Help Choosing the Right STM32 Chip for My VCU Project

[UmutTuzlu]

Hi everyone,

I started designing PCBs last year and have completed a few projects using Arduino and ESP32. For my new project, however, I need to use an STM32 microcontroller. I could technically use an ESP32 as well, but STM32 is more suitable for industrial applications, so I decided to switch.

I already have a STM32F401CCU6 Black Pill board, and I can use that chip — but I’d like to ask for advice: Is there a better STM32 option for my project?

Here’s a brief description of the project:
I’m building a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) for the Teknofest Efficiency Challenge Race. The race is mostly focused on minimizing power consumption.

In the VCU, I need to connect and manage the following components:

• 3 × DS18B20 temperature sensors

• 1 × Hall-effect or proximity sensor

• 1 × LoRa module

• 1 × SD card module

• 1 × Nextion HMI screen

• 1 × relay

Any suggestions or guidance about which STM32 chip would be most suitable are greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot for your help!

[Andrew Neil]

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-developer-zone/mcu-portfolio.html

Distributors often also have parametric search facilities...

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@UmutTuzlu wrote:

The race is mostly focused on minimizing power consumption.

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makes this seem an odd choice:

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@UmutTuzlu wrote:

• 1 × Nextion HMI screen

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Lowest-power STM32s: https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32-ultra-low-power-mcus.html

[UmutTuzlu]

Thanks for advices. I will take a look to links

[Ozone]

> I’m building a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) for the Teknofest Efficiency Challenge Race. The race is mostly focused on minimizing power consumption.

Some more detailed constraints would be helpful.
Power consumption / battery draw is a function of current consumption over time, which allows different approaches.

> 1 × LoRa modul
> 1 × SD card module
> 1 × Nextion HMI screen
> 1 × relay

These peripherals somewhat contradict this idea.
Some more details about how those peripherals are connected to the MCU are helpful as well.
Like, will the display require FMC, an 8-bit interface, or SPI ?

And you will need to take memory requirements into account, both Flash (code and constants/images), and RAM for operational requirements.

Third will be the implementation method.
Bare metal would be the most efficient and performant, but requires most time and developer experience.
An RTOS could very much speed up things,  but the HAL and OS layer consume more memory and time resources.