>>2953588
Which ESP32 model? Some of the more recent models have native USB capability, and some can even be programmed by USB without a hacky bootloader, but from what I remember they needed to be told to enable this first. Or that you need to cycle power, or push the programming boot button, or some other caveat that makes it less convenient. Unlike an RP2040.

If you’re just using UART to program them, you can use one or two of the flow-control pins to pull down the boot button or whatever, so you don’t have to press the button manually. Take a look at the schematic of a NodeMCU board to see how they did it.

>>2953682
Wire thickness isn’t an issue at all. 30awg can carry USART, no problem. I don’t know how PIC programming works outside of a PIC-kit, but I think I’ve seen one or two projects that implement it on custom hardware. One was on another PIC, which isn’t surprising.

>>2953760
Fun. I wish someone gave me that kind of internship out of high school, instead of going off to university for a useless degree.