The STMicroelectronics STM32Cube ecosystem is designed to help developers move from microcontroller selection and configuration to coding, debugging, and programming — and the STM32C5 gives them a compelling platform to put those tools to work. With STM32Cube Innovation Challenge: Design with STM32C5, ST gives developers the opportunity to explore that combination firsthand and show what they can build. Participate for a chance to win a share of €5,000 in prizes!

How to Participate in the STM32Cube Innovation Challenge

Professionals, makers, and students are welcome to participate in the STM32Cube Innovation Challenge. STMicroelectronics is offering free STM32C5 development boards to a limited number of eligible participants. To apply for a free board, simply submit your project idea through the official website.
 
Widget Header ST Contest 2026_v022

Eligible project submissions will be evaluated by a panel of engineers and executives from Elektor and STMicroelectronics. You can submit your entry via the Challenge website. The judges will assess each project based on its technical quality, practical functionality, and innovativeness.


Timeline

  • Contest launch: October 2026
  • Board requests: October to November 2026
  • Project submission deadline: January 31, 2027
  • Winners announced: March 17, 2027, at embedded world, Nuremberg
     

Prizes

  • First Prize: €2,500
  • Second Prize: €1,500
  • Third Prize: €1,000

Inside the STM32Cube Ecosystem

Let’s consider what sits inside. The original STM32Cube architecture dates back to 2014, and after a decade of new series being added onto it, ST rebuilt the core layers rather than patching them again. The STM32C5 is the first series to use them.

Three things have changed. First, STM32 HAL2 is a reworked hardware abstraction layer (HAL). It improves usability, maintainability, and performance while retaining the familiar HAL programming model and API style. However, it introduces breaking changes, so existing HAL1 code requires migration. Next to it sit the low-layer (LL) drivers, which provide register-focused APIs. Use HAL2 for most of your code and drop to LL where speed or size matters.

STM32CubeMX2 keeps the same pinout, clock, and peripheral flow as the STM32CubeMX but adds a code preview, so you can inspect what will be generated before you generate it. STM32CubeIDE extension for Visual Studio Code adds STM32 build and debug tooling to VS Code as an extension pack rather than a separate integrated development environment (IDE), so the extensions you already use come along. ST’s guide covers the driver setup.

Porting existing work? HAL2 breaks some application programming interfaces (APIs), mostly in the configuration phase, though the programming model is unchanged. The migration guide covers the differences. Older STM32 series stay on HAL1.

What the STM32C5 Brings

Built on ST’s 40-nm platform, the STM32C5 offers up to 1 MB of flash and 256 KB of RAM, runs from 2.7 V to 3.6 V, draws under 100 µA/MHz in run mode, and holds its specification to 125°C ambient. The core has a floating-point unit (FPU) and digital signal processing (DSP) extensions, which matters for filtering and control loops in software.
 

Figure 1: The STM32C5. (Source: STMicroelectronics)
Figure 1: The STM32C5. (Source: STMicroelectronics)

Peripherals include Ethernet, USB, Improved Inter-Integrated Circuit (I3C), FDCAN (CAN with flexible data rate), and OCTOSPI (octal serial peripheral interface), plus up to three analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), two digital-to-analog converters (DACs), two comparators, and an operational amplifier. That analog set usually decides whether you need external conditioning circuitry.

The series also targets Platform Security Architecture (PSA) Level 3 and Security Evaluation Standard for IoT Platforms (SESIP) Level 3, with optional side-channel resistant crypto and key storage. If your project is heading toward the EU Cyber Resilience Act, certified primitives in the silicon rather than bolted on afterwards save a lot of grief later.

Choose Your Development Platform

Two Nucleo boards are the starting points. The NUCLEO-C562RE is a Nucleo-64 carrying the STM32C562RE, with an Arduino UNO V3 connector, ST morpho headers for full I/O access, an FDCAN header, and an on-board ST-LINK. Start here if your idea is sensor or control oriented and you want to reuse shields you already own.

The NUCLEO-C5A3ZG is a Nucleo-144 with the STM32C5A3ZGT6 in a 144-pin LQFP (low-profile quad flat package). It keeps the Arduino connector and adds RJ45 Ethernet, an M.2 Key A serial memory connector, USB Type-C, hardware cryptography, and an STLINK-V3EC (Figure 3strong>). Pick it for pin count, wired networking, or the crypto block. For anything with a screen, ST lists a Nucleo-compatible Riverdi display kit supported in TouchGFX, and the B-M2MEM-PACK1 adds five serial memory boards that pair neatly with that M.2 connector.

The NUCLEO-C562RE (left) and the NUCLEO-C5A3ZG, with Ethernet (right). (Source: STMicroelectronics)

Ready to Innovate?

The STM32Cube Innovation Challenge runs from October 2026 to March 2027. Motor controller, connected sensor node, industrial monitor, or something nobody has thought of yet: the judges want designs that use the STM32C5 well past a blinking LED. Document your reasoning, not just your result. The strongest entries will explain why each choice was made in enough detail that another engineer could rebuild the project from the documentation alone.

Board requests will open in October 2026, submissions will close on January 31, 2027, and winners will be announced on March 17, 2027 at embedded world in Nuremberg.

Now it’s your turn. Put STM32Cube and the STM32C5 to work, turn your idea into a working design, and show the world what you can build.

Your Premium trial has endedYour Premium trial has ended