I’ve completed the lessons on STM32CubeIDE, Pin-Out Configuration, Crystal Circuitry, and USB. This was my first time using STM32CubeIDE, so there was a lot to learn beyond just the hardware design itself. I also learned why external crystals are used for accurate clock generation and how the USB circuitry is connected so the microcontroller can communicate with a computer. It’s been interesting seeing how all of these supporting circuits come together to make a functional STM32 board.

Challenges:
The biggest challenge was definitely getting STM32CubeIDE set up. I spent quite a while troubleshooting before realizing I had installed the wrong version. I originally downloaded version 2.2.0, but the course uses 1.9.0, so I had to uninstall it and install the older version before I could continue. Since all of this is completely new to me, it took some patience to understand both the software setup and the new hardware concepts.

Next Steps:
I’ll continue working through the schematic section of the course and keep building out the STM32 design. My goal is to finish the remaining schematic lessons before moving on to PCB layout and routing.

I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the STM32 hardware design workflow, and I’m looking forward to putting everything together into a complete board.