Adding the Heltec ESP32 library to the Arduino IDE

This post talks about how you can add the Heltec ESP32 library to the Arduino IDE and use it to test your Heltec ESP32.

Adding board support for the Heltec ESP32

Before adding the Heltec ESP32 library to the Arduino IDE you should ensure the Heltec ESP32 series boards are added to the Arduino IDE.

I talked about this in my earlier blogpost so if you haven’t done that follow those instructions. This provides the binary files that you will need to compile for these development boards.

Added the Heltec Library

To use the full features of the Heltec development boards you can add the Heltec library. To do this you can go to the main menu, then select Tools ->Manage Libraries.

This loads the Library Manager and the Heltec library can be installed by searching the Heltec ESP32.

Testing the library

To test the library you can load up the WiFi_LoRa_32FactoryTest example which has been added by the library. To do this go to the menu and go to the following.

File -> Examples -> Examples from Custom Libraries -> Heltec ESP32 Dev-Boards -> Factory_Test -> WiFi_LoRa_32FactoryTest

Once this sketch has been loaded you should be able to select the COM port of the ESP32 board and then upload it.

The test will initialize various components and then send LoRa messages when you press the button. The screen is also used to display the work that is being done.

Further examples can be found under the Heltec ESP32 Dev-Boards menu which can demonstrate how to use the board.