ESP32-S3 Modular Drone Platform

Coming soon — not yet shipping

This platform is in development. Availability targets Q1 2027, subject to prototype validation and final component selection. It is not on sale yet. Leave your email below to be notified when pre-orders open.

Two product lines

ESP32-S2 kits are in stock now and can be ordered directly on Alibaba.com. This page describes the new ESP32-S3 platform, which is not yet shipping.

Overview

The Imagrove drone platform is a small, open, ESP32-S3 based quadcopter designed to be extended rather than locked down. Start with a stable flight core and add capabilities as modules — optical flow, altitude hold, obstacle sensing, FPV video, and on-device AI — instead of buying a closed, fixed-function toy.

The firmware is built on the open ESP-Drone stack, so the whole sensing feature set is code-ready today; you choose the hardware modules your application needs.

Why ESP32-S3

• Dual-core 240 MHz, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE — phone or radio control with no proprietary link.
• Enough PSRAM/flash for camera streaming and lightweight on-device models.
• A large open ecosystem of drivers and tutorials (this very site).

Modular configurations

Pick one base and add sensing modules as needed. Exact specifications and pricing are being finalized; the tiers below describe capability levels, not committed SKUs.

Configuration	Adds on top of previous	What it enables
Standard	Flight core (ESP32-S3 + 6-axis IMU)	Self-leveling flight, phone/web controller, STEM & DIY
Flow	Optical flow + barometer + magnetometer	Stable position-hold and altitude-hold indoors
FPV	Analog 5.8 GHz camera + video link	Low-latency first-person-view flying
AI	Digital camera (DVP) + on-device models	Lightweight object/face recognition, vision features

Note

FPV and AI are usually chosen one or the other on the micro-class frame — they both need a forward camera and the weight budget only fits one. Combining low-latency FPV with on-device AI is planned for a larger airframe.

Hardware highlights (flight controller)

• Controller: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 (8 MB flash / 8 MB PSRAM)
• Inertial sensing: 6-axis IMU (gyro + accelerometer)
• Motor drive: 4× brushed MOSFET outputs; brushless option on larger builds
• On board: status LEDs, USB-C programming & charging, battery protection
• Extension headers: I²C / SPI pins for flow, barometer, ToF ranging and magnetometer modules
• Wireless control: Wi-Fi (phone app / web) and ESP-NOW (radio controller)

Open and hackable

No vendor lock-in, user-replaceable firmware, and a growing set of hands-on tutorials covering assembly, PID tuning, sensor fusion, vision and autonomous flight.

Join the interest list

Tell us where to notify you when pre-orders open. This only records interest — it is not an order and charges nothing.

Email (required) Quantity you might order (optional) Notify me

Your privacy

We only use your email to notify you when pre-orders open — nothing else, and no spam.