> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Supported Boards

> Complete list of hardware platforms supported by ZeroClaw

# Supported Boards

ZeroClaw supports a wide range of microcontrollers and single-board computers. Each board has different capabilities, transport protocols, and use cases.

## Board Comparison

| Board                   | Architecture     | Transport           | GPIO | ADC | I2C/SPI | Flash Tool   | Status          |
| ----------------------- | ---------------- | ------------------- | ---- | --- | ------- | ------------ | --------------- |
| **Raspberry Pi**        | ARM (all models) | Native              | ✅    | ✅   | ✅       | N/A (native) | ✅ Stable        |
| **STM32 Nucleo-F401RE** | ARM Cortex-M4    | USB Serial          | ✅    | ✅   | ✅       | OpenOCD      | ✅ Stable        |
| **Arduino Uno**         | ATmega328P       | USB Serial          | ✅    | ✅   | ✅       | avrdude      | ✅ Stable        |
| **Arduino Uno R4 WiFi** | RA4M1 + ESP32    | USB Serial / Bridge | ✅    | ✅   | ✅       | Custom       | ✅ Stable        |
| **ESP32 (RISC-V)**      | ESP32-C3, C2     | Serial / WiFi       | ✅    | ✅   | ✅       | espflash     | ✅ Stable        |
| **ESP32 (Xtensa)**      | ESP32, S2, S3    | Serial / WiFi       | ✅    | ✅   | ✅       | espflash     | 🚧 Experimental |

## Raspberry Pi

### Models Supported

* Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB recommended for robots)
* Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB+)
* Raspberry Pi 3 B+
* Raspberry Pi Zero W (ARMv6, requires special build)
* Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

### Features

* **GPIO:** 40-pin header, BCM pin numbering
* **Transport:** Native (rppal library)
* **Firmware:** None required (ZeroClaw runs directly on Pi)
* **Use Cases:** Edge-native AI, autonomous robots, production deployments

### Configuration

```toml theme={null}
[[peripherals.boards]]
board = "rpi-gpio"
transport = "native"
```

### Build Requirements

```bash theme={null}
# Enable peripheral-rpi feature
cargo build --features peripheral-rpi

# For Pi Zero W (ARMv6)
cargo build --release --target armv6l-unknown-linux-musleabihf --features peripheral-rpi
```

<Card title="Raspberry Pi Setup" icon="raspberry-pi" href="/hardware/peripherals/raspberry-pi">
  Detailed Raspberry Pi setup guide
</Card>

## STM32 Nucleo

### Models Supported

* **Nucleo-F401RE** (primary support)
* Other STM32 Nucleo boards (experimental)

### Features

* **GPIO:** Arduino-compatible headers + Morpho connectors
* **Architecture:** ARM Cortex-M4, 84 MHz
* **Transport:** USB Serial (ST-LINK VCP)
* **Firmware:** `firmware/zeroclaw-nucleo/`
* **Use Cases:** Embedded development, rapid prototyping

### VID/PID

* **Vendor ID:** 0x0483 (STMicroelectronics)
* **Product ID:** 0x374b (ST-LINK/V2.1)

### Configuration

```toml theme={null}
[[peripherals.boards]]
board = "nucleo-f401re"
transport = "serial"
path = "/dev/ttyACM0"  # or /dev/cu.usbmodem* on macOS
baud = 115200
```

### Flashing Firmware

```bash theme={null}
# Auto-flash via OpenOCD
zeroclaw peripheral flash-nucleo

# Manual flash
cd firmware/zeroclaw-nucleo
cargo build --release
openocd -f interface/stlink.cfg -f target/stm32f4x.cfg \
  -c "program target/thumbv7em-none-eabihf/release/zeroclaw-nucleo verify reset exit"
```

<Card title="STM32 Nucleo Setup" icon="microchip" href="/hardware/peripherals/stm32-nucleo">
  Detailed STM32 Nucleo setup guide
</Card>

## Arduino

### Models Supported

* **Arduino Uno** (ATmega328P)
* **Arduino Uno R4 WiFi** (RA4M1 + ESP32-S3)

### Arduino Uno (Classic)

**Features:**

* **GPIO:** 14 digital pins (6 PWM), 6 analog inputs
* **Architecture:** AVR ATmega328P, 16 MHz
* **Transport:** USB Serial (CH340 or ATmega16U2)
* **Firmware:** `firmware/zeroclaw-arduino/zeroclaw-arduino.ino`
* **Use Cases:** Education, simple projects

**VID/PID:**

* CH340: 0x1a86:0x7523
* ATmega16U2: 0x2341:0x0043

**Configuration:**

```toml theme={null}
[[peripherals.boards]]
board = "arduino-uno"
transport = "serial"
path = "/dev/ttyUSB0"  # or /dev/cu.usbserial-* on macOS
baud = 115200
```

**Flashing:**

```bash theme={null}
# Via ZeroClaw (uses avrdude)
zeroclaw peripheral flash --port /dev/ttyUSB0

# Via Arduino IDE
# 1. Open firmware/zeroclaw-arduino/zeroclaw-arduino.ino
# 2. Select Board: Arduino Uno
# 3. Select Port
# 4. Upload
```

### Arduino Uno R4 WiFi (Uno Q)

**Features:**

* **GPIO:** 14 digital pins, 6 analog inputs
* **Architecture:** Renesas RA4M1 (ARM Cortex-M4, 48 MHz)
* **WiFi:** ESP32-S3 co-processor
* **Transport:** Bridge (WebSocket to Arduino Cloud)
* **Use Cases:** IoT projects, remote control

**Configuration:**

```toml theme={null}
[[peripherals.boards]]
board = "arduino-uno-q"
transport = "bridge"
```

**Setup:**

```bash theme={null}
zeroclaw peripheral setup-uno-q --host robot.local
```

<Card title="Arduino Setup" icon="arduino" href="/hardware/peripherals/arduino">
  Detailed Arduino setup guide
</Card>

## ESP32

### Variants Supported

#### ESP32-C3 / ESP32-C2 (RISC-V) — Recommended

* **Architecture:** RISC-V 32-bit, 160 MHz
* **Transport:** Serial (USB CDC)
* **Firmware:** `firmware/zeroclaw-esp32/` (Rust, ESP-IDF)
* **Status:** ✅ Stable

#### ESP32 / ESP32-S2 / ESP32-S3 (Xtensa)

* **Architecture:** Xtensa 32-bit, 240 MHz
* **Transport:** Serial
* **Firmware:** Same, requires espup toolchain
* **Status:** 🚧 Experimental

### Features

* **GPIO:** 34+ pins (varies by model)
* **WiFi:** 802.11 b/g/n
* **Bluetooth:** Classic + BLE (ESP32 classic)
* **Use Cases:** IoT, edge-native AI (future)

### VID/PID

* **CH340 USB-UART:** 0x1a86:0x7523
* **CP2102 USB-UART:** 0x10c4:0xea60

### Configuration

```toml theme={null}
[[peripherals.boards]]
board = "esp32"
transport = "serial"
path = "/dev/ttyUSB0"  # or /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART
baud = 115200
```

### Building Firmware

```bash theme={null}
cd firmware/zeroclaw-esp32

# RISC-V (C3, C2) - uses nightly Rust + build-std
export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/python@3.12/libexec/bin:$PATH"
cargo build --release

# Xtensa (ESP32, S2, S3) - requires espup
cargo install espup espflash
espup install
source ~/export-esp.sh
cargo build --release --target xtensa-esp32-espidf
```

### Flashing

```bash theme={null}
# RISC-V
espflash flash target/riscv32imc-esp-espidf/release/zeroclaw-esp32 --monitor

# Xtensa
espflash flash target/xtensa-esp32-espidf/release/zeroclaw-esp32 --monitor
```

<Card title="ESP32 Setup" icon="microchip" href="/hardware/peripherals/esp32">
  Detailed ESP32 setup guide
</Card>

## Pin Mapping Reference

### Arduino Uno

```
Digital: 0-13 (0,1 = Serial)
PWM:     3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11
Analog:  A0-A5
LED:     Pin 13 (built-in)
```

### Raspberry Pi (40-pin header, BCM numbering)

```
GPIO:  2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
       16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
I2C:   GPIO 2 (SDA), GPIO 3 (SCL)
SPI:   GPIO 9 (MISO), GPIO 10 (MOSI), GPIO 11 (SCLK)
PWM:   GPIO 12, 13, 18, 19
```

### ESP32-C3

```
GPIO:  0-21 (varies by dev board)
UART:  GPIO 20 (RX), GPIO 21 (TX)
I2C:   GPIO 8 (SDA), GPIO 9 (SCL)
SPI:   GPIO 2 (MOSI), GPIO 3 (MISO), GPIO 4 (SCLK)
LED:   GPIO 2 (built-in on some boards)
```

### STM32 Nucleo-F401RE

```
Arduino headers: D0-D15, A0-A5
Morpho connectors: Full pin access
LED: PA5 (LD2, Arduino D13 equivalent)
Button: PC13 (USER button)
```

## Board Selection Guide

### Choose Raspberry Pi if:

* Running edge-native AI agents
* Need full Linux environment
* Building autonomous robots
* Want offline LLM inference (Ollama)

### Choose STM32 Nucleo if:

* Embedded development with real-time constraints
* Learning ARM Cortex-M architecture
* Need precise timing or low-level control
* Prototyping custom PCBs

### Choose Arduino if:

* Education or hobby projects
* Simple GPIO control
* Quick prototyping
* Large ecosystem of shields/libraries

### Choose ESP32 if:

* IoT projects with WiFi
* Battery-powered applications
* Remote sensing/control
* Future edge-native AI (in development)

## Adding New Boards

To add support for a new board:

1. **Implement the `Peripheral` trait** in `src/peripherals/`
2. **Write firmware** (if serial transport) in `firmware/`
3. **Add board type** to config schema
4. **Add VID/PID** to hardware registry
5. **Document** in `docs/datasheets/`

See [Adding Boards and Tools](/contributing/adding-boards-and-tools) for details.

## Troubleshooting

### Board not detected

```bash theme={null}
# List USB devices
lsusb  # Linux
system_profiler SPUSBDataType  # macOS

# Check serial permissions
ls -la /dev/tty*
sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER  # Linux
```

### Serial connection fails

* Verify baud rate matches firmware (usually 115200)
* Check port path (`/dev/ttyUSB0` vs `/dev/ttyACM0`)
* Ensure firmware is flashed correctly
* Try unplugging/replugging USB cable

### GPIO operation fails on Raspberry Pi

```bash theme={null}
# Check GPIO permissions
groups  # should include 'gpio'
sudo usermod -aG gpio $USER

# Verify rppal feature is enabled
cargo build --features peripheral-rpi
```

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Raspberry Pi" icon="raspberry-pi" href="/hardware/peripherals/raspberry-pi">
    Set up Raspberry Pi GPIO
  </Card>

  <Card title="STM32 Nucleo" icon="microchip" href="/hardware/peripherals/stm32-nucleo">
    Set up STM32 Nucleo board
  </Card>

  <Card title="Arduino" icon="arduino" href="/hardware/peripherals/arduino">
    Set up Arduino board
  </Card>

  <Card title="ESP32" icon="microchip" href="/hardware/peripherals/esp32">
    Set up ESP32 board
  </Card>
</CardGroup>