Hello everyone,
I’m currently working on a small STM32-based project where I’m designing a touchscreen menu display for a food & beverage ordering concept. The idea is similar to a coffee shop menu (for example a Dunkin’ Donuts style menu with categories, prices, and images) mainly to test UI responsiveness, memory usage, and image rendering on a constrained MCU.
Project details:
MCU: STM32F4 series
Display: 3.5" TFT (RGB interface)
Graphics: Simple icons, menu lists, and price labels
Toolchain: STM32CubeIDE + HAL
UI framework: Lightweight custom graphics (not LVGL yet)
I’m facing a few challenges:
Optimizing Flash and RAM usage when loading multiple menu images
Best practices for font rendering and scaling without excessive memory overhead
Whether switching to external QSPI Flash is recommended for menu-style UI projects
Any suggestions for structuring menu data (categories, items, prices) efficiently
For reference, I’ve mocked up a sample menu layout similar to a café menu here.
This is only a demo UI not a commercial project.
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has worked on UI heavy or menu-driven STM32 applications especially with small to mid range MCUs.
Thanks in advance for your time and guidance.
Best regards.
