nucleo

Nucleo is a term with multiple meanings, most notably as a line of development boards by STMicroelectronics and as the word for nucleus in several Romance languages. In biology, nucleo refers to the nucleus, the membrane-bound organelle that houses the cell’s genetic material and regulates growth, metabolism and reproduction.

STMicroelectronics' Nucleo family comprises affordable, board-level development platforms for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers. Each board integrates an MCU, an on-board ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger/programmer, and both Arduino Uno R3-compatible headers and additional Morpho expansion connectors that provide access to the MCU’s full set of I/O pins. They cover a wide range of STM32 devices, from Cortex-M0/M0+, M3, M4 to higher-performance models, enabling progression from simple projects to more complex designs.

The Nucleo platform is designed for rapid prototyping and education. It supports the STM32CubeMX and STM32CubeIDE software tools and is MBED-enabled for online compilation in some configurations. Power is supplied via USB or an external source, and boards can host Arduino shields while also exposing extensive GPIO through the Morpho connectors.

Commonly used in universities, research labs and maker environments, Nucleo boards balance low cost, versatility and compatibility with a broad STM32 ecosystem. Model variants include many Nucleo-F, Nucleo-L and Nucleo-G lines, each with different MCU options.