I made a tiny STM32 module which OUTPERFORMS ESP32

Thanks to PCBWay for sponsoring this video! Get $5 of New User Free Credit by following this link - pcbway.com/g/x.... PCBWay is one of the most experienced PCB manufacturers in China, consider them your one-stop solution that offers PCB fabrication, turn-key PCB Assembly, PCB design, 3D printing, and CNC machining services.
In this video, I showed you guys the WORLD's smallest STM32 breakout that I made (as far as I'm aware), which has the following specifications:
STM32H523HEY6TR microcontroller
Cortex-M33 @ 250MHz, 512KB flash, 272KB RAM, 1023 CoreMark
Outperforms entire ESP32 line-up in single core performance except for ESP32-P4, and in dual-core performance except for ESP32-S3 and ESP32-P4, as measured by CoreMark
About 200x faster than an atmega328
0.4mm pitch WLCSP, routed on the PCB with via-in-pad technology from PCBWay and 3mil (0.0762mm) trace widths and clearances
17 GPIOs broken out through 1mm pitch castellations, able to be surface-mounted with no components on the bottom side
Extremely small form factor of only 8 x 17.2mm (6x smaller than an Arduino Nano)
Programmable through 4P JST-SH and ST-Link SWDIO and SWCLK pins
Special thanks to ‪@Positive_Altitude‬ for giving me some tips on STM32 development and programming! Go show his channel some support too :)
Buy TinyDRV - a super compact motor-driving add-on for N20 motors - here: www.pcbway.com...
NanoX schematic: github.com/hxe...
Ask me in the comments if you have any technical questions about the PCB design or this project as a whole :)
Thanks so much for watching! If you've read up to this point, make sure to SUBSCRIBE, and if you can, donations help a lot because we'll be able to buy the equipment we need for the new house and upcoming projects faster, which means you'll see MORE and BETTER content. I really appreciate all of the support :)

[@h1tec]

At a CoreMark score of 1023, my tiny STM32 module outperforms both cores of an ESP32 (994 CoreMark). Thanks for watching! Special thanks to Positive Altitude: www.youtube.com/@Positive_Altitude for giving me some tips on STM32 development and hardware configuration. Additionally, if you would like to buy the hotplate that I am using here, the Miniware MHP50, which I would highly recommend, PCBWay currently has it for 10% off, and you can easily add it to your next order of PCBs: pcbway.com/s/ZiFU8L I earn a small commission if you buy the hotplate from the link :) Have a great day guys!

[@Positive_Altitude]

Best of luck with your projects :)

[@h1tec]

Thank you so much!

[@taham6757]

pov : great scott 😂

[@habiks]

nice project but comparing it to esp is cringe

[@aldabro2]

Thumbs up for the GreatScott imitation haha xD

[@waqarwillrocku]

Excellent video! Keep up the good work!

[@h1tec]

Wow, thank you so much for the donation! Have a great week 😊

[@TheOfficialOriginalChad]

My friend, I am so excited to see what you can extract from the resources at a university. Don’t let anyone, any class, or any grade smother that flame you have. You’re really going to do some amazing things. I’m grateful I get to watch and be along for the ride.

[@h1tec]

@@TheOfficialOriginalChad thank you so much! I hope you have a great week!

[@sycko2516]

You'll crush it at university. Good luck!

[@h1tec]

Thank you!

[@irusensei9917]

at 4:21 i was like "WHO THE F*** SAID THAT" and look on my left very slowly...while removing my earbuds very slowly

[@h1tec]

@@irusensei9917 lol, sorry for the jump scare 😂😂😂

[@lohikarhu734]

So, I guess that having pcbway assemble a WLCSP IC makes sense! Nice little project! The STM 32 family is so extensive that it makes sense to get on board (NPI="no pun intended", not "new product introduction")

[@h1tec]

@@lohikarhu734 thanks! Yeah, definitely will be exploring STM32 even more - it’ll be helpful when I start selling products or designs for products as the chips can be optimised for their application better 😁

[@Tech-Random]

Super inspiring as always! You're way ahead of where I was when I started my bachelors so I think you'll breeze through it. Don't forget to make friends and have a social life because that part of college is way more valuable then anything a professor can teach and it'll be over before you know it.

[@h1tec]

Thanks so much, I’ll make sure to make friends well 😁😁😁

[@____sammy____]

Check out the JCD hot air station...

[@h1tec]

Thank you so much for your donation! I'll check that one out :) Have a great day!

[@rdyer8764]

I love watching your imagination at work. I'm REALLY curious what you'll end up doing after university. :))

[@h1tec]

Thx so much 😁

[@Novus_Ordo_Conditor]

STMicroelectronics has released the new N-series MCUs and they are “Such a BEAST!” I don't think the ESP32 can withstand the new STMs, in fact, not to exaggerate, but I have seen it beat even Texas Instruments C2000 series MCUs in some special tests I did

[@h1tec]

@@Novus_Ordo_Conditor cool! Yeah, definitely will be doing some stuff with STM32N6 soon! 😁

[@MouldySoul]

this is great! really well done soldering that tiny chip, don't think I have the patience for chips that small, stupidly freaking cool you did by hand! Looking forward to what you do with the board!

[@h1tec]

@@MouldySoul thx so much!

[@kenjoedelmata478]

I would love to see your robots especially your sumobot compete in the world robot games

[@h1tec]

@@kenjoedelmata478 yeah, definitely, you’ll see that sort of thing soon 😁

[@AwesomeLPTV]

Danke!

[@h1tec]

Wow!! Thank you so much for your generous donation! I really appreciate your support 😁😁😁

[@arhanahuja]

Hey Hasse, do you have any advice or tips for how to go about learning electronics/electrical engineering as a high schooler? Should I take courses? How should I learn? I aspire to make such great projects like you have!

[@h1tec]

@@arhanahuja thanks so much! 99.9% of high schools don’t have any meaningful robotics program - and even if they do, they mostly just use LEGO, unless you go to an expensive school, which I never did lol. The only thing it has taught me is good coding logic - it can also be helpful for team building though. It seems like you’re more interested in electronics at this point, which is the next step. What I would recommend to start out is making a few simple robots (line follower, sumo robot, or other robots you find cool - the important part is that you really enjoy it) with Arduino to start out with, and just using online tutorials. At this point, you should only make simple boards, like carrier PCBs and motor driver modules. After 1 or 2 years, you should start figuring out exactly how the Arduino and whatever add-on boards you get work. Then, you can design everything custom, and just make more and more complicated stuff after that. Hope this helps 😁😁😁

[@CompyDraw]

Could you try to make a tutorial for a fully autonomous drone with an Arduino, I’m trying to make one but I’m waiting on the stuff I ordered.

[@h1tec]

@@CompyDraw I have the next few months of videos planned out, and I won’t be starting to work with drones until after then, so probably not. But, if you need help with anything specific with your project, you can ask here in the comments section 😁

[@CompyDraw]

@ I will definitely be asking several questions thanks

[@kermitinmountain6371]

Hi, from Tennessee, USA. I am impressed with your work! I was hoping to buy this tiny ware for my drone projects in near future.

[@h1tec]

It’s super expensive, so you can buy the full design files and manufacturing rights from me if you’d like, but not any individual boards (especially since I have only one left 😁) thanks so much for your comment 👍

[@hbw9162]

Bro, you don’t even need uni, but you’ll have so much fun though! Check out Nordic Semiconductor! They were my curiosity step after Atmel and Espressif.

[@h1tec]

Thanks lol. I’ll check out Nordic, thanks for recommending them 😁

[@hsmptg]

Great! Why didn´t you choose to PCBway assemble the MCU also?

[@h1tec]

I wanted to challenge myself lol

[@tomekolosie]

Price: stm32h7 cost 4,5 USD but esp32s3 cost 1,8USD. For some project stm32h can be better like for industrial or outdoor application because esp32 is know that have trouble with low or high temperatures but for home applications esp32 will be always the winner.

[@autonoob]

How do they compare in terms of 🛜 😉. I wish stm would try to match the versatility and price of the esp32. I get they have a different focus but competing options would be nice. @haase, Great video and project👍

[@ОбычныйЧеловек-щ7м]

ESPIDF is terrible, and if you want do something that espidf devs don't assume, you got problem's. STM32/RP2040/RP2350 is MUCH more customizeble. ESP32 has only one benefit - easy to use wifi, price difference covered by time that needed to beat shitty blobed framework

[@autonoob]

@ can you give more specific examples? For example I find it quite easy for controlling servos, motors, doing ir send recv. Hosting a webpage over wifi for changing config parameters. Bluetooth was troublesome, but that’s not even an option on the stm. What’s the stm’s strengths? (I don’t use espidf)

[@ОбычныйЧеловек-щ7м]

@@autonoob Realtime applications, where respond time must be in microseconds (sometimes hundreds nanoseconds), in high speed robotics or sensors (ToF applications). Also ADC in esp32 is fully trash compared to base 12bit stm32, if analog proceed needed, stm absolutely winner. Power consumption of all esp32 unacceptable for battery powered devices with high frequency wakeup, no matter, need wireless or not, boot from SPI flash is slow and power hungry. USB can't be reconfigured (I only test esp32c3) for custom action - only slow CDC with predefined VID/PID. ESP32 timers very weak - if need vectoring control, just forget about it. I can continue list cons of esp, but that really great MCU if you need just default cheap IoT without heavy DSP or complicated periphery. If you need Bluetooth, try Nordics controllers, they are really good, but also pricey, all good things cost money. Some ST chips had Bluetooth, but I didn't test it.

[@ОбычныйЧеловек-щ7м]

@@autonoob Realtime applications, where respond time must be in microseconds (sometimes hundreds nanoseconds), in high speed robotics or sensors (ToF applications). Also ADC in esp32 is fully trash compared to base 12bit stm32, if analog proceed needed, stm absolutely winner. Power consumption of all esp32 unacceptable for battery powered devices with high frequency wakeup, no matter, need wireless or not, boot from SPI flash is slow and power hungry. USB can't be reconfigured (I only test esp32c3) for custom action - only slow CDC with predefined VID/PID. ESP32 timers very weak - if need vectoring control, just forget about it. I can continue list cons of esp, but that really great MCU if you need just default cheap IoT without heavy DSP or complicated periphery

[@BK-uf6xm]

Haven't watched it yet but I'm so excited goated youtube channel!!!

[@h1tec]

Thx so much 😁

[@ChubsC]

"Haase Industries, established in 2024, is a KZbin channel dedicated to educating and sharing robotics projects and electronic components with the world" You kept up by your promise !! Keep it up!!

[@h1tec]

Thanks! 😁

[@RubbinRobbin]

Are there good video tutorials for beginners looking to get into custom pcb design?

[@h1tec]

Of course, there are many. Mr T’s Design Graveyard and Phil’s Lab make some good ones 😁

[@thetinkerist]

Have a great new era you are living in! :) good luck moving!

[@h1tec]

@@thetinkerist thanks so much!

[@jankomuzykant1844]

2:02 "I suck at soldering" but only because of lack the flux. In soldering there's almost not too much flux

[@h1tec]

@jankomuzykant1844 the reason could also be that I just… suck at soldering lol. I used sooo much flux, and still burnt the soldermask

[@brianrogers1799]

Would have loved a little more board and trace level detail, but at a top level overview, it looks great. Well done.

[@h1tec]

Thanks so much! What exactly would you like to know about the board and trace level detail? I figured I wanted this video to reach a really large audience, so I wasn't sure if an excessive amount of technical details would shorten my watch time. The schematic is available in the GitHub - I can upload pictures of the different PCB layers to it if you'd like, but if there's any other things you'd like to know, please ask here 😊

[@h1tec]

Actually I think I’m going to make some shorts on how the board was made, in great detail, around next week or so, since I’ll be moved into my new house by then. Either that, or one long video about it. What do you think I should do, 2 or 3 shorts released at the same time or one long video (shorts can be up to 3 mins now)? I’m trying to attract the largest audience I can and also cater to people who like more technical details in other ways.

[@brianrogers1799]

@h1tec I think this video was great, and you explained everything wonderfully! I think a future video with a little info on your planning process for it and how you chose the MCU, and how you worked out how to lay everything out would be a great video. But don't feel like you have to, because this really was great! Keep it up!

[@h1tec]

@ thanks so much for the feedback! I think I will probably make that additional video, sounds like a good idea, thx 😁

[@OriginalJetForMe]

I think you're using KiCad. How do you do those time-lapse animations of the circuit and layout being designed? This is the second video I've seen that does it, and it seems unlikely to me you're just screen recording your (perfect) design pass. :)

[@h1tec]

@@OriginalJetForMe correct! Delete everything in an order that makes sense, then press Ctrl+Z is how I do it 😁

[@paulwojcik1856]

As soon as I heard 'I decided to grow a pair', I thought wait what is he Australian? Yep. 🤣 Good luck in your studies and good to see some young passionate people coming into the field!

[@h1tec]

@@paulwojcik1856 Lol, thanks 😅

[@bernard2735]

Best wishes for your undergrad- it’s a great time of life 😊

[@h1tec]

@@bernard2735 thanks! 😁😁

[@karim1485]

Subbed, keep on thriving!!

[@h1tec]

Thx so much!

[@paragbharadia2895]

genius!

[@h1tec]

@@paragbharadia2895 thanks!

[@testuser6429]

Subscribed my friend ! Keep going

[@thatonesnowboarde]

Excellent work, just some advice though and I wish I would have known this at your age because I had the same issues ... Skin conditions are a sign of zinc deficiency and an inflammatory problem so stop consuming vegetable oils and inflammatory foods... Coconut oil only. After being injured in the military I had to figure a bunch of things out regarding these concepts. I mean no offense just wanted you to be informed 👍 inflammation ages us so you need to keep a good omega 3/6 ratio to maintain an anti-inflammatory state

[@h1tec]

Ok, I’ll definitely look into these things. Thank you so much for the advice 😁

[@thatonesnowboarde]

Scientists have known since 1929 the importance of balancing omega 3/6 because omega-6 converts to mostly pro-inflammatory lipids and omega-3 convert to mostly anti-inflammatory lipids... from the balance of the two near 1:1 ratio our body makes cannabis like fats called endocannabinoids, which is also why we have runners high because exercise is damaging to the body and we need a way to regulate body temp, inflammation, pain, gut, skin, joints, bones, etc etc... its a crucial system but sadly not being taught even to those who should know these things... in order to make these lipids we need zinc and not bombarding the body with a bunch of inflammatory foods.

[@h1tec]

@@thatonesnowboarde ok, I’ll make sure I take action on that 😁

[@xfox360]

like for the cat

[@platin2148]

Also is the S3 as fast as the Esp32-D0W0 ?

[@h1tec]

D0WD is slower I think. This board will beat both cores of standard ESP32 in CoreMark.

[@rubinbot]

What exactly are you studying?

[@h1tec]

Bachelor’s in Mechatronics Engineering 😁😁

[@rubinbot]

@@h1tec I'm studying mechanical engineering. Before I started studying, I considered studying mechatronics or electrical engineering.

[@h1tec]

@@rubinbot cool 😁

[@Naarlack]

Are you planning to do a review of the MHP50?

[@h1tec]

@@Naarlack no, I wasn’t, but I can make one if you’d like 😁 let me know

[@Naarlack]

@@h1tec I'd be keen 💯. Would like to try some hotplate soldering and have seen some cheap ones, but would probably pay the extra for this if I knew it was decent 😁

[@h1tec]

@@Naarlack alright, bet. When are you planning to buy one? I also have an affiliate link to PCBWay module store in my channel about page if you decide it’s the one for you. I’ll try to make that video when I move into my new house, which will be in ~ a week.

[@Naarlack]

@@h1tec Legend. Good luck with the move! 🚚

[@h1tec]

@ thx!! 😊

[@bennyfactor]

yooooooo how do I get one of these

[@h1tec]

Just to let you know, because of the via-in-pad technology and extremely challenging 0.08mm trace widths (or 3 thousandths of an inch) and clearances, one of these will run you over $700 USD. Of course, for 10, it wouldn’t be much more than the cost of one due to starting costs (~$800). I was only able to get these due to the generosity of PCBWay, as the PCB costs are included in my sponsorship from them. That being said, if you would still like to go through with this, let me know and I will create a page on PCBWay projects where you are able to buy it, and I will receive a 10% commission. lol, this video was meant as kind of a ‘stunt’ to show extremely advanced PCB manufacturing technologies.

[@IssacBerry-nd8pt]

Is it? I saw commercial m5 nano etc

[@h1tec]

@@IssacBerry-nd8pt what is M5 nano? This board is 8x17.2mm, I’d like to know if there is smaller STM32s 😁 Can it be powered and programmed independently, with a connector?

[@IssacBerry-nd8pt]

@h1tec m5stack nano c6 is 24mmx12*10, but it got a casing with openings. I will buy that instead, at least for myself.

[@mohamedaminebellaidi4023]

Make more videos You have a great channel

[@h1tec]

Thanks for watching, I appreciate it!

[@breec4634]

Do you sell these?

[@h1tec]

No, I don’t have enough money to invest into them to buy enough to be commercially viable, and it’s… kind of a silly concept to be honest - just sort of a proof/challenge 😅 I hope you have a great day.

[@vim55k]

Great, but i use esp32 through wifi for everything including programming and development

[@h1tec]

Thanks 😁

[@someoneonly]

1:15 cursed shot

[@h1tec]

Lol

[@rickyseddon4786]

4:43 “NanoX” this would be approved by Elon musk

[@h1tec]

@@rickyseddon4786 ikr lol - that was my logic when naming it. You know - I was originally going to name the video after the Arduino Nano ‘Worlds smallest Arduino Nano’, since it’s actually a ~3x scaled down dimensions, but the similarities between the two are little and the audience for that title would not appreciate that it is an STM32 that can’t be programmed with Arduino IDE whatsoever. So, yeah, just slapped on an ‘X’ to the end of Arduino Nano and dropped the Arduino when I had decided for it this new title. Thx for commenting 😁

[@Ross_an_Artisan]

Fantastic Bro

[@ivolol]

ESP32 doesn't need to compete, this board can't do any wifi/bluetooth/zigbee... A lot more interesting would be examining the power draw comparison, for computation and when put in deep sleep.

[@h1tec]

@@ivolol lol, I know. That was so that you could click the video lol. Power draw is much lower than ESP32 because of Cortex-M33 core, check out the data sheets of each 😁 Also, some people use ESP32 for only its processing speed and not wifi and BT

[@wikovisser3664]

Great, someone thinking logically. STM32 = overrated... If you really need a MCU significantly faster than an esp32 s3, you could just as well go for the pi-range...

[@BK-uf6xm]

Can I pay you to design a custom board for me? You can even make a new video about it. If yes, then where can I message you?

[@h1tec]

Hi, of course you can 😁 As long as your timeline isn’t super tight for this board (e.g. you need it finished in 2 days), since I’ll start to be mildly busy with Uni towards the end of the month, let’s work something out! You can contact me on discord @_h1tec or email me [e-mail]

[@BK-uf6xm]

@@h1tec just added on disc yt is deleting my replies

[@h1tec]

@ aight thanks, just accepted

[@bestofbest8213]

Does STM32H523HEY6TR have Bluetooth and WIFI? if NO, then you cannot compare it.

[@pterribilis80]

Why not? He said in the video he is going to use it tor a sumo robot and an antweight combat robot. Both of which dont require bt and wifi. Some competitions even ban the use of bt.

[@bestofbest8213]

@@pterribilis80 you did not understand the qns.

[@lacuevadelinsecto]

What a awful cat!! 😍 hahaha Great video!

[@h1tec]

No, she’s a very cute cat lol 😂 thanks

[@Asmcavr]

You created a clickable title, but what about the facts? The comparison with esp32 is not correct at all - where is the wi-fi and bluetooth?

[@platin2148]

A actually the esp32 can be ripped out of the package to be smaller.

[@h1tec]

Lol

[@wikovisser3664]

So let me get this straight.... You designed the smallest STM32 board to be placed/connected on the top of more breakout pcbs? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of compactness? Yet you still need to control the robot with no bluetooth nor wifi... So are you going to connect with a hardwire connection lol... Does that mean you need an additional breakout board?

[@h1tec]

@@wikovisser3664 1. The sumo robot will be autonomous. 2. Every microcontroller board needs to be connected to other circuitry through hardware if you want to drive motors, etc - that’s either through a breakout PCB or through breadboard wires, or just wires, so your logic here doesn’t make sense. I just made a carrier PCB because it looks good. It doesn’t need to be connected to another PCB - it can be to add peripherals, but you can still program it and power it independently. It’s still more compact than an Arduino Nano and a Nano Carrier Board, which this was based off of. The entire system is 24x36mm, which is still smaller than some boards that only have a microcontroller. Thanks for commenting lol 😁😁

[@wikovisser3664]

@@h1tec seems to me you are very clever. So never mind. Thanks for replying.🫠🫠

[@h1tec]

@ thank you so much man, you helped boost this video too! I hope you have a great week! 😊

[@wikovisser3664]

@@h1tec my pleasure. You need it. I'll continue building my industry standard pcbs in the meantime.

[@h1tec]

@@wikovisser3664 thanks! 😁

[@EngineeringAllAround]

Can't compete? So it's wifi7 ? :)

[@h1tec]

@@EngineeringAllAround lol, thanks for commenting!

[@patryk4815]

esp has wifi, how it can compete to stm? wtf

[@wikovisser3664]

Yay. Another logical-thinking person. If you need more speed... Go for pi. STM32 is sheeeeet lol

[@lachlanlau]

The rizz sounds are killing me

[@h1tec]

@@lachlanlau mb bro 💀

[@EDISON_SCIENCE_CORNER]

Perfecto🎉

[@h1tec]

Thank you so much!