MicroMod STM32 Processor Hookup Guide

2021-05-17 | By SparkFun Electronics

License: See Original Project

Courtesy of SparkFun

Guide by ALEX THE GIANT, ELL C

Introduction

We've brought the power and precision of the STM32 Processor to the MicroMod ecosystem! Please welcome the MicroMod STM32 Processor Board! With the high-performance Arm® Cortex®-M4 32-bit RISC core, Flash memory up to 1 Mbyte, up to 192 Kbytes of SRAM, a memory protection unit (MPU), high-speed embedded memories, up to 4 Kbytes of backup SRAM, and an extensive range of enhanced I/Os and peripherals, this board is ready to rock your MicroMod world. Let's dive in!

SparkFun MicroMod STM32 Processor

Required Materials

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need the following materials. You may not need everything though depending on what you have. Add it to your cart, read through the guide, and adjust the cart as necessary.

STM32 MicroMod Processor Board Wish List SparkFun Wish List

Suggested Reading

The SparkFun MicroMod ecosystem offers a unique way to allow users to customize their project to their needs. Do you want to send your weather data via a wireless signal (e.g. Bluetooth or WiFi)? There's a MicroMod Processor Board for that. Looking to instead maximize efficiency and processing power? You guessed it, there's a MicroMod Processor Board for that. If you are not familiar with the MicroMod ecosystem, take a look here:

If you aren't familiar with the MicroMod ecosystem, we recommend reading here for an overview.

Micro_1

MicroMod Ecosystem

We also recommend reading through the following tutorials if you are not familiar with the concepts covered in them:

Serial Communication: Asynchronous serial communication concepts: packets, signal levels, baud rates, UARTs and more!
Getting Started with MicroMod: Dive into the world of MicroMod - a compact interface to connect a microcontroller to various peripherals via the M.2 Connector!

Hardware Overview

M.2 Connector

All of our MicroMod Processor boards come equipped with the M.2 MicroMod Connector, which leverages the M.2 standard and specification to allow you to install your MicroMod Processor board on your choice of carrier board.

connector_2

STM32F405

There is so much packed into this chip! As stated in the introduction, STMicroelectronics' STM32F405RG family is based on the ARM Cortex M4 RISC core. At 168MHz, it provides very high performance, floating point single precision, a full set of DSP instructions, and a memory protection unit that enhances application security. For more information, refer to the Datasheet.

STM32_3

Power

Power is supplied by the carrier board, but it should be noted that all pins are 3.3V.

Warning: All pins are 3.3V. DO NOT expose the pins to 5V.

Boot and Reset Buttons

In order to upload code to the STM32 MicroMod Processor Board, you'll need these two buttons to put the board into Boot mode. Hold the Boot button down, press the Reset button (while still holding the Boot button), and then release the Boot button.

These pins will be on the carrier board. For this tutorial, we will show you the these pins on the MicroMod ATP Carrier board.

boot_4

Flash

To complement the STM32F405 processor, we've added an additional 128Mb (16MB) serial flash memory chip.

flash_5

Status LED

status_6

MicroMod STM32F405 Processor Pin Functionality

GraphicalDatasheet_7

The complete pin map can be found in the table below or you can refer to the schematic.

Table1_8

Board Outline

The board takes advantage of the standard MicroMod form factor.

Board_8a

Hardware Assembly

If you have not already, make sure to check out the Getting Started with MicroMod: Hardware Hookup for information on inserting your Processor Board into your Carrier Board.

hookup_9

Getting Started with MicroMod

OCTOBER 21, 2020

Dive into the world of MicroMod - a compact interface to connect a

microcontroller to various peripherals via the M.2 Connector!

After inserting the MicroMod STM32 processor board into a carrier board, your setup may look like the following:

setup_10

Go ahead and secure the Processor Board by gently pressing it down and tightening the screw (not too much though).

secure_11

Software Setup and Programming

Note: This example assumes you are using the latest version of the Arduino IDE on your desktop. If this is your first time using Arduino, please review our tutorial on installing the Arduino IDE.

Arduino Board Definition

Installation for the STM32 MicroMod Processor is relatively straight-forward. You will want to install the board definitions via the Arduino Boards manager. Search for SparkFun STM32 and you should see the option for the STM32 MicroMod Processor show up.

manager_12

For more information on installing boards via the Arduino Board Manager, check out the add-ons section of our Installing Arduino IDE tutorial.

install_13

Installing Arduino IDE

MARCH 26, 2013

A step-by-step guide to installing and testing the Arduino software on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Install STM32Cube Programmer Software

In order to work with the STM32 MicroMod Processor, you'll need to install the STM32Cube Programmer. This is an all-in-one multi-OS software tool for programming STM32 products. It primarily provides the driver we need, but you can also program your board using this GUI.

GET THE STM32CUBE PROGRAMMER HERE

DFU Bootloader

As of this writing, SparkFun is using the DFU bootloader to upload code to the STM32 MicroMod Processor. In order to do so, you need to do the following:

Press and hold down the Boot button
Press and release the Reset button while continuing to press the Boot button
Keep pressing the Boot button until the code is uploaded

Examples

Blink

Let's start with something basic - let's blink an LED. Go to File->Examples->01.Basics->Blink.

file_14

Once you've plugged your MicroMod Carrier Board with your MicroMod STM32 Processor into your computer, you'll need to go to your Tools menu and set up your options to look like the following:

tools_15

With everything setup correctly, you'll need to put the Carrier Board into Boot Mode in order to upload the code.

Press and hold down the Boot button
Press and release the Reset button while continuing to press the Boot button
Release the Boot button and press the Upload button in your Arduino IDE

Once the code finishes transferring, you should see the STAT LED on the STM32 Processor Board begin to blink!

LED_16

If the blue LED remains dimly lit, it's probably still sitting in the bootloader. After uploading a sketch, you may need to tap the RST button to get your STM32 MicroMod Processor Board to begin running the sketch.

I²C Scanner

The Qwiic Connect Ecosystem makes attaching sensors a breeze. That said, sometimes it's nice to be able to scan your I²C connections to find out the address of your sensor. That's what we'll do here!

Grab your MicroMod STM32 Processor Board and your Carrier Board, and attach a Qwiic Sensor to the Qwiic port on the Carrier like so:

qwiic_17

Copy and paste the code below into a new Arduino sketch.

Copy Code

// --------------------------------------
// I2C Scanner example using Wire1
//
//
// This sketch tests the standard 7-bit addresses
// Devices with higher bit address might not be seen properly.
//

#include <Wire.h>

TwoWire Wire1(SDA1,SCL1); //Intialize Wire1 class

void setup()
{
  Wire1.begin();

  Serial.begin(115200);
  while (!Serial);             // Leonardo: wait for serial monitor
  Serial.println("\nI2C Scanner");
}


void loop()
{
  byte error, address;
  int nDevices;

  Serial.println("Scanning...");

  nDevices = 0;
  for(address = 1; address < 127; address++ )
  {
    // The i2c_scanner uses the return value of
    // the Write.endTransmisstion to see if
    // a device did acknowledge to the address.
    Wire1.beginTransmission(address);
    error = Wire1.endTransmission();

    if (error == 0)
    {
      Serial.print("I2C device found at address 0x");
      if (address<16)
        Serial.print("0");
      Serial.print(address,HEX);
      Serial.println("  !");

      nDevices++;
    }
    else if (error==4)
    {
      Serial.print("Unknown error at address 0x");
      if (address<16)
        Serial.print("0");
      Serial.println(address,HEX);
    }    
  }
  if (nDevices == 0)
    Serial.println("No I2C devices found\n");
  else
    Serial.println("done\n");

  delay(5000);           // wait 5 seconds for next scan
}

Make sure your options are all set up correctly in the Tools menu, and make sure you put the Carrier Board into Boot Mode in order to upload the code.

Press and hold down the Boot button
Press and release the Reset button while continuing to press the Boot button
Release the Boot button and press the Upload button in your Arduino IDE

After uploading, open the serial monitor and set the baud to 115200. You should see a similar printout to the one shown below.

com_18

UART Example

Let's have a quick look at an example using UART. If you're unfamiliar with Serial Output, go ahead and have a look at our Serial Basic Tutorial.

Grab your MicroMod STM32 Processor Board and your Carrier Board, and attach the Serial Basic Rx and Tx pins like so:

pins_19

Copy and paste the code below into a new Arduino sketch.

Copy Code

// --------------------------------------
// UART example using Serial1
//
//
// This sketch prints "Hello World!" every second
// using the secondary UART pins RX1 and TX1.
//



HardwareSerial Serial1(RX1, TX1); //Attach Serial1 to RX1 and TX1

void setup() {
  Serial1.begin(115200);
  while (!Serial1) {
    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for Native USB only
  }
  Serial1.println("Goodnight moon!");

}

void loop() {
  Serial1.println("Hello World!");
  delay(1000);
}

Make sure your options are all set up correctly in the Tools menu, and make sure you put the Carrier Board into Boot Mode in order to upload the code.

Press and hold down the Boot button
Press and release the Reset button while continuing to press the Boot button
Release the Boot button and press the Upload button in your Arduino IDE

Once your code is uploaded, open up the Serial Monitor attached to your Serial Basic with the baud rate set to 115200 to see your output!

com_20

Troubleshooting

Not working as expected and need help?

If you need technical assistance and more information on a product that is not working as you expected, we recommend heading on over to the SparkFun Technical Assistance page for some initial troubleshooting.

SPARKFUN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PAGE

If you don't find what you need there, the SparkFun Forums are a great place to find and ask for help. If this is your first visit, you'll need to create a Forum Account to search product forums and post questions.

CREATE NEW FORUM ACCOUNT

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