STM32F3Discovery Rust Toolchain Demo

Overview

This project demonstrates a simple LED blink application on the STM32F3Discovery board using the STM32F3xx_HAL crate (Hardware Abstraction Layer).
The LED on PE9 is toggled at regular intervals, leveraging the abstraction provided by the HAL for easier peripheral configuration and control.

This example highlights memory-safe and high-level embedded Rust programming using HALs.

This project is supported by multiple toolchains

Openocd + gdb
cargo-embed + gdb
probe-rs + VS Code

Features

💡 Blink onboard LED (PE9) at a regular interval.
📦 Uses the stm32f3xx-hal crate for high-level peripheral access.
🛠️ Simplified initialization and GPIO handling through HAL abstractions.
🚀 Ideal for beginners learning embedded Rust with less focus on low-level register details.
🧰 Support several popular Rust toolchains

Hardware

Board: STM32F3Discovery
(STM32F303VCT6 microcontroller)
Onboard LED: PE9

Software Requirements

Rust toolchain with embedded targets
(e.g., thumbv7em-none-eabihf)
OpenOCD + GDB or
cargo-embed + GDB or
probe-rs + VS Code
arm-none-eabi-gcc (for linking support)
GDB (arm-none-eabi-gdb) for Openocd or cargo-embed

Repository Structure

stm32f3_blinky_halcrate/
├── .cargo/
│   └── config.toml    # Runner configuration 
├── .vscode/
│   ├── launch.json    # VS Code launch JSON file
|   └── tasks.json     # cargo build VS Code JSON file
├── src/
│   └── main.rs        # Main application code using stm32f3xx-hal for LED blink
├── .probe-rs.yaml     # cargo embed probe protocol configuration file
├── Cargo.toml         # Rust project manifest
├── Embed.toml         # cargo embed configuration file
├── openocd.gdb        # GDB load file using openocd (openocd + gdb)
├── embed.gdb          # GDB load file using cargo embed (cargo embed + gdb)
└── README.md          # This file

How to Build, Flash, and Debug

1. Install Dependencies

rustup target add thumbv7em-none-eabihf

Install OpenOCD and arm-none-eabi-gcc if not already installed.

Install probe-rs tools if not already installed.

cargo install probe-rs-tools --locked

2. Build the Proect

cargo build

3 Flash and Debug

3a. Flash, and Debug Toolchain: OpenOCD + GDB

3a.1 Start OpenOCD

c:\Openocd\openocd -f interface/stlink.cfg -f target/stm32f3x.cfg

3a.2 Edit .cargo\config.toml, and uncomment the following line and comment other runner

runner = "arm-none-eabi-gdb -q -x openocd.gdb"

3a.3 In the project folder, run

cargo run

Note: Openocd doesn't flash the MCU, load is needed in openocd.gdb.

3b. Toolchain: cargo-embed + GDB

3b.1 Start cargo-embed

cargo embed

3b.2 Edit .cargo\config.toml, and uncomment the following and comment other runner

runner = "arm-none-eabi-gdb -q -x embed.gdb"

3b.3 In the project folder, run

cargo run

Note: Caro-embed can flash and run the program code.

3c. Toolchain: probe-rs + VS Code

3c.1 Start VS Code.

Install [Debugger for probe-rs] (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=probe-rs.probe-rs-debugger) extension if it is not installed.

3c.2 Open the project folder and then open main.rs file

3c.3 In VS Code, Run/Debug main.rs or press F5.

Note: launch.json, tasks.json configure VS code to compile using cargo, and run main.rs using probe-rs.

Behavior Description

Initialization:
- Configures the clock system using HAL's rcc abstraction.
- Splits GPIOE into independent pins.
- Configures PE9 as a push-pull output.
Main Loop:
- Blinks the LED with a delay created using software (e.g., busy-wait or HAL delay API if included).
- Leverages safe abstractions for GPIO pin control.

This method makes it easier to interact with peripherals without needing direct manipulation of hardware registers.

Useful Links

License

This project is intended for educational and demonstration purposes.
Refer to the repository for licensing details.

wang32/stm32f3_blinky_tooldemo

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