Disclaimer: This is a very basic overview but it’s aimed to just getting you started on design. For these things, I think it’s best to dive right in even though you don’t know everything. You’ll learn on the way!

P.S.: You should be able to find all of the parts you need for this project in the UTAT component library! We want you to get used to accessing our components so please do take this route and save yourself the trouble from making your own components or using ugly symbols and footprints from the Manufacturer Parts Search

How do you go about designing a custom STM32 PCB?

Let’s do this in steps

1. Choose your STM32 MCU

For the onboarding project, we’re using the STM32F103C8T6 MCU. Why? Check the requirements page

2. Skim the Datasheet and Reference Manual

You don’t have to go through it thoroughly but it’s good to be familiar with

• What peripherals the chip has
• Debug modes
• Memory architecture
• etc.

3. Plan your Peripherals

What do I mean by peripherals? Peripherals refer to any connection interface we want to use such as I2C, SPI, etc. We need to enable this and figure out which pins these are on the STM32. For this, it is helpful to have the STM32CubeIDE software but I’ve done this for you now following the requirements.

See here that I’ve enabled the

• Oscillator Pins
• LED Pin
• SWD Pins (for programming)
• UART Pins