ESP32 Pico V3 Development Kit
First successful PCB design - ESP32 development board featuring the ESP32 Pico V3 chip.
First successful PCB design - ESP32 development board featuring the ESP32 Pico V3 chip.
This development board was my first successful PCB design, created as a stepping stone for a larger project that required the ESP32 Pico V3 chip. Rather than dive directly into the complex main design, I decided to first master the fundamentals with a simpler, focused board that would also serve as a useful development tool.
The primary objective was to create a reliable development platform for the ESP32 Pico V3 while learning essential PCB design skills that would be critical for my upcoming project. The ESP32 Pico V3’s compact form factor and integrated wireless capabilities made it ideal for the target application, but its tiny BGA package required proper breakout board design.
RF Design: Implementing proper antenna design and placement according to Espressif’s guidelines. This included understanding ground plane requirements, impedance matching, and component placement restrictions around the antenna area.
Power Supply Design: Developing stable power delivery with appropriate decoupling and filtering. The ESP32’s power requirements, especially during wireless transmission, required careful attention to power supply design.
PCB Layout: Learning to route a mixed-signal design with both digital and RF sections while maintaining signal integrity and minimizing interference.
SMD Assembly: Gaining hands-on experience with professional assembly techniques including stencil printing and reflow soldering using a hotplate setup.
The board provides complete access to all ESP32 Pico V3 pins through standard 2.54mm headers, integrated USB programming via CP2102N bridge, and proper RF design with chip antenna implementation. The design prioritizes reliability and ease of use while maintaining compact dimensions suitable for prototyping.
This project served as an introduction to professional PCB manufacturing and assembly techniques. Using a laser-cut stencil for solder paste application and hotplate reflow soldering provided valuable experience with SMD assembly processes that would be essential for future projects.
The board functioned correctly on first power-up and has since served as a reliable development platform for multiple projects. More importantly, it provided the foundational knowledge and confidence needed to proceed with the more complex design it was originally intended to support.
Complete design files, schematics, and manufacturing documentation are available in the project repository. The open-source nature of this project allows others to learn from the design decisions and manufacturing approaches used.
