STM32CubeMX Practical Setup — From Project Creation to Code Generation

STM32CubeMX Setup Walkthrough

CubeMX pinout view

CubeMX is a tool that lets you configure STM32 pin assignments, clocks, and peripherals through a GUI and automatically generates the initialization code. It is built into STM32CubeIDE.

Step 1: Create Project & Select Chip

1. STM32CubeIDE → File → New → STM32 Project
2. In the MCU/MPU Selector tab, search: STM32H743VITx
3. Select the chip and click Next
4. Project Name: AR_Walker_STM32 (or H-Walker_STM32_Test)
5. Targeted Language: C
6. Targeted Binary Type: Executable
7. Targeted Project Type: STM32Cube
8. Click Finish → the .ioc file opens and the pin configuration view appears

Step 2: Assign Pins (Pinout & Configuration)

Click a pin in the chip graphic inside the .ioc editor to assign its function.

Recommended configuration order:

1. Reserve debug pins: System Core → SYS → Debug: Serial Wire (PA13/PA14 auto-assigned)
2. Clock source: System Core → RCC → HSE: Crystal/Ceramic Resonator
3. FDCAN1: Connectivity → FDCAN1 → Activated
   • TX: PD1, RX: PD0 (auto-assigned or selected manually)
4. UART (IMU): Connectivity → UART4 → Mode: Asynchronous
   • RX: PA1 (disable TX if not needed)
5. UART (Debug): Connectivity → USART3 → Mode: Asynchronous
   • TX: PD8, RX: PD9
6. SPI1: Connectivity → SPI1 → Mode: Full-Duplex Master
   • SCK: PA5, MOSI: PB5, MISO: PB4 (leave PA6/PA7 free for ADC)
7. ADC1: Analog → ADC1 → Enable IN0, IN1, IN2, IN6 (or IN14/IN15)
   • Watch for PA0/PA1 conflicts with UART4 RX; reassign ADC channels if needed
8. TIM1 PWM: Timers → TIM1 → CH1: PWM Generation, CH2: PWM Generation
   • CH1: PE9, CH2: PE11
9. GPIO outputs: Click a pin → select GPIO_Output
   • LED, Motor Enable, Motor Stop pins
10. GPIO inputs: Motor error pins, etc.

Checking for pin conflicts:

• A yellow pin in CubeMX = warning (can be resolved)
• A red pin = conflict (must be fixed)
• Check the "Pinout Conflict" message in the left panel

Step 3: Clock Configuration

1. Click the Clock Configuration tab at the top
2. Left side — Input frequency: 8 (MHz, match your crystal)
3. PLL Source Mux: select HSE
4. Enter DIVM1: 1, DIVN1: 120, DIVP1: 2
5. System Clock Mux: select PLLCLK
6. Confirm HCLK reads 240 MHz (calculated automatically)
7. Verify each APB clock is at 120 MHz
8. If there are red warnings, click "Resolve Clock Issues"

Step 4: Peripheral Parameter Settings

Configure each peripheral in detail from the Configuration panel on the left.

FDCAN1 Parameters

Mode                    : Normal
Frame Format            : Classic (CAN 2.0)
Auto Retransmission     : Enable
Nominal Prescaler       : 10
Nominal Sync Jump Width : 1
Nominal Time Seg1       : 5
Nominal Time Seg2       : 6
→ Bit Rate = 120MHz / (10 × (1+5+6)) = 1 Mbps

ADC1 Parameters

Clock Prescaler         : Asynchronous clock mode divided by 4
Resolution              : ADC 12-bit resolution (or 16-bit)
Scan Conversion Mode    : Enable
Continuous Conv Mode    : Enable
DMA Continuous Requests : Enable
Number of Conversion    : (number of channels in use)

DMA Settings

In the DMA Settings tab of each peripheral:

• ADC1 → Add DMA Stream → Mode: Circular
• UART4_RX → Add DMA Stream → Mode: Circular

NVIC (Interrupt Priorities)

Interrupt          Priority (0=highest)  Purpose
FDCAN1_IT0         1                     CAN receive (motor response — top priority)
TIM6_DAC           2                     Control loop timer (500 Hz)
DMA_ADCx           3                     ADC conversion complete
UART4_IRQn         4                     IMU data receive
SPI1_IRQn          5                     Coms MCU data
EXTI_IRQn          6                     GPIO interrupt (errors, etc.)

Step 5: Project Settings

1. Click the Project Manager tab
2. Project Settings:
   • Toolchain: STM32CubeIDE
   • Generate Under Root: checked
3. Code Generator:
   • "Generate peripheral initialization as a pair of '.c/.h' files per peripheral" → check (recommended)
   • "Keep User Code when re-generating" → check (required!)
   • "Delete previously generated files when not re-generated" → check

Step 6: Generate Code

1. Project → Generate Code (or Alt+K / Cmd+K)
2. The generated file structure:

AR_Walker_STM32/
├── Core/
│   ├── Inc/
│   │   ├── main.h              ← GPIO pin defines (auto-generated by CubeMX)
│   │   ├── stm32h7xx_hal_conf.h
│   │   └── stm32h7xx_it.h
│   └── Src/
│       ├── main.c              ← ★ write your main code here
│       ├── stm32h7xx_hal_msp.c ← peripheral MSP initialization
│       └── stm32h7xx_it.c      ← interrupt handlers
├── Drivers/
│   ├── CMSIS/                  ← ARM core headers
│   └── STM32H7xx_HAL_Driver/   ← HAL library
└── STM32H743VITX_FLASH.ld      ← linker script

USER CODE Block Rules

These regions are preserved when CubeMX regenerates code:

/* USER CODE BEGIN Includes */
#include "motor_control.h"    // ✅ safe!
/* USER CODE END Includes */

// ❌ Writing here will be deleted on regeneration!

/* USER CODE BEGIN 0 */
void my_init(void) { }        // ✅ safe!
/* USER CODE END 0 */

Best practice: Create separate .c files under Core/Src/ for your own code. Examples: motor_control.c, sensor_read.c, can_protocol.c → CubeMX never touches these files, so they are 100% safe. (See the "Managing Auto-Generated and User Code" section in README.md for details.)

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