Getting Started with Adafruit MEMENTO: Python Programmable DIY Camera Board

There have been many development boards recently built around the ESP32-S3. Most development boards come with a display, some also include cameras and buttons, and a few have speakers and microphones. Finding one that brings all these components together without compromising on quality has been the real challenge for makers and developers. Keeping all this in mind, we found a dev board that brings everything together in one module, the Adafruit MEMENTO.

With all these features, it makes a perfect choice for our upcoming Smart Home and Wearable Project Challenge, where you can win prizes of up to Rs. 7,00,000. You can also win a development board and some cool goodies just by sharing your project ideas. So don’t forget to check out the Smart Home and Wearable Project Challenge for more details.

So, without waiting any longer, let’s dive into the actual development board.

What Do We Get in the package?

This package is quite simple, containing just one main Memento Dev Board. You can see the unboxing image below.

The board has scratch protection for its camera and display, along with four screw inserts at each corner. The PCB has a square design, placing the display, microphone, speaker, and some buttons on the front side, while the camera, SD card slot, all I/O connections, and an accelerometer are on the back. The boot and restart buttons, along with the Type-C input, are placed on the sides for easy access. All the components have been positioned with practicality in mind. Without a doubt, this board is perfectly made in every way. That was my first impression. Next, let’s take a detailed look at the features of this module.

Features of the Adafruit MEMENTO

To make this board outstanding and usable for most applications, it comes packed with a rich set of features:

On the software side, it can be programmed with both Arduino IDE and CircuitPython. Between CircuitPython and Arduino IDE, CircuitPython is definitely the easier one for coding and interfacing.

Some Applications of Adafruit MEMENTO

Below is the list of some possible applications of this MEMENTO Camera module:

Physical Overview of the Memento

Now that you know more about the features of the MEMENTO, let's move to the physical overview, where we take a look at the overall hardware and its pinouts in detail.

Above, you can see the front and back images of the MEMENTO.

On the front side of the MEMENTO, the LCD (1.54" 240x240 Colour TFT) takes up most of the space. This is useful for previewing camera images or creating your own user interface design. It uses the ST7789 driver, which is supported by both Arduino and CircuitPython.

It uses the following pins for communication:

There are a total of six buttons for the user interface. These buttons are more than enough for most designs. One thing to note is that these buttons are not directly connected to the ESP32-S3. Instead, they use the AW9523 GPIO Expander. The pin mapping is:

Both the Arduino and CircuitPython PyCamera libraries have built-in support for these buttons, making them easy to use.

On the front side of the MEMENTO, above the four user buttons, is the analog MEMS microphone, labelled Mic on the board’s silkscreen. It can be used as a sensor to detect loud sounds. It is not intended for recording video with audio.

The analog input from the microphone is connected to GPIO2. It’s accessible in CircuitPython with board. MIC and in Arduino with 2.

Below the TFT display, between two of the user buttons, is the speaker, also labelled Speaker in the silkscreen.

The output from the speaker is connected to GPIO46. It’s accessible in CircuitPython with board.SPEAKER and in Arduino with SPEAKER.

Note: The speaker is muted via pin 0 on the AW9523 GPIO expander, so don’t forget to unmute it before expecting any sound!

Now, looking at the back side, you’ll find the hero of the dev board:  the Espressif ESP32-S3 with 3.3V logic/power. It has 4MB of Flash and 2MB of PSRAM. This MCU comes with Wi-Fi and BLE, making IoT-related tasks much easier.

Next, of course, our attention moves toward the camera module at the center of the board. Unlike other ESP32-CAM modules, this is no ordinary camera. It has a built-in motor that enables the auto-focus feature. And yes, it’s a 5MP sensor with a 72° field of view.

Below the camera connector, there is a jumper to providing 3.3V to the auto-focus motor. You can cut the jumper to disconnect DATA1 from 3.3V and disable auto-focus.

The camera uses the following pins:

We already know there’s a heavy demand for the peripherals we’ve seen above, so the MEMENTO includes the AW9523 GPIO Expander IC to provide additional GPIO pins. You can spot this IC near the camera, specifically to the left of the camera module.

The I2C address of the GPIO expander (AW9523) is 0x58.

Near the AW9523, there is a LIS3DH Accelerometer. It’s a triple-axis accelerometer that can detect orientation, shaking, or movement. It communicates over I2C at address 0x19. Its interrupt (IRQ) pin is connected to GPIO3, which is accessible in CircuitPython with board.IRQ and in Arduino with 3.

For user I/O, there are two JST-PH connectors on the left side of the board, labelled A0 and A1. These are 3-pin JST connectors that can be used for sensors, NeoPixels, or analog input/output.

• A0 is connected to GPIO17 (accessible in CircuitPython with board.A0 and in Arduino with A0).

• A1 is connected to GPIO18 (accessible in CircuitPython with board.A1 and in Arduino with A1).

You don’t need to worry about voltage on these pins, as they can be configured to either 3.3V or 5V. By default, they provide 5V. Between the two connectors is a jumper labelled 5V3. This jumper can be cut and re-soldered to switch the VCC signal from 5V to 3V.

Between A0 and A1, you’ll find a tiny connector labelled I2C on the silkscreen. This is a 4-pin Stemma QT connector. The I2C lines have pull-ups to 3.3V.

• SDA – GPIO34

• SCL – GPIO33

In an Arduino, you can use this connector with a wire. In CircuitPython, you can use it with board.SCL, board.SDA, board.I2C(), or board.STEMMA_I2C().

Towards the bottom-left corner on the back of the MEMENTO is the microSD card slot. It can be used to store images or animations on any SPI-capable microSD card.

• SDCS (chip select pin) – connected to GPIO48. Accessible in CircuitPython with board.CARD_CS and in Arduino with SD_CS or SD_CHIP_SELECT.

• SDCD (card detect pin) – connected to pin 9 on the AW9523.

Along the top edge of the board are two buttons:

1. The Boot button, labelled Boot and Shutter on the silkscreen, is connected to GPIO0. Accessible in CircuitPython with board.BUTTON and in Arduino with SHUTTER_BUTTON. Hold it while pressing reset to enter ROM bootloader mode.

2. The Reset button, labelled RST on the silkscreen, is connected to the ESP32-S3 reset pin. Press once to restart your firmware, or press again after about half a second to enter bootloader mode.

To the right of the boot button is the NeoPixel. This addressable RGB LED works as a status LED (in CircuitPython and the bootloader) and can also be controlled with code. It’s connected to GPIO1, accessible in CircuitPython with board.NEOPIXEL and in an Arduino with PIN_NEOPIXEL or NEOPIXEL_PIN.

On the top-right edge of the board is the On/Off switch, labelled On on the silkscreen. This sliding switch cuts all power to the board.

To the right of the switch is the power LED, a green LED that lights up whenever the board has power.

With this, we’ve completed the physical overview of the MEMENTO. Next, to make using the MEMENTO simpler, we’ll look at some official resources to get started.

Official Resources Available for Exploring Memento

Unlike other Adafruit modules, this dev board is also perfectly documented to get started. You can begin by referring to the Adafruit MEMENTO Camera Board .

In this article, you will find: Overview, Pinouts, Installing CircuitPython, microSD Card Formatting, Notes, CircuitPython MEMENTO Starter Projects, Frames to GIFs, Arduino IDE Setup, Arduino MEMENTO Library Installation and Starter Projects, Factory Reset, and Downloads.

Hopefully, these resources will be all you need. Next, let’s do a quick exploration of Memento using the Arduino IDE. If you wish, you can also go with CircuitPython.

Getting Started with MEMENTO (Arduino IDE)

With a dedicated board selection and library already available for this module, the first test program is quite simple.

Setting Up

There are three primary steps needed to set up the Arduino environment:
1. Update the ESP32 Board Library to the latest version.

2. Install the Adafruit PyCamera Library along with all dependencies. Even if you already have most of them installed, enabling this option will update the existing ones or install the missing ones.

3. Uploading the Example Code
Once installed, navigate to the Examples folder. You’ll find two sketches:

Differences Between Pycamera_test and Memento_factory_test,

The ring light is an optional attachment for this board. If you have it, you can use these extra features. Otherwise, both examples provide the same basic camera functions, but Memento_factory_test includes extra testing features.

4. Board Selection

1. Connect the MEMENTO Dev Board to your PC.

2. Hold the Boot button and press the Reset button once. This puts the board into upload mode.

3. In Arduino IDE, select:
   Board → ESP32 → Adafruit PyCamera S3

Now, click Compile and Upload. The code will be uploaded to your MEMENTO board.

Using the PyCamera

By default, the captured image won’t be stored unless you insert an SD card.

Note: The Arduino SD library supports both FAT16 and FAT32 filesystems, so format your SD card accordingly.

Once the SD card is inserted, you can take pictures by pressing the Shutter button at the top right.

And there is two extra feature ,

Color Filters – Use the Left and Right buttons to cycle through filters:

1. Normal/None

2. Black & White

3. Sepia

4. Negative

5. Greenish

6. Reddish

7. Bluish

Resolution Adjustment – Use the Up and Down buttons to change image resolution. Available options:

The resolution of the images can be adjusted in real time.

After a deep dive into the Adafruit MEMENTO, it's clear why we chose this board for this year's contest. It's not just another ESP32 camera module-it’s a way to combine your creativity and skills into a fun project. This article gives you a basic idea of its features, and we can’t wait to see your innovative ideas for this year’s contest! 

To help you get going, check out this sample project: IoT Window Bird Feeder with Camera. This project uses 3D printing along with IoT on Adafruit IO, making it a great source of inspiration.