diff --git a/esp32s3/balance/partitions.csv b/esp32s3/balance/partitions.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd003f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esp32s3/balance/partitions.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# ESP32-S3 BALANCE — 4 MB flash, dual OTA partitions
+# Name,     Type,  SubType,  Offset,    Size
+nvs,        data,  nvs,      0x9000,    0x5000,
+otadata,    data,  ota,      0xe000,    0x2000,
+app0,       app,   ota_0,    0x10000,   0x1B0000,
+app1,       app,   ota_1,    0x1C0000,  0x1B0000,
+nvs_user,   data,  nvs,      0x370000,  0x50000,
diff --git a/esp32s3/balance/sdkconfig.defaults b/esp32s3/balance/sdkconfig.defaults
index fe9981c..f4506fb 100644
--- a/esp32s3/balance/sdkconfig.defaults
+++ b/esp32s3/balance/sdkconfig.defaults
@@ -9,3 +9,11 @@ CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_DEFAULT=y
 CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_NUM=0
 CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_BAUDRATE=115200
 CONFIG_LOG_DEFAULT_LEVEL_INFO=y
+
+# OTA — bd-3gwo: dual OTA partitions + rollback
+CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM=y
+CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM_FILENAME="partitions.csv"
+CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_APP_ROLLBACK_ENABLE=y
+CONFIG_OTA_ALLOW_HTTP=y
+CONFIG_ESP_HTTPS_OTA_ALLOW_HTTP=y
+CONFIG_MBEDTLS_CERTIFICATE_BUNDLE=y
diff --git a/esp32s3/io/CMakeLists.txt b/esp32s3/io/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3b25fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esp32s3/io/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
+include($ENV{IDF_PATH}/tools/cmake/project.cmake)
+project(esp32s3_io)
diff --git a/esp32s3/io/main/config.h b/esp32s3/io/main/config.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..032065e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esp32s3/io/main/config.h
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#pragma once
+/* ESP32-S3 IO board — pin assignments (SAUL-TEE-SYSTEM-REFERENCE.md) */
+
+/* ── Inter-board UART (to/from BALANCE board) ── */
+#define IO_UART_PORT        UART_NUM_0
+#define IO_UART_BAUD        460800
+#define IO_UART_TX_GPIO     43   /* IO board UART0_TXD → BALANCE RX */
+#define IO_UART_RX_GPIO     44   /* IO board UART0_RXD ← BALANCE TX */
+/* Note: SAUL-TEE spec says IO TX=IO18, RX=IO21; BALANCE TX=IO17, RX=IO18.
+ * This is UART0 on the IO devkit (GPIO43/44). Adjust to match actual wiring. */
+
+/* ── BTS7960 Left motor driver ── */
+#define MOTOR_L_RPWM    1
+#define MOTOR_L_LPWM    2
+#define MOTOR_L_EN_R    3
+#define MOTOR_L_EN_L    4
+
+/* ── BTS7960 Right motor driver ── */
+#define MOTOR_R_RPWM    5
+#define MOTOR_R_LPWM    6
+#define MOTOR_R_EN_R    7
+#define MOTOR_R_EN_L    8
+
+/* ── Arming button / kill switch ── */
+#define ARM_BTN_GPIO    9
+#define KILL_GPIO       10
+
+/* ── WS2812B LED strip ── */
+#define LED_DATA_GPIO   13
+
+/* ── OTA UART — receives firmware from BALANCE (bd-21hv) ── */
+/* Uses same IO_UART_PORT since Balance drives OTA over the inter-board link */
+
+/* ── Firmware version ── */
+#define IO_FW_VERSION   "1.0.0"
diff --git a/esp32s3/io/partitions.csv b/esp32s3/io/partitions.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6cb331
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esp32s3/io/partitions.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# ESP32-S3 IO — 4 MB flash, dual OTA partitions
+# Name,     Type,  SubType,  Offset,    Size
+nvs,        data,  nvs,      0x9000,    0x5000,
+otadata,    data,  ota,      0xe000,    0x2000,
+app0,       app,   ota_0,    0x10000,   0x1B0000,
+app1,       app,   ota_1,    0x1C0000,  0x1B0000,
+nvs_user,   data,  nvs,      0x370000,  0x50000,
diff --git a/esp32s3/io/sdkconfig.defaults b/esp32s3/io/sdkconfig.defaults
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1263b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esp32s3/io/sdkconfig.defaults
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+CONFIG_IDF_TARGET="esp32s3"
+CONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHSIZE_4MB=y
+CONFIG_FREERTOS_HZ=1000
+CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_EN=y
+CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_TIMEOUT_S=5
+CONFIG_UART_ISR_IN_IRAM=y
+CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_DEFAULT=y
+CONFIG_LOG_DEFAULT_LEVEL_INFO=y
+
+# OTA — bd-3gwo: dual OTA partitions + rollback
+CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM=y
+CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_CUSTOM_FILENAME="partitions.csv"
+CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_APP_ROLLBACK_ENABLE=y