STM32F103CB - where'd you get the dev kits

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blackt1ger
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Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:15 am

STM32F103CB - where'd you get the dev kits

Post by blackt1ger »

Okay, today I was hunting around for a microcontroller to perform some specific tasks. I've been using Microchip PIC18's chip (and MPLAB) but need some additional stuff not available. After a few hours I decided on the STM32F103CB. I went looking around for some prototyping stuff and I think I'm going to get the STM32-PerformanceStick and the STM32-Stick-Prototyping-Board. Now, all I need is software......

Then, as I'm sitting here at home ( and awaiting my Crazyflie to come the long way from China to the US), I thought, these guys at Bitcraze are using an STM32, let me check to see what they are using and lo and behold, the exact same microcontroller.

Now, since I have the Bitcraze VM running, I'm checking out the software and I see files like "stm32f10x_i2c.h" Where did these come from? The data sheet on the chip from ST was remarkably vague, only going into electrical characteristics. Where does one find out about all the goodies that are built-in the chip? In contrast Microchip goes into quite a lot of detail about how things work.

FWIW - I need to build a system that generates BAD I2C signals, as a slave and master (among other things). Oh yeah, when everything works, things work great, but in a fault-tolerant world, where a I2C slave fails or hangs on the NACK, it can cause a bunch of bad stuff to happen. The board I'm building will be to test the fault-tolerant behavior of Industrial Automation equipment that my company sells ( > $200,000 ) and failures are not an option. I'll probably end-up bit-banging, anyway, but it would be nice to see how it 'supposed to work.
tobias
Bitcraze
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Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:17 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: STM32F103CB - where'd you get the dev kits

Post by tobias »

You can find a lot of information under design resources on ST webpage.

Actually I wouldn't recommend you using the STM32 F1 series for important i2c stuff because it has some silicon bugs, see the errata. They have fixed this in the F3 series which has a much better i2c peripheral and the STM32F1303CB is pin compatible and a Cortex-M4. ST has a i2c library you should have a look at as well, called CPAL.

We actually didn't use any dev kit when we developed the Crazyflie, which lead to a couple HW revisions extra so It would probably have been wise using one...
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