Pre-Lesson1: Part 4: Evaluation Kit Selection

Evaluation Kit Selection

To start with this course, I need to select a development board. And my selection is base on the following criteria:

1. ARM development board
2. Affordable
3. The microcontroller provide all the fundamentals peripheral (e.g i2c, UART, SPI bus)
4. Good development software(IDE) suitable for beginner
5. Preferably with on-board input (e.g button) and output (LED)
6. The microcontroller that is good enough to be use for DIY project, so anyone using it as learning also can turn it into something useful.

Base on above, I shortlisted these 2 boards: ST -STM32F0308Discovery and Freescale Kinetis FRDM -KL05Z. Refer below are the specifications of these 2 boards.

Base on criteria above, ST board is better especially with on-board input/output and with more peripheral. And I have selected STM32F0308. You can get the board from element14 at RM41.10. I strongly recommended you get a unit of this before proceed next.

More information about this kit: http://www.st.com/web/catalog/tools/PF259100

IDE Selection

In order to development software for STM32F030, we will need a software  IDE. There are many options available on market such as IAR, Keil MDK-ARM, Attolic, Coocox, Eclipse with plugin.

To avoid any hassle in IDE setup and ease of use, MDK-ARM is chosen.