How to Implement a Simple LED and Sensor Program for STM32

📺 STM32 DIY Journey: 8/100 Projects Completed! 🔧 Board: NUCLEO-F401RE 📌 Project 8: Tilt Sensor Interface with STM32 In this project, I interfaced a tilt sensor with my STM32F401RE board to detect orientation changes. The tilt sensor acted as a switch, allowing me to monitor its state through an onboard LED indicator and serial messages on the PuTTY terminal. This project enhanced my understanding of digital input handling and real-time monitoring in embedded systems. 🧠 What I Learned: ✅ Configuring GPIO pins for digital input (tilt sensor) and output (LED) ✅ Reading sensor states using HAL GPIO functions ✅ Displaying sensor output via UART on PuTTY terminal ✅ Implementing simple condition checks for sensor-triggered events 📂 Source Code: https://lnkd.in/g-emW_FG #STM32Projects #TiltSensor #EmbeddedSystems #NUCLEOF401RE #ElectronicsDIY #MakersMindset #TechInProgress

🔍 How to Detect a Watchdog Reset on STM32 MCUs When debugging or designing fail-safe systems, knowing why your MCU reset is just as important as handling the reset itself. On STM32 devices, the RCC_CSR (Clock Control & Status Register) keeps track of the reset cause. 🛠️ Key Reset Flags in RCC->CSR 🐶 IWDGRSTF → Independent Watchdog reset ⏳ WWDGRSTF → Window Watchdog reset 🔌 PORRSTF → Power-on reset 🔁 SFTRSTF → Software reset 🔘 PINRSTF → External NRST pin reset 👉 These flags persist across resets until cleared. 💻 Example (C Code) if (RCC->CSR & RCC_CSR_IWDGRSTF) { printf("Reset cause: Independent Watchdog\n"); } if (RCC->CSR & RCC_CSR_WWDGRSTF) { printf("Reset cause: Window Watchdog\n"); } // Clear all flags after reading RCC->CSR |= RCC_CSR_RMVF; ⚡ Why It Matters ✅ Helps debug unexpected resets in prototypes ✅ Supports functional safety (ISO 26262) by logging reset causes ✅ Useful for watchdog validation in production tests 📌 Pro Tip: Always clear the reset flags after reading them, so the next reset cause is captured cleanly. 💡 Have you ever used watchdog resets as part of your system’s safety strategy, or only as a last line of defense? #STM32 #EmbeddedSystems #Watchdog #FunctionalSafety #MCU #ISO26262

Project complete: Real-Time Clock with an STM32F407 and DS1307. ✅ I've implemented a robust timekeeping solution using an STM32F407 as the I2C master to control a DS1307 RTC slave. Here's a quick look at the core components: 🔹 The Brain: An ARM Cortex-M4 (Systick_handler) generates a precise 1-second interrupt. 🔹 The Action: This interrupt triggers an I2C read to fetch the current date and time from the DS1307. 🔹 The Result: A live, accurate timestamp streamed to a console, updating every second. This project was a great deep dive into hardware interrupts and serial communication. What's a cool real-world application you've seen for a standalone RTC? Let me know in the comments! 👇 #STM32 #EmbeddedC #FirmwareDeveloper #I2C #RTC #DS1307 #ARM #CortexM4 #Electronics

🔹 Measuring Different Voltage Levels on MCU ADC Pins Working with microcontrollers often requires measuring multiple analog voltages on different ADC pins. Here are some practical steps I follow: 1️⃣ Check the ADC Reference Voltage (Vref) Usually 3.3V (STM32, ESP32, ARM MCUs) or 5V (Arduino, PIC). Ensure input never exceeds this limit. 2️⃣ Direct Measurement If signal ≤ Vref, connect directly to ADC. 3️⃣ Use Voltage Dividers for Higher Voltages Example: Measuring 13V with a 3.3V MCU: With R1=22kΩ, R2=7.5kΩ → 13V scales down safely to ~3.3V. "The Solved example is attach below."

🚀 Exploring FreeRTOS on STM32 with CubeIDE Today, I took a deep dive into FreeRTOS on an STM32 microcontroller using STM32CubeIDE. Instead of writing a simple infinite loop for blinking an LED, I built a task-based project where: ✅ One task blinks an LED at a defined interval. ✅ An interrupt-based push button is implemented to toggle the LED state. ✅ Both tasks run simultaneously under FreeRTOS scheduling, demonstrating real multitasking on the MCU. What I learned along the way: 🔹 FreeRTOS makes embedded development more modular and scalable compared to bare-metal loops. 🔹 Using tasks improves code clarity – each function has its own responsibility (e.g., LED control vs. user input). 🔹 Interrupts integrated with RTOS help achieve real-time responsiveness without blocking other tasks #Embeddedsystems #RTOS #STM32 #learning #Interrupts

🚀 STM32 with 7-Segment Display – Embedded Systems Project Recently, I worked on interfacing a 7-segment display with an STM32 microcontroller to explore real-time embedded applications. 🔹 Key Highlights: Used STM32 (ARM Cortex-M) as the controller. Programmed in Embedded C (HAL/LL drivers). Controlled both common anode and common cathode 7-segment displays. Implemented GPIO pin multiplexing for multiple digits. Added counter logic (up/down counting, delay-based timing). 🔹 Applications: 1.Digital counters 2.Timers & clocks 3.Simple embedded UI indicators 4.Industrial measurement displays

Looking for an easier way to create a GUI application on STM32? This article from Embedded Wizard shows you exactly how, using our board and display as the example. Reach out if you’d like to discuss your project.

💡 Did you know you can drive a MOSFET directly from an STM32 GPIO pin? The gate of a MOSFET looks like a capacitor—it doesn’t draw DC current. That means an STM32 (or most MCUs) can easily switch small MOSFETs without burning itself out, since it only supplies brief charge/discharge pulses when the gate voltage changes. But here’s the catch: not every MOSFET is happy at 3.3 V logic. Take the classic 2N7000—it needs ~10 V on the gate to switch fully. At 3.3 V, it might barely conduct, leading to voltage drop and heating. 👉 The lesson: always check the MOSFET’s RDS(on) at your MCU’s logic voltage. For STM32s running at 3.3 V, pick a logic-level MOSFET designed for 2.5–3.3 V gates. Sometimes the difference between “works” and “works reliably” is just the right part choice. #EmbeddedSystems #Firmware #RTOS #SoftwareArchitecture #Engineering

✨ STM32 Bare-Metal PWM Brightness Control I recently worked on an interesting project using the STM32F407VGT6 microcontroller. The goal was to control LED brightness using a potentiometer with PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). 🔧 What I did Configured ADC to read analog values from the potentiometer. Mapped the ADC output to the PWM duty cycle. Used Timer registers (bare-metal programming) to generate PWM signals. Connected the LED to a PWM output pin for brightness control. 📊 Testing I simulated and validated the PWM signal on a digital oscilloscope, where I could clearly see the duty cycle change as I rotated the potentiometer. The LED brightness varied smoothly as expected. ⚡ Key Learnings Direct register-level programming in STM32 gives better understanding of hardware. ADC + Timer (PWM) integration is a powerful combination for embedded applications. Debugging with an oscilloscope really helps visualize and confirm the signal behavior. #STM32 #BareMetal #EmbeddedSystems #PWM #Microcontrollers

Today we flash gigabytes of firmware onto MCUs with ARM Cortex-Ms running at 200+ MHz, hardware floating-point… even your average STM32 can run FreeRTOS, handle CAN, Ethernet, USB, and still have headroom left. Now roll back to 1969: The Apollo Guidance Computer ran at 2.048 MHz, with just 36 KB of ROM and 2 KB of RAM. Instruction set: 34 opcodes. Word size: 15 bits. Yet it executed a real-time kernel that managed inertial guidance, navigation, telemetry, uplink, and astronaut interface simultaneously. Here’s where the magic was: code optimization: Double-precision arithmetic was implemented in hand-rolled microcode sequences. Task scheduling used a deterministic round-robin with priority slots, ensuring IMU ΔV integration never missed a cycle. Overflow handling wasn’t just error trapping — it triggered a graceful restart that preserved the critical program counters. - Every byte mattered. - Every instruction cycle was budgeted. - Engineers wrote assembly that would squeeze maximum determinism from minimum silicon. Compare that with today, where we sometimes burn megabytes just to blink an LED with a bloated HAL.