Color(0, 255, 0)); strip.show(); delay(500); Serial.println("BLUE"); strip.setPixelColor(0, strip.Color(0, 0, 255)); strip.show(); delay(500); }
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4. Expected Behavior

  • The LED will cycle red → green → blue every 1.5 seconds.
  • Serial Monitor will print the current color name.
  • If colors look swapped, change NEO_GRB to NEO_RGB in the strip declaration.

5. Troubleshooting

  • No light? Make sure you installed the Adafruit NeoPixel library and selected the correct COM port.
  • Dim light? Increase strip.setBrightness(50) to a higher value (0–255).

Demo Video: ESP32-C3 RGB LED Blink Demo

With this setup, you can easily verify that your ESP32-C3 DevKitM-1 / Rust-1 board is configured correctly and its onboard RGB LED is working.

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