Andriy Malyshenko Offers a Low-Cost, Open-Hardware STMicro STM8 Alternative to the Arduino Nano

Cloud architect and self-described "maker and tinkerer at nights" Andriy Malyshenko has developed an Arduino Nano-sized development board based around the STMicroelectronics STM8S003F3 microcontroller — driven by a desire to work around component shortages.

"During the chip shortage many of us had to pay huge premium for MCUs [Microcontroller Units] that we didn't even counted before," Malyshenko explains. "I spent some time for looking around alternatives that are low-cost and readily available. After all it kind of strange paying $5 for chips having ¢50 MSRP [Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.]"

The result of Malyshenko's efforts: the STM8S003 Development Board, a compact creation designed to be a drop-in replacement for the Arduino Nano and compatibles and based on the STM8S003F3 microcontroller. "[This] offers reasonable performance and low power consumption," Malyshenko explains, "[and] a wide range of features, including 16MHz clock speed, 8kB of flash memory, 1kB of RAM, and 128 bytes of EEPROM. It also supports a variety of communication protocols, including SPI, I2C, and UART."

Designed for low cost production combined with ease of use, the board mimics the Arduino Nano's pinout — and boasts compatibility with the Arduino IDE, meaning existing Arduino projects can be easily ported across. There's a micro-USB port for power and data, connected to a CH340E USB-UART bridge chip, along with an STMicroelectronics SWIM single-wire programming and debug interface.

Described as a work-in-progress, Malyshenko's schematics and firmware can be found on the project's GitHub repository under the reciprocal GNU General Public License 2.