Introduction to STM32 (Blue Pill) Firmware Development — Learning CubeIDE & FreeRTOS Without Additional Components

The smartwatches, wireless earbuds, robot vacuum cleaners, cars, drones, kiosks, and medical devices we use every day contain small computers that receive user input, assess situations, and control the devices. These systems are called embedded systems. However, getting started with embedded systems is more difficult than it may seem. While it is easy to find examples of turning on an LED online, it is not easy to systematically learn the operating principles of real electronic devices, such as: "How does an electronic device respond when a button is pressed?" "How can it operate accurately at set intervals?" "How can multiple functions run simultaneously?" "How can it remember its settings even after being powered off and back on?" In this course, rather than memorizing complex theories or code, you will operate a small development board yourself and gradually understand the core principles of embedded systems one by one. Starting with basic hands-on exercises for controlling LEDs and buttons, you will progressively learn the core functions used to build real electronic devices, including Interrupts, Timers, PWM, ADC, Memory, and Watchdog. Finally, you will use an RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) to combine the functions you have learned individually into a single system in which multiple functions operate simultaneously. The goal of this course is not simply to teach you how to use a specific development board, but to build the foundational skills needed to understand and implement how hardware is controlled by software when working with various electronic devices and development boards in the future.