MicroPython Framework for ARM MCU

../
README.md	7099	Jun 5 11:55:48 2026
firmware/	512	Jun 2 09:31:34 2026
include/	512	Jun 3 10:35:26 2026
programs/	512	Jun 2 18:50:35 2026

Platforms

You will need to use whatever command line shell your development computer operating system has to make use of this framework. macOS and Linux computers (including Linux On ChromeOS aka Crostini containers) always have one or more command line shells, named something like Terminal or Console.

First, you must clone the arm-mcu git repository with the following command:

git clone https://github.com/pmunts/arm-mcu.git

It is advisable to define the environment variable ARMSRC to the location of the checkout directory:

export ARMSRC=$(HOME)/arm-mcu

A MicroPython project directory contains a number of files. The easiest way to create a new project is to copy the contents of the template project directory into your new project directory:

mkdir myproject
cp -r $ARMSRC/micropython/programs/template/. myproject

It is not necessary for your new project to reside within the arm-mcu directory tree.

GNU Make

Each MicroPython program project contains a minimal Makefile for GNU Make (aka gmake) that simply defines a default value for the macro variable ARMSRC and then includes $(ARMSRC)/micropython/include/micropython.mk, which defines default values for some more macro variables, defines some make targets applicable to all target boards (make run et al), and finally includes an optional a target board family dependent include file (selected by the BOARDFAMILY macro variable) that defines some firmware management targets (make install_firmware and make nuke).

Make Targets

run

Executes your MicroPython project on the target board and connects to its serial console.
Press CONTROL-X to terminate the project running on the target board and disconnect from its serial console.

reset

Resets the target board, exactly as if you pressed its reset button. This will stop a MicroPython project started by make run or (re)start a project stored in flash memory by make install.

clean

Removes working files (i.e. __pycache__/) from the project directory.

ls

List files in the target board's file system(s).

install

Copies your MicroPython project to the target board's flash memory, and then resets the target board to begin execution.

Note: Some boards with limited flash memory do not have a flash file system, and this make target will always fail.

uninstall

Remove all files from the target board's flash memory, and then resets the target board.

Note: Some boards with limited flash memory do not have a flash file system, and this make target will always fail.

No target

Optional Firmware Management Targets

These are not necessary for routine MicroPython usage. Use only with great caution.

Supported Board Families

The target board flash memory programming mechanism (e.g. ST-Link) is selected by the BOARDFAMILY macro variable and the target board firmware image file is selected by the BOARDNAME macro variable.

This is a small subset of the vast variety of 32-bit ARM microcontrollers supported by the MicroPython ecosystem, and limited to the boards that I actually possess and can validate support for. It is almost trivially easy to add support for more board families.

All of the STM32 boards I have chosen to support have enough memory for a flash file system as well as an on-board ST-Link in-circuit debugger/flash programmer.

install_firmware

Installs MicroPython firmware to the target board flash memory.

nuke

Erases all of the target board flash memory (i.e. factory reset).

Make Command Syntax

The exact target board is selected by two gmake macro variables: BOARDFAMILY and BOARDNAME. Both of these can and should be initialized by environment variables before invoking gmake.

The following command line pseudocode illustrates how to run, install, or uninstall a MicroPython project with gmake (most operating systems symlink or alias make to gmake):

export ARMSRC=<your arm-mcu checkout directory>
make <your make target>

Make Command examples

export ARMSRC=$HOME/arm-mcu

# Run project on the target board
make run
make

# Copy project to target board flash memory
make install

# Remove project from target board flash memory
make uninstall

Visual Studio Code

IntelliSense

You will need to install the Microsoft Python extension to enable IntelliSense for Python3.

Usage

Start Visual Studio Code by running the command code . in your MicroPython project directory.

Terminal Tasks

The file .vscode/tasks.json within each MicroPython project defines tasks (i.e. actions) that can be invoked from the Visual Studio Code command menu. These actions just run some of the make commands described above.

Terminal → Run Build Task...

Terminal → Run Task... → Run project

Keyboard Shortcut: CTRL + SHIFT + B (Linux and Windows)

Keyboard Shortcut: ⌘ + SHIFT + B (macOS)

Executes make run to run your MicroPython project on your target MCU. Press CONTROL-X in the Visual Studio Code terminal output tab to terminate the project.

Terminal → Run Task... → Reset target MCU

Executes make reset to reset the target MCU.

Terminal → Run Task... → Write project files to flash memory file system

Executes make install to copy the project to the target MCU.

Terminal → Run Task... → Remove project files from flash memory file system

Executes make uninstall to remove the project from the target MCU.