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Getting Started

Quick Check​

PowerFeather comes pre-loaded with a program that blinks the green user LED. Use this to quickly check if your board is OK. Simply connect your PowerFeather to a host computer using the USB-C connector:

ESP32-S3 PowerFeather LED blinking

The red CHG LED should flash momentarily, after which the green user LED blinks continuously.

Run Example​

The demo application showcases how to get basic information from the supply and battery. To build and flash the demo, ESP-IDF or Arduino with the PowerFeather SDK must be installed on your system. If you have not done this yet, please go through PowerFeather SDK Setup first.

Arduino​

On a host computer, open the Arduino IDE. Then open the example PowerFeather-SDK > SupplyAndBatteryInfo.

Opening PowerFeather-SDK Arduino example

Connect the battery first if you have one, before connecting PowerFeather to the host computer. Once it is connected open the board selector drop-down, click Select other board and port and choose ESP32-S3 PowerFeather.

Selecting ESP32-S3 PowerFeather as board

Upload the example, then open the Serial Monitor when done.

Uploading Arduino example Hovering on Serial Monitor selection

On the Serial Monitor, you should see the supply and battery voltage and current reported; as well as the estimated battery charge percentage by the fuel gauge. Notice that the battery current is zero, while the supply current is not. This indicates that:

  • The board is being powered by the USB supply and not the battery.
  • The battery is not charging.

Serial Monitor open

Press and hold BTN on PowerFeather to enable charging. Notice the battery current is no longer zero, and supply current is more than before.

Arduino charging demonstration

If you have or can make one, try using a data-only USB cable. With the USB supply absent, the battery powers the board and discharges. In this case, the measured battery current is negative.

Arduino discharging demonstration

ESP-IDF​

On Mac OS and Linux, open a terminal with the ESP-IDF environment loaded. On Windows open the ESP-IDF Command Prompt or ESP-IDF PowerShell.

Navigate to a directory where the example project can be downloaded to and run the following command:

idf.py create-project-from-example "powerfeather/powerfeather-sdk^1.0.0:supply_and_battery_info"

Downloading PowerFeather-SDk ESP-IDF example

Connect the battery first if you have one, before connecting PowerFeather to the host computer. Once connected cd into the just downloaded supply_and_battery_info directory, then build and flash the example using the commands:

idf.py set-target esp32s3
idf.py flash monitor

Setting ESP32-S3 as example project target Building example project

Run idf.py monitor. You should see the supply and battery voltage and current reported; as well as the estimated battery charge percentage by the fuel gauge. Notice that the battery current is zero, while the supply current is not. This indicates that:

  • The board is being powered by the USB supply and not the battery.
  • The battery is not charging.

ESP-IDF not charging demonstration

Press and hold BTN on PowerFeather to enable charging. Notice the battery current is no longer zero, and supply current is more than before.

ESP-IDF charging demonstration

If you have or can make one, try using a data-only USB cable. With the USB supply absent, the battery powers the board and discharges. In this case, the measured battery current is negative.

ESP-IDF discharging demonstration