The DevBench concept is pretty simple: keep the Core reusable and change the Workdeck to suit the project.
But a concept like that doesn’t mean much until an actual Workdeck is built, populated and used.
The first completed DevBench Workdeck was designed around the STM32H573I-DK Discovery Kit, along with a handful of Grove modules for buttons, LEDs and analog inputs.
The goal wasn’t to create a finished electronic product. It was to create a useful development setup — something that could sit on the workbench, provide plenty of inputs and outputs for experimenting, and stay together when it needed to be moved.
Starting With the Workdeck
The H573DK Workdeck begins as a single 3D-printed plate designed specifically around the development hardware.
Rather than using a generic grid of mounting holes, the board locations, openings and standoffs are built directly into the Workdeck. That allows the electronics to sit at useful heights while keeping connectors, controls and the H573DK display accessible.
Once installed, the Workdeck slides into grooves in the DevBench Core and becomes the working surface.
When another project comes along, the entire Workdeck can be removed and replaced.
Adding the Electronics
The H573DK setup uses:
- STM32H573I-DK Discovery Kit
- Grove interface shield
- Four Grove LED modules
- Two Grove Dual Button modules, providing four pushbuttons
- Two Grove slide potentiometers
- Grove interconnect cables
The modules aren’t simply sitting on the Workdeck. Purpose-designed standoffs are printed as part of the deck, and the Grove modules are secured using M2 × 6 screws.
That keeps the controls stable while they’re being operated but still makes it easy to remove or replace a module later.
A Little More Than Blinking an LED
Once the hardware was assembled, the next step was creating a Starter project that could exercise the Workdeck without turning into a complicated application of its own.
The resulting DevBench H573DK Starter v1.0.0 demonstrates quite a bit of the available hardware.
The four external buttons control their corresponding LED modules. The two sliders provide analog inputs. The H573DK’s onboard LEDs provide heartbeat and rotating LED demonstrations, while the USER button toggles another onboard LED and reports the RTC time.
The LCD provides a live status display, and the capacitive touchscreen is also active.
A virtual COM port through ST-LINK provides another view into what’s happening while experimenting.
Keeping the Starter Approachable
One of the goals for the firmware was to keep it useful as a starting point, rather than building an elaborate software framework around a demonstration board.
STM32CubeMX still handles the normal hardware and peripheral configuration, while the DevBench demonstration code is kept primarily in a separate application module.
That makes it relatively easy to find the interesting part of the example, change it and start experimenting.
The project was also tested through CubeMX code regeneration to make sure the DevBench application structure survived the process.
That’s particularly useful when the whole point of the project is to encourage changing things.
Why All the Buttons, LEDs and Sliders?
here isn’t a specific application behind this collection of controls.
That’s intentional.
A development setup becomes much more useful when there are easy ways to generate inputs and observe outputs.
Need a digital input? Press a button.
Need an analog value? Move a slider.
Need to indicate a state? Turn on an LED.
Want something more detailed? Put it on the LCD or send it through the virtual COM port.
None of these examples are especially complicated, but together they make the Workdeck a handy place to experiment without rebuilding the basic input/output hardware every time.
And Yes, There Are Wires
A development setup is still a development setup.
There are Grove cables, USB connections and exposed circuit boards. DevBench isn’t intended to hide those things inside an enclosure.
The idea is to organize the experiment, not disguise it.
Keeping the hardware open makes connectors accessible, makes changes easy and lets the Workdeck evolve along with whatever is being developed.
That’s also why the unused areas and openings aren’t necessarily a problem. A Workdeck is a place to work, not a finished appliance.
A Starter Project to Go With It
The physical Workdeck is only part of this particular DevBench project.
The DevBench H573DK Starter v1.0.0 was developed alongside it and includes the STM32CubeIDE project plus supporting documentation:
- Quick Start Guide
- Starter Guide
- I/O Reference
The Starter is intended to provide a known-good beginning for experimenting with the demonstrated H573DK configuration rather than production-ready application firmware.
The First Workdeck, Not the Last
The H573DK Workdeck proved the basic DevBench idea from both sides.
Mechanically, a purpose-built Workdeck can be installed and removed from a reusable Core while keeping an entire development setup together.
Electrically, that Workdeck can become a useful experimentation platform rather than simply a place to mount a development board.
And perhaps most importantly, it leaves plenty of room for the next idea.
The next DevBench Workdeck doesn’t need to look like this one, use the same electronics, or even be centered around the same kind of project.
That’s the interesting part.
