PicoCalc/wiki/Setting-Up-Arduino-Development-for-PicoCalc-keyboard.md

Setting Up Arduino Development for PicoCalc keyboard

This guide walks you through setting up your Arduino environment to develop for the PicoCalc keyboard (STM32F103R8T6) microcontroller using the STM32duino Arduino Core. It also includes instructions to manually install the XPowersLib library.

1. Install Arduino IDE

Download and install the latest version of Arduino IDE for your operating system.

2. Install STM32duino Core via Board Manager

To use STM32 microcontrollers with Arduino, you need to install the STM32duino core.

Steps:

1. Open Arduino IDE.
2. Go to File → Preferences.
3. In the Additional Board Manager URLs field, add the following URL:

   https://github.com/stm32duino/BoardManagerFiles/raw/main/package_stmicroelectronics_index.json
   

4. Click OK.
5. Open Tools → Board → Boards Manager.
6. Search for STM32 and install STM32 MCU based boards by STMicroelectronics.

3. Select the Correct Board and Settings

Once the STM32 core is installed, configure the board settings:

1. Go to Tools → Board → STM32 Boards → Generic STM32F1 series.
2. In Tools menu, configure the following settings:
   • Board part number: Generic F103R8Tx
   • Upload method: STM32CubeProgrammer(Serial)

4. Install XPowersLib Manually

Instead of installing XPowersLib via the Arduino Library Manager, we will manually clone it into the correct location.

Steps:

1. Open a terminal.
2. Navigate to your Arduino libraries folder:

   cd ~/Arduino/libraries
   

3. Clone the XPowersLib repository from the correct branch:

   git clone -b stm32f103r8t6 https://github.com/cuu/XPowersLib.git
   

This ensures the library is correctly placed for the Arduino IDE to detect it.

5. Get Code

git clone https://github.com/clockworkpi/PicoCalc.git

the keyboard code is in Code/picocalc_keyboard

open Code/picocalc_keyboard/picocalc_keyboard.ino in Arduino IDE

6. Upload Code to PicoCalc Keyboard

To upload your code:

1. Connect the picocalc board to your PC using a usb type-c cable.
2. Set the DIP 1 to ON
3. Long-Press the Power On button to power on.
4. Click the Upload button in Arduino IDE.
5. After upload, set DIP 1 to OFF

Here is a screenshot of working arduino ide:

DIP switches are on the back of picocalc mainboard

Libraries version info

• STM32 MCU based boards 2.10.0
• XPowersLib 0.2.3 (cuu mod)