ESP32 Forum

Hi there,

I’m working on a design that uses the aforementioned module as its core. I’ve been testing the code that I plan to implement on an Adafruit HUZZAH32 Feather Dev Board that uses this same chip. I’ve had confusion because the 3V pin there outputs a voltage for use for other components and such. My question:
Is the 3V3 pin stated on the chip datasheet where you supply power to the chip, or is it a pin that can output power?
If the former is the case, is there another pin that can accomplish the same feature of outputting power? Or would a power supply system need to be designed to achieve this? Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Apologies if I am not making my questions clear, English is not my first language.
Thank you.

The 3.3V pin on the ESP32-Wroom-32E module is a power input; you need to feed a 3.3V supply that can deliver at least 500mA into that. You can use e.g. a LDO like an AMS1117-3.3 to generate that from a 5V supply.

Thank you very much for the clarification. I had some other questions regarding this module if you don't mind me asking.
1) I am examining the datasheet and I was looking at the peripheral schematic. The components shown here aren't already integrated into the module, right? These are placed there as an example of how these would be wired onto the module but that is the extent of it if I understand this correctly.
2) I mentioned before that I am currently testing the code I plan to later integrate on a dev board that allows me to flash code to the chip using Arduino. What would be the most practical approach to programming the standalone module when the time comes? Would I have to integrate a mini USB port into my PCB design or is there a better solution?

You are correct on the first point, that schematic indeed gives an example of what to add external to the module. Wrt a programming interface: there are multiple options. You can add an USB-to-serial converter to your PCB (you can grab the design from e.g. our DevkitC schematics for that) or you can add a header with TX/RX/IO0/reset/GND for an external programmer like the ESP-Prog.