BLACK-PILL-HUB

Features

• Carrier for the STM32 Black Pill Board
  • STM32F4XX|STM32F401/411 CPU
  • AliExpress listing
• I2C Hub - PCA9544A
  • 4-channel
  • Independent 3.3V/5V power for each channel
• Separate interrupts for each channel
• GVS connections for Black Pill pins
• Reset switch
• Power options

Black Pill Module

Not pin compatible with Blue Pill due to power pin locations

Reserved Pins

• PA0 - On-board USER KEY - needs INPUT_PULLUP
• PC13 - On-board LED
• PB2 - BOOT1
  • Pulling this pin down by external hardware causes the board to boot to serial
  • Can be ignored by holding both reset and BOOT1 buttons on the Black Pill card
  • Release reset button first
• PA11 - USB-M
• PA12 - USB-P
• PA9 - Serial TX1
• PA10 - Serial RX1

Connectors

J1 - 5V power

• DC jack
• 5V
• Center positive

J4 - 5V Power

• 5mm terminal block

J7 - I2C

• The I2C interface that goes to the I2C hub part

1. SCL (PB6)
2. SDA (PB7)
3. 3.3V
4. GND

P1 - 5V

• 2x4 header with 5V from H2 (Rev 4 card)

P2 - Vbattery

• Battery power to the Black Pill board

1. GND
2. Vbat

P3 - FTDI Module

• Not as necessary on the Black Pill card since downloads can be done with the DFU mode
• Cheap FT232 module pinout
• Remove 6 pin right angle header

P4, P5, P6, P7 - I2C Interfaces #0-#3

1. INT*
2. SCL
3. SDA
4. VCC
5. GND

P8 - SPI

1. PA6 (MISO)
2. 3.3V
3. PA5 (SCK)
4. PA7 (MOSI)
5. RES
6. GND

P11/P12 - GVS Connector

• Ground, Power, Signal pins
• Pin near Black pill is signal

1. PC13
2. PC14
3. PC15
4. N/C
5. PA0
6. PA1
7. PA2
8. PA3
9. PA4
10. PA5/SCK1
11. PA6/MISO1
12. PA7/MOSI1
13. PB0
14. PB1
15. PB2
16. PB10

P12/P13 - GVS Connector

• Ground, Power, Signal pins
• Pin near Black pill is signal

1. GND
2. PB9
3. I2C_INT (PB8)
4. I2C_SDA (PB7)
5. I2C_SCL (PB6)
6. PB5
7. PB4
8. PB3
9. PA15
10. PA12
11. PA11
12. RX
13. TX
14. PA8
15. PB15
16. PB14
17. PB13
18. PB12

Headers

H1 - 3.3V source select

• 1-2 = Power from 5V to 3.3V regulator
• 2-3 = Power from Black Pill board 3.3V regulator

H2 - 5V Power Source

• T-shaped header
• Up - Power 5V from FTDI 5V
• Down - Power 5V from Black Pill Hub USB power
• Left - Power 5V from DC Jack

H3, H4, H5, H6 - I2C Power

• Select the power to/from the (4) I2C interfaces
• Install in one of the two positions to power the external I2C interface from the Hub board
• Remove if power comes in from external I2C interface

1. 3.3V
2. 5V

H9 - Hub Chip Address

• Select the 3-bit (A0-A2) address of the PCA9544A I2C hub
• Remove for 1, install for 0

Switches

SW1 - Reset Switch

• Press to reset Black Pill board

Schematic

• BLACK-PILL-HUB Schematic Rev 1

Software

• Black Pill Hub Software GitHub
• STM32F411CEU6 MicroPython Examples
• STM32F411 GitHub

Testing

• Arduino Based Test Station
  • Issue with library

DFU Programming

• Steps from Programming|Program STM32 Black Pill (STM32F401 / F411) with Arduino IDE (Windows OS)
  • Add the URL to Additional Board Manager URLs text box:
    • https://github.com/stm32duino/BoardManagerFiles/raw/master/STM32/package_stm_index.json
  • Go to Tools > Board > Boards Manager
  • Search for STM32, select latest version and click Install.
  • Download and install STM32CubeProg from ST.com: [1]
  • Start the STM32CubeProg
  • From the Tools > Board > STM32 Board, select Generic STM32F4 series
  • Select Tools > Board Part Number > BlackPill F411CE
  • Under USB Support, select CDC (generic "Serial" supersede U(S)ART)
  • Under Upload method, select SMT32CubeProgrammer(DFU)
  • Use the onboard BOOT0 and NRST button to put the board into bootloader mode:
    • press and hold the BOOT0 button
    • press and release NRST (reset) button to power cycle the processor
    • release BOOT0 button
    • Sometimes removing the USB cable and plugging it back in while pressing BOOT0 button works better
  • Upload sketch

Other Programming

• ST-LINK V2
• FLASHER-STM32 - STM32 Flash loader demonstrator (UM0462)
• From AN3155

PCB

Assembly Sheet

• Black Pill Hub Assembly Rev 1