SparkFun Launches New STM32 Dev Boards - Thing Plus and MicroMod

2021-05-13 | By Nate_Larson

SparkFun has released two new development boards featuring an STM32F405 series MCU from STMicroelectronics. The STM32F405 is based on the high-performance Arm® Cortex®-M4 32-bit RISC core running at frequencies of up to 168 MHz. The core features a single-precision floating-point unit (FPU) which supports single-precision data-processing instructions and data types. It also has a full set of DSP instructions and a memory protection unit (MPU) for increased application security.

STM32 General Features:

ARM® 32-bit Cortex®-M4 CPU with FPU

Adaptive real-time accelerator (ART Accelerator™) allowing 0-wait state execution from Flash memory
Frequency up to 168 MHz
Memory protection unit
210 DMIPS/ 1.25 DMIPS/MHz (Dhrystone 2.1)
DSP instructions

1 Mbyte of Flash memory
192 Kbytes of SRAM including 64 Kbytes of CCM (core coupled memory) data RAM
Flexible static memory controller supporting Compact Flash, SRAM, PSRAM, NOR, and NAND memories
Clock, reset, and supply management

1.8 V to 3.6 V application supply and I/Os
32 kHz oscillator for RTC with calibration
Internal 32 kHz RC with calibration

Low-power operation

Sleep, stop, and standby modes
VBAT supply for RTC, 20×32 bit backup registers + optional 4 KB backup SRAM

Debug mode

Serial wire debug (SWD) & JTAG interfaces
Cortex-M4 Embedded Trace Macrocell™

Advanced connectivity

USB 2.0 full-speed device/host/OTG controller with on-chip PHY
USB 2.0 high-speed/full-speed device/host/OTG controller with dedicated DMA, on-chip full-speed PHY, and ULPI
10/100 Ethernet MAC with dedicated DMA: supports IEEE 1588v2 hardware, MII/RMII

SparkFun Launches New STM32 Dev Boards - Thing Plus and MicroMod

The SparkFun STM32 Thing has 16MB Flash memory onboard along with a microSD card socket to ensure enough memory for complex programs and data logging applications. The STM32 Thing Plus incorporates a connector for LiPo batteries, with an onboard regulator and charging capability so you can concentrate on your code rather than how to power your project. Peripheral hardware is a breeze with the onboard Qwiic connector that supports a wide assortment of sensor, display, relay, and other expansion boards over a standard I2C connection. The Thing Plus board has an expanded Feather-compatible footprint, so it will also work with most FeatherWing expansion boards.

Specific Peripherals available on STM32 Thing Plus:

UART bus
I2C Bus
SPI bus
Up to 15 Analog Inputs, Two Analog Outputs
20 Digital I/O Pins, 14 PWM Capable

SparkFun Launches New STM32 Dev Boards - Thing Plus and MicroMod

Besides the aforementioned microcontroller, the SparkFun MicroMod STM32 Processor board also features 16MB of onboard Flash memory. SparkFun’s MicroMod system allows developers to quickly and easily and economically swap processor modules within a project without the need to disconnect or rewire the peripheral hardware. This is done by leveraging standard M.2 type connectors with specified pin-outs between various application-focused carrier boards. You can find more information about the MicroMod system and how it is accelerating application development in a previous blog post here.

Specific Peripherals available on MicroMod STM32:

UART
Two I2C Buses
SPI Bus
PDM Audio Processing
Two Dedicated Analog Inputs, 15 total analog input capable inputs
Two Dedicated Digital I/O Pins
Two Dedicated PWM Pins, 24 total PWM capable
Nine General Purpose I/O Pins

Both of these boards are preloaded with a DFU bootloader to allow uploading of code via the onboard USB connection and incorporates an extensive range of enhanced I/Os and peripherals. These boards can be programmed with either STMico’s free STM32CubeProgrammer, or SparkFun’s STM32 Arduino IDE board definition. Order yours today and share your STM32 projects with us on Maker.io or social media.