Espressif Reveals CoreBoard and Korvo Dev Kits for ESP32-S31

Espressif has launched two new development kits for its dual-core RISC-V ESP32-S31 chip, designed for advanced IoT and edge AI applications. The ESP32-S31-Function-CoreBoard-1 offers 16 MB of PSRAM, wired Ethernet, and audio capabilities, while the ESP32-S31-Korvo-1 includes a camera, LCD display, and microphones for smart display prototyping. Both kits support Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, Thread, and Zigbee, though pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

Espressif just pulled the wraps off two fresh development kits aimed at one of its most ambitious chips yet: the dual-core RISC-V ESP32-S31. If you've been waiting for a board that blends heavy IoT muscle with edge AI capability, this pair is worth a long look. The new chip pairs two RISC-V cores in a heterogeneous setup. One runs up to 320 MHz for performance-hungry workloads, while the other sips power for everyday microcontroller chores. Espressif is pitching it at advanced IoT, machine learning inference, computer vision, and smart audio — all from a single chip with 60 GPIOs to spare. On the radio side you get Wi-Fi 6 on 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.4 Classic and Low Energy, plus an 802.15.4 radio with Thread and Zigbee. There's even an integrated gigabit Ethernet MAC, which is rare for an ESP32. RAM-wise, you're looking at 512 KB of on-chip SRAM and an eight-bit 250 MHz DDR bus for external PSRAM. One core also packs a 128-bit data path with SIMD for parallel number crunching. The ESP32-S31-Function-CoreBoard-1 is the workhorse. It carries 16 MB of PSRAM, a choice of 8, 16, or 32 MB of flash, an on-board microphone, a mono audio codec with amplified speaker output, wired Ethernet, USB 2.0 High Speed Type-A and Full Speed Type-C ports, a 40-pin GPIO header, a built-in current measurement header, and a user-addressable RGB LED. Ideal if you want to prototype anything from sensor hubs to networked controllers. The ESP32-S31-Korvo-1 trades Ethernet for human-machine interface HMI gear. The same module — this time with 16 MB of flash — is wired to an Omnivision OV3660 camera, a 4.3-inch 800×480 LCD, two independent speaker outputs, two analog microphones, four user buttons, an RGB LED, a microSD slot, and USB Type-A and Type-C. It's basically a ready-made smart display reference design. Want to hack on one of these straight away? You'll need the ESP32-S31 module itself, and depending on which board you're cloning: an Omnivision OV3660 camera module, a 4.3-inch 800×480 LCD panel, analog microphones, a mono audio codec and speaker driver, a microSD card slot, and USB Type-A plus Type-C ports. Pricing and general availability haven't been confirmed yet, but Espressif's documentation pages for the CoreBoard and Korvo are already live. Originally published on blog.circuit.rocks.