XIAO ESP32S3 Sense - Tiny ESP32 Camera

The Seeeduino XIAO ESP32S3 Sense board combines a camera, microphone, MicroSD card reader, and battery charger into a tiny package.
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Seeed Studio’s XIAO line of microcontrollers has a new family member, the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense board. It’s actually two boards: the ESP32S3-based XIAO and a tiny expansion board with a camera, MEMS microphone, and MicroSD card holder.
Complete with a USB-C connector and provisions for charging and powering off a 3.7-volt battery; this little board packs a lot of power for the low price of 14 US dollars. And it's pin-compatible with other boards in the XIAO series, so any prototyping boards you already have on hand can be used with it.
Today, we will examine the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense board and its components. We’ll also use it to build a camera that also records sound. And we will upgrade the camera module to a 5-megapixel model.
Here is the Table of Contents for today's video:
00:00 - Introduction
02:05 - XIAO ESP32S3 Sense
11:12 - Getting Started - IDE Setup
12:55 - Reloading Bootloader
14:22 - CameraWebServer Demo
17:01 - Voice Recording Camera
21:53 - Voice Recording Camera Sketch
28:01 - Voice Recording Camera Demo
34:04 - OV5640 Camera Upgrade
39:07 - OV5640 Camera Test
42:42 - Conclusion
Incidentally, the ESP32S3 board is also available on its own for $7.49, making it one of the least expensive ESP32S3 boards you can buy.
Hope you enjoy the video!
Bill

[@Dronebotworkshop]

Hi everyone - It's come to my attention that there has been someone masquerading as myself, responding to some comments here with a link to a Telegram chat to win a prize from me. THIS IS A SCAM, I am not holding a contest, nor do I have a Telegram account. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THESE MESSAGES!! It's happening on a lot of my videos, I'm taking steps to remove them manually, but as I have 162 videos, it will take some time. If you do run across a suspicious comment, I would appreciate you letting me know at [e-mail]. Thanks! Bill (The real one!)

[@elden4267]

you know you can add filter for comment? you can put key word that autumnally delete the comment

[@tjross0308]

Given how thorough and well done the videos you put out are, and the work it must take to do that, I think the frequency is just fine.

[@penguinparades]

This is excellent timing, I ordered a couple of xiao boards just the other day! Thank you for the head start and for your tireless work at providing top quality content!

[@3D_Printing]

Neat, pity about all the adverts yt push out

[@JeanPierreLavoie]

Very nice video series and this Xiao board looks amazing with the camera upgrade and all. I was always interested in Machine learning, etc and your videos are great to do something practical. Thanks!!

[@billmckillip1561]

Fascinating as always.

[@cyberbob4111]

great video, Bill, thank you!

[@petermolnar6017]

Superb informative video, as always! Thank you!

[@IkaKomura]

Thanks for all your great tutorials!

[@Dronebotworkshop]

Glad you like them!

[@PedalSteelMan1]

Great videos, I do like the ESP32 series very much. I have only experimented with the 2Mp camera a little. Also, I did notice on the first video with the 5Mp camera, as you moved the meter forward it remained in focus while the labels on your parts drawers lost some focus so it appears the auto-focus is working to some extent maybe not as much as it should but it seems to be working.

[@rzerobzero]

At 2:30 sec the spec for the Micro SD should read 32 GB Fat (not 32MB FAT). Love your videos and website - thank you for all that you do!

[@deankay4434]

I shave off a wood paint stick or nice tooth pick for 13:40 connection. They so help as do a fireplace or kitchen match. Great into introducing!

[@ericbwertz]

You made THE cardinal sin of using interrupts in that you didn't declare "touch1detected" as volatile. This makes the code extremely fragile in that its working depends entirely on how the code was compiled. There's also a large race window between the checking and clearing of the same variable when saving the data to the SD card. It's always best to test and clear sentinels atomically, otherwise some sets can get lost.

[@donkeypoopdragon]

Bill is one of the best IoT youtubers for sure, but he definitely isn't perfect lol

[@gohoi3623]

THANKS

[@Tims_Projects]

I do like the extras for the board has (battery charging and mic.) I loved the ESP32-CAM, I made an application for the PC to view the video instead of a browser, I wonder if it would work with this.

[@Longtum]

Thanks!

[@Dronebotworkshop]

Thank you as well!

[@sunnypig6382]

THX😊

[@the1spyderryder]

As usual great video thank you for the interesting content and the good job that you presenting it I know that you put a lot of work into your videos. I have ordered these product and am waiting until I have time to get to it. An issue that I have is that I hate the latest Arduno IDE 2.X BECAUSE I CANT GET A FULL SCRENE MONITOR. AND I CANT DOWN LOAD THE ONE THAT YOU USE THE 1.8X. THANKS!

[@peterkrause7700]

Great, informative and very very useful 😃. Have you tried video with audio streaming?

[@Jackavatar]

great and informative video, thank you! btw, hope you can improve the mic sound in the future, the additional sound is kind of distract and annoying.

[@bryanst.martin7134]

I would think that the AF would be an external lens with a mechanical driver aka voice coil to hone the focus.

[@isbestlizard]

wow it's small enough to fit in a novelty oversized lapel pin o.o

[@RemoteAccessGG]

Finally, 5v ESP

[@kane587mad]

The big heatsink probably is for the esp32, as it gets really hot while streaming video.

[@ed1011]

XIAO in Chinese means 'small'. Maybe it is marketed as a mini version of AI Thinker. Great intro video.😀

[@jbravovideos]

I have tried to get the XIAO ESP32S3 to work with the expansion board. Libraries loaded, examples compile and load well but nothing shows on the OLED. Any suggestion? thanks

[@donkeypoopdragon]

I've had problems using the Xiao with the oled displays as well. Try declaring different I2C pins and using them. That worked for me

[@jbravovideos]

Can you please provide the link to the pro typing board? I tried to find it in the seed studio site but could no find it. Thanks

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

their website is horrific

[@rudigerbrightheart7304]

Thank you very much for your fantastic and clear presentation! When implementing the ESP32S3 by using my laptop with the USB connection, is there any risk that hackers access using the ESP32S3 wifi? If so, how to avoid any undesired access?

[@Jonathan-rm6kt]

Hey man, thanks for the video. Any recommendations on what would be the next step up? Are there any boards in the $40-$80 range that support HD video @ 32 fps?

[@HomoSapiensMember]

would love to learn the latency & jitter stats

[@Takeover738]

I want to power my esp32s3 with a lipo battery and will have to use a step up converter to get the 5 volts. I also understand you need a diode i guess to prevent feed back thru usb and possibly damaging computer or labtop if connected at same time not sure . My question is will the battery recharge having a step up converter in between lipo battery and esp32s3? Thanks for the great content

[@laurencebyers1322]

I guess its the "influencer effect", there aren't too many available, and their best price is $17.47 with $6.82 shipping (October 02)

[@viktorhugo8252]

does the OV5640 need a special adapter for this board?

[@dvhx]

How much current does it take while streaming video over wifi?

[@ruthwillard4377]

Love the video!! Could you explain how the external stronger antenna was attached? The stream from mine is really blurry

[@diyertime]

check the camera lens, mine was attached improperly so it was way out of focus. I had to twist it off and reattach. at those close distances the antenna won't make much difference.

[@Shylockcharm]

how does this module compares to kendryte 210 processor chips?

[@nnaemekaizuora1839]

Any tips on how I can find the camera module on Fritzing

[@MrI8igmac]

Can i connect two 3.7v lipo 850mah in parallel and the usb will charge them safely? Im working on my first drone. Im excited. Nice video!

[@bombassbeefjerky9708]

Do you have to have a sd card in the xiao esp32s3 cam to get started ????

[@practicallearning9757]

Hi I have been following your videos on the ESP32-Cam and the GC9A01 projects, and was having fun with the wi-fi camera projects and the GC9A01 clock projects. However, I have been trying to interface the Xiao with the OV7725 and GC9A01 to have the OV7725 sending realtime video to the GC9A01 but just can't work. I am wondering if you can help and point me in the right direction. I can only do very basic simple programming but this complexity is beyond my abilities. Hope you can help on how I can start. Thanks

[@BlondieSL]

Oh great! sigh ANOTHER board I simply must have! ROFL 😅😂🤣😁👍

[@heatherryan9820]

Instead of connecting the esp32 cam module via wifi and a web server, would it be possible to just connect a small display to the esp32 cam module, and just view it on the display?

[@richleyden6839]

Very interesting. I imagine eventually more powerful versions could do voice to text from the .wav file.

[@bnielsen56]

I tried this, but the IDE 2.2.1 I am using failed, saying a library can't be found (it exists) - as the pathname for the ESP32 library is too long for Win10. Would like to know how to get around this issue.

[@nnaemekaizuora1839]

Is it possible to power the Microcontroller using a 3.3 volt voltage regulator connected to the 5v input pin?

[@carmen28alice]

Hello Sr, many thansk for the video. Can I ask how could I use the camera without wifi? How can I Conect it to the bluetooth of my movile phone? Many thanks and regards

[@jbravovideos]

i do not think the expansion board you mentioned in your video actually works

[@jairwen82]

When I power on the Xiao ESP32S3, it feels quite hot on the back even without using the camera module. Could it be because of the WiFi connection?

[@richardahlquist5839]

Your slide for the specs lists 32MB FAT Max. Seed says its 32GB?

[@chrishuhn5065]

Probably a typo. And GB seems realistic. MB would be early 90s specs. And at 04:55 it's GB.

[@russellzauner]

Since the device is JTAG capable we could at least find out where it's broken.

[@raymondmichael4987]

Hello. Anyone can some help me to get the datasheet of this LCD L-280A75-C it has 17 pins. Been scratching my head for several weeks now with no luck 😢

[@RockyN-qq6pb]

Hi, I have a issue with my esp32s3 board whenever it is connect to Arduino IDE it connects to my Wi-Fi but when I connect it to external power source it doesn't get connected. How to resolve this issue ?

[@KaloyanDobrev]

Any update on the missing autofocus?

[@stefans9990]

Agreed, any luck with this Bill?

[@jamesbevan9989]

I noticed an autofocus library in the add library.

[@pluto9000]

How can it auto focus?

[@BlondieSL]

The lenses are static, but on a thread. To focus, one has to do that manually. So how could a library provide TRUE auto focus with no moving parts? If anything, it would have to be some faked, virtual focus, like actually just "sharpening" code. This is those "have to see to believe" things. I vote that it does nothing more that provide some sharpening to the image, nothing more.

[@pluto9000]

So it's magic @@BlondieSL

[@BlondieSL]

@@pluto9000 That must be it! LOL 😅😂🤣😁👍

[@labomat]

@@BlondieSL The datasheet briefly mentions a voice coil motor which is suitable for mechanic autofocus functionality at chapter 3.3. And there is a KZbin video that shows the functionality: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rILHepSAfcSHqNk

[@piconano]

You say; "Incidentally, the ESP32S3 board is also available on its own for $7.49, making it one of the least expensive ESP32S3 boards you can buy." Do you have a link that ships to Canada?

[@erg0centric]

AliExpress

[@rampart1234]

It could be nick named the "32 cent". Until auto focus works it isn't worth anymore than 32 cents.

[@germanskena6537]

Hello DroneBot Workshop. Thank you for the videos. I want to ask you about the camera spectrum of view. (i need a esp32 cam with a range of view from RGB visible area (from Blue to Red) + Near IR. I need to use it for farming watching and observations. DO you know if this camera works with this range and if you don't know and know about another camera, please let me know. Again, Thank you for the videos.

[@theGamer-kt9pf]

Can i Run AI Algorithms to detect objects ?

[@erg0centric]

ESP32 is fully AI capable

[@noweare1]

Would make an excellent James Bond spy camera.

[@gh0stgl1tch]

1.5x 😅

[@DataDashy]

Do some video about its "offline" voice recognition features cos i think its utter nonsense. No way this board can do offline, all the videos just demonstrate online like alexa 😢

[@DanteTheWhite]

There is a microWakeWord implementation for esp32s3. But it will just recognize the wake word.

[@JB-fh1bb]

Are the seeduinos the new D1 mini? I’ve noticed nobody is really innovating in the D1 mini formfactor any more

[@ericbwertz]

The D1 is pretty much a Wemos-only thing. The problem with Wemos vs Seeed is that the former ditches designs and products faster than Seeed (which doesn't have super-long product longevity either). For the most part, if Wemos isn't doing much D1 work, then you're kinda of out of luck unless you want to make your own. The upside of the Xiao series (which isn't a Seeeduino, which historically were all UnoR3-format boards) is that Adafruit's QtPy-s are pretty much compatible, so you have more choices of suppliers of that form factor, although it does seem to be a form factor that Seeed has been developing steadily also. As they say about standards, it's "great" that there are so many to choose from...

[@JeanPierreLavoie]

I am not impressed by this board and in fact I cannot use it. The problem you mention in your video is that we need to press the boot button then apply power to go in boot loader mode. Well this happens to me all the time. These buttons are so small and I have to press on it every time I want to make a change in my code. It is simply not usable for me. I am used to program boards like the TTGO-T1 ESP32 and do not need ever to press a button to program them for years. I try to find a fix for this XIAO board but cannot find it so I can't use it sadly. If someone has a fix please let us know!

[@the_real_glabnurb]

I haven't looked at this particular board, but for my ESP-WROOM 32 to automatically go into boot mode, I had to solder a ~100nF ceramic cap between the RESET/EN & 3.3V pin - luckily they are right next to each other (This was not my idea but taken from a forum post, it's a very common problem with ESP32 boards)

[@lwo7736]

I found the esp32 cams interface on the web page too irritating to use

[@noweare1]

That is just html, css and javascript. You can change the webpage to what you want.

[@nrao8977]

What is a comparative board NOT made in China? Cannot use Chinese products in defense related solutions. Thanks

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Should you be announcing on here that you are involved in defence-related solutions?

[@nrao8977]

@terrydaktyllus1320 Products are made BOTH for commercial and defense use. The defense dept, in fact, requires it to be so - lowers cost for everyone.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@nrao8977 You clearly didn't read my comment. I was stating that it is not a good idea on a public messaging space to imply you may have links to the defence industry which may have required you to pass certain security clearances that would require you to exercise due diligence as to what you say in public. Do try to keep up and stay on topic.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@nrao8977 You clearly have "comprehension issues". I am done here, have a good rest of your day.

[@chrishuhn5065]

​@@terrydaktyllus1320 I would like to ask you to refrain from further feeding the trolls. 😉

[@FraLin]

Get rid of that annoying intro music asap

[@mahmoodQureshikohatiPakistan]

Successfully submitted 👍🌿🪴🌺 very nice beautiful