Search for a ST dev. board

[Pavel_47]

Hello,

There are 3 lines of hardware development tools (quite a lot of products):

• Nucleo boards
• STM32 discovery kits
• STM32 eval boards

For prototyping of my HW concept I want to use one of ST boards (essentially uC) to control my custom stuff.

The ST board I plan to use should be as simple as possible and have following features:

• once programmed, need to be powered by USB power bank
• have connector for custom board. This connector provides following signals to custom external board: 5V, I2C, 1-wire custom signal)
• display (on board or as external module)
• some kind of control (joystick or touchscreen)

Can I find all these features in Nucleo line ?

Thanks.

Pavel.

[Tesla DeLorean]

The NUCLEO's and many of the DISCO boards have Arduino Shield connectors readily facilitating an external board.

The NUCLEO-64/144 have even higher density connections for significantly more complex hardware.

Many of the newer boards have jumpers to physically allow for USB Charger connection. 

[TDK]

Nucleo boards don't have a screen or joystick. Attaching a screen with jumper wires is not advised.

The discovery line should suit you well, has a touchscreen. Here's one of many:

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/stm32h735g-dk.html

[Pavel_47]

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@TDK wrote:

Nucleo boards don't have a screen or joystick. Attaching a screen with jumper wires is not advised.

I guess there are external ST screen modules compatible with Nucleo. But maybe in this case there will be no place to connect custom board ?

[Tesla DeLorean]

If properly designed boards can be stacked.. opportunities both front and back..

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-gfx01m1.html

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-gfx01m2.html

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-gfx02z1.html

[TDK]

It's more a question of what display you want to connect. A small I2C or SPI driven OLED? Fine. A large LCD with 16+ lines and high speed throughput? Not really practical.

[Pavel_47]

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@Tesla DeLorean wrote:

If properly designed boards can be stacked.. opportunities both front and back..

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-gfx01m1.html

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-gfx01m2.html

https://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/x-nucleo-gfx02z1.html

---

1st and 2nd expansion boards use morpho connector.

According to appearance of these expansion modules, once connected to Nucleo, there is no possibility for connection other boards. Even Arduino connector on Nucleo becomes hidden. What do you mean saying "properly designed board" ?

[Tesla DeLorean]

I mean with thought and consideration about what you want to achieve.

Obviously the display board needs to be the most outward, so you don't cover the display. That doesn't mean you can't create a board that lives below, and has headers and feed-thru to facilitate the needs of the ones you plug on top.

Depending on the size of an Arduino shield you could place one on a NUCLEO-64, and then use extension headers for the MORPHO to create the mezzanine stack-up you need. Most of these boards also have connectivity front and back.

[Pavel_47]

Thanks for clarifying.

According to X-NUCLEO-GFX01M2 page, it is compatible with only few Nucleo-64 boards (at least not all of them) and not at all with Nucleo-144. Do you know why ? After all, all Nucleo-64 and Nucleo-144 boards feature ST morpho connector.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Pin choices and availability of software support / interest from ST.

Several models of STM32 do not support QSPI, and the SPI wiring also might be problematic. The GFX01M1 / M2 have multiple options and solder bridges to facilitate suitable connectivity. ST changed the make/model of screen at one point.

Mechanically the different boards work better, also note the pins vs sockets for the NUCLEO 64 vs 144 designs.

Long term the NUCLEO-144 boards offers better opportunities for buses and functionality. Escape of UARTs, SDIO/SDMMC and QSPI