Termite is an open source hardware devboard aimed at embedded library developers.
- An stm32f103 cortex m3 microcontroller.
- A protoboard space to mount components on.
- An RGB led.
- Support for lithium ion batteries as power source.
- Charging of lithium ion batteries.
- 128Kb of external onboard flash memory
The idea came from my teacher who is developing multiple embedded libraries. These libraries have support for many different types of displays, sensors, etc. Everytime a change is made to the library my teacher had to hookup the sensors to an devboard. His wish was to have a devboard cheap enough he could solder the components on and leave them on. This is what termite was designed for.
The board can be powered by 5v or 3.3 volt. There is a usb connector which can be used for power as well. Another option is to connect a lithium ion battery. If there is a voltage on the 5v rail a connected battery will be charged.
- Only connect lithium ion batteries with a voltage of 3.7V marked on them.
- Don't connect batteries with a capacity less than 250mAh.
- Only connect batteries with an integrated protection circuit.
- Don't charge your board unattended.
| Green led | Red led | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Off | No external power connected. |
| On | Off | External power connected, battery full or not connected. |
| On | On | External power connected, battery charging |
| On | Blinking | External power connected, issue with battery detected. |
The board include an IDC header that matches the pinout of the stlink-v2. You need an IDC cable to connect between the flash tool and the board. After that it flashes just as any other stm microcontroller.
To open the design files you need kicad. It's free software so you can just download it.
If you want to produce a board you can export all the needed files from kicad. It is hard (read impossible) to solder the battery charging chip with a normal soldering iron. So if you want the battery charging you need to arrange for better equipment or arrange for pick and placing the board.
The board is 4 layer and can be produced by almost every common pcb factory.
If there are any problems I'm happy to help you on your way. Just contact me!
After production a testing script is available to check if the board is functioning oke. You can find the script and it's docs here.