2024-05-10 12:23 PM
I'm a beginner so bear with me:
I am making a calculator with a STM32 Blue Pill and would like to create a PCB so that the calculator can be decently compact. I am unclear on some things though. Is it normal to place the entire Blue Pill in a PCB design? I couldn't find a footprint for it in KiCAD, however I did find the footprint for just the chip itself (the STM32F103C8T6). This leads me to believe it would be unusual to use the Blue Pill in this way... however if I use just the chip, how would I upload my code to it? And, given how small it is, how would I ever be able to solder it properly to the PCB? I'm just a little unclear on what the normal thing to do is, and also how to do it. Any guidance is much appreciated!
2024-05-10 12:45 PM
I've put RPi Pico boards as the MCU / USB-VCP on test boards I've built in recent quarters. Cost less than FTDI adapters
Isn't the Blue Pill just dual-in-line headers? Do you need a symbol? Can't KiCad let you create one?
Perhaps you can find a symbol via Google or GitHub.
Not everything is going to be prebuilt in a form you can cut-n-paste