ST has released a new discovery kit for its STM32F030 Value Line microcontrollers, which were announced in July 2013, offering 32-bit performance.

The STM32F0308 Discovery board is an affordable and easy-to-use development kit that enables designers to quickly evaluate and start development with STM32F030 Value Line microcontrollers. It is shipped pre-configured and ready to use out of the box. Powered from a USB socket or separate power supply, the kit has an extension header allowing quick connection to all microcontroller I/Os. The onboard 64-pin STM32F030R8T6 microcontroller features 64KB Flash memory and 8KB RAM.

The new STM32F030 Value Line microcontroller family obsoletes the minimalist approach traditionally imposed on low-end embedded designs. By relieving the extreme resource constraints familiar to 8-bit users, this advanced family streamlines design, boosts application performance, and allows scalability with minimal hardware changes. The devices feature a 48MHz ARM Cortex-M0, 5-channels DMA, core and versatile peripherals such as a motor-control timer, five general-purpose timers and a 1Msample/s 12-bit ADC, to combine uncompromised capabilities and price parity with older 8-bit architectures.

Also, equaling the convenience and simplicity of the 8-bit microcontroller world, STM32F030 Value Line devices are supported by 100 per cent free development tool chains, in addition to the low-cost discovery kit and generic tools supporting ARM Cortex-M devices.

The STM32F0308 Discovery board is available immediately, from distributors, priced at $8.90.