Which STM MCU and board do I use for my project?

[Pranathi_ch]

HI Team,

I am Pranathi, I am looking for a board and MCU chip for my project, I want to implement a CAN protocol between 2 STM32 boards with FSM (finite state machine) and RTOS included in it. 

Additionally I will be using a sesnor and an actuator on each STM node. Can anyone help me in chosing which MCU and STM32 board I should be using for this aim? And also if possible share a basic source code for implementing a CAN protocol.

Looking forward for your help.

Thanks in Advance,

Ch.Pranathi

[Andrew Neil]

Tools to choose your MCU:

https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/st-mcu-finder-pc.html

https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stm32-finder.html

https://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/stm32-mcu-product-selector.html

https://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/stm32-mcu-developer-zone/mcu-portfolio.html

Also, distributors usually have parametric search tools ...

Having identified a suitable MCU, go to its Product Page on the ST website, and look on the 'Tools & Software' tab - that will show you the recommended boards (probably one will be highlighted; for the full list, look under 'Product evaluation tools').

eg, picking one entirely at random: 

https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32f401ve.html#tools-software

I would suggest that a Nucleo board might be more useful to you than a Discovery or DK.

The trouble with the Discovery & DK boards is that they tend to have a lot of extra on-board stuff - which can get in the way of you connecting the other things that you actually want to use!

The Nucleo boards are basically just the STM32 plus an ST-Link - which leaves very nearly all the pins free for you to use however you require.

Some basic "getting started" steps to gain familiarity with the product and the tools:

https://community.st.com/t5/stm32-mcus-products/for-better-learning-stm32-programming-and-debugging/m-p/719485/highlight/true#M260696

See also:

https://community.st.com/t5/stm32-mcus-products/for-better-learning-stm32-programming-and-debugging/m-p/719468/highlight/true#M260690

PS:

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@Pranathi_ch wrote:

share a basic source code for implementing a CAN protocol.

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Once you have the board, STM32CubeIDE will have a load of examples for that board - should include CAN.

#HowToChooseMCU #HowToChooseBoard

[Andrew Neil]

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@Pranathi_ch wrote:

I am looking for a board ... RTOS included in it. 

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Note that an RTOS is purely a software component - it doesn't come as part of a board.

https://community.st.com/t5/stm32-mcus-embedded-software/does-the-stm32f429i-eval-board-come-with-freertos-installed/m-p/806598/highlight/true#M63932

ST's currently preferred RTOS is FreeRTOS:

https://community.st.com/t5/stm32-mpus-embedded-software-and/is-threadx-azure-rtos-officially-supported-on-the-cortex-m4-core/m-p/808749/highlight/true#M4806

You can use any other suitable RTOS of your choice - but the porting and integration is then down to you.

[Imen.D]

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if possible share a basic source code for implementing a CAN protocol.

You have the working examples in different STM32 Nucleo boards (available in STM32-hotspot), which will help you in the bxCAN configuration: 

• GitHub - stm32-hotspot/STM32-bxCAN-Normal-Mode
• GitHub Hotspot: bxCAN example in Loop Back mode on several platforms

You can also refer to the KB articles related to CAN:

• Guide to CAN (bxCAN/CAN2.0) configuration in Loop back mode on STM32 MCUs
• Troubleshooting bxCAN issues in Loop Back mode on STM32 MCUs
• STM32 in dual CAN configuration: bxCAN Filter bank explanation and relation with CAN2 Start Bank parameter

[Andrew Neil]

and one recently updated on FDCAN:

How to use FDCAN to create a simple communication with a basic filter

@Pranathi_ch  You can search the Knowledge Base:

https://community.st.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=false&filter=includeTkbs,location&include_tkbs=true&location=tkb-board:stm32-mcus-knowledge-base&q=CAN