Build Your Own Matter Device from Scratch | Smart Home Special Vol. 4 | NEXTY Electronics, an Electronic Components and Semiconductor Trading Company

Introduction

In recent years, advances in smart home technology have enabled various devices to work together, making life more convenient. Among these advancements, "Matter" has been gaining attention as a new standard for increasing compatibility between devices from different manufacturers. By using Matter, users can connect and operate devices without worrying about different platforms or ecosystems.

Currently, there are many Matter devices on the market, such as smart plugs, smart lighting, and door locks, but many people may be wondering what is inside these devices and whether they can be made by individuals.

This article will introduce how to create your own Matter device for those who want to experience Matter technology in practice or who want to create their own Matter device.

Would you go to the trouble of making your own Matter device?

Matter technology is open source, so anyone can build it themselves.
But do you really need to go to the trouble of making your own?
Below are some of the benefits:

Learning Opportunities: Learn the fundamentals of IoT and wireless communication by building your own Matter device.
Customizability: You can create a device tailored to your needs, allowing for specific functionality and design.
Cost savings: Commercially available Matter devices can be expensive, but building your own can help keep costs down.

This time we will practice the following:

Build a sample Matter app (light) using the evaluation board
Connect and control your devices from Google, Apple, and Amazon
Add customization features to the sample Matter app and verify them

Advance preparation

Equipment preparation

Item	quantity	remarks
Windows PC	1 unit	Windows 11 (Windows 7 and Windows 10 are also OK)
Matter-compatible evaluation module STM32WB5MM-DK	1 unit	The STM32WB5MM-DK is a development kit from STMicroelectronics that supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and IEEE 802.15.4 wireless communications (protocols such as Zigbee and Thread). Developers have access to a wealth of resources and tools to rapidly prototype and develop to production.
USB CABLES for connecting the PC and the board	1 bottle	Board side TERMINALS: Micro USB Type-B PC side TERMINALS: USB Type-A or USB Type-C
Ecosystem Environment	ー	Wi-Fi connection environment Smartphone Any of the following Thread-compatible smart LOUDSPEAKERS Apple Home Pod, Google Nest Hub, Amazon Echo

Preparing the development environment

Download the following required software from the official ST website (account registration required):

soft	Explanation	Currently the latest version
STM32CubeIDE	Integrated Development Environment (IDE)	1.17.0
STM32CubeIDE
STM32CubeProg	Writing tools	2.18.0
STM32CubeProg
X-CUBE-MATTER	Matter development code collection	1.1.1
X-CUBE-MATTER
Matter	The version of Matter built into the above development environment	1.3
Tera Term	Connection QR code confirmation (Optional, not required)	5.3

install

*Note: If the file path contains Japanese characters, an error will occur.

STM32CubeIDE
1. Run the exe file after unzipping
2. The default installation is OK (the path will be C:\ST\STM32CubeIDE_1.17.0)
STM32CubeProgrammer
1. Run the exe file after unzipping
2. The default installation is OK (in my case, the path was C:\ST\STM32CubeProgrammer)
Matter software expansion for STM32Cube
1. Just unzip it (no installation required, in my case I set the path to C:\ST\en.x-cube-matter-v1-1-1)

Build Procedure

1. Open STM32CubeIDE from the Start menu
(The workspace folder is optional. In my case, the path is C:\ST\workspace_1.17.0 I chose

2. Select [File] → [Open Projects from File System]

3. Select Lighting-App from the Matter development code collection from [Directory...]
(In my case, the path is C:\ST\en.x-cube-matter-v1-1-1\Projects\STM32WB5MM-DK\Applications\Matter\Lighting-App It will be)

4. Uncheck Lighting-App (to avoid duplicate folder imports) and select [Finish]

5. Right-click the lighting-App-WB5MM-DK project on the left and select "Build Project."

6. Wait until it is complete (this may take several minutes to several tens of minutes depending on your PC specifications).

The binary file (lighting-App-WB5MM-DK.bin) will be generated in the following path:
C:\ST\en.x-cube-matter-v1-1-1\Projects\STM32WB5MM-DK\Applications\Matter\Lighting-App\STM32CubeIDE\Debug

Burning procedure

1. Connect the PC and STM32WB5MM-DK

2. Open STM32CubeProgrammer from the Start menu

3. Click [Connect] to connect STM32CubeProgrammer and STM32WB5MM-DK.

4. Write the firmware for the BLE/Thread stack
(The firmware in question is a communications stack, provided as a binary by ST.)

Select the Firmware Upgrade Services tab.
Select Browse
Select stm32wb5x_BLE_Thread_light_dynamic_fw.bin from the following path:
C:\ST\en.x-cube-matter-v1-1-1\Projects\STM32WB_Copro_Wireless_Binaries\STM32WB5x
Select [Firmware Upgrade] and write

5. Write the Lighting app firmware

Select the [Erasing & Programming] tab
Select Browse
Select lighting-App-WB5MM-DK.bin from the following path:
C:\ST\en.x-cube-matter-v1-1-1\Projects\STM32WB5MM-DK\Applications\Matter\Lighting-App\STM32CubeIDE\Debug
Select [Start Programming] and write

6. If [Dimmable Light] is displayed on the LCD of the board, writing is successful.

7. Select [Disconnect] to disconnect from the device.

Connection and control operation check

As part of my Apple ecosystem, I use a HomePod mini and an iPhone.

Commissioning

Open the Home app on your iPhone and select Add Accessory from the + icon in the top right corner.

Scan the QR code below to add your device
*The QR code for the evaluation board is fixed.

iPhone operation

The method for generating a QR code is explained below, but there is no problem if you do not do this.

Connect the compatible evaluation board to the PC using a USB CABLES.
Open TeraTerm, select [File] ⇒ [New Connection] ⇒ [Serial] ⇒ STLink Virtual COM Port, and click [OK].

Go to [Settings] ⇒ [Serial Port] ⇒ Change [Speed] to 115200, then select [Reconfigure Current Connection].

Press and hold the B1 button on the evaluation board (until FACTORY RESET is displayed in the TeraTerm terminal).
The evaluation board log will be output, and you can obtain the QR code by copying the QR code URL and opening it in a browser.

Operation check of the evaluation board

Lights on/off

Dimming

[Advanced] Adding customization features

Up to this point, you have been able to experience developing with Matter using the sample app provided by ST.
So how do you implement new customization features?
We will introduce how to implement the following function as an example.

Feature Overview

Use the "B2" button on the evaluation board to physically turn the light on and off.

Operation after implementation

Implementation Tips

I was able to achieve this functionality with just a few lines of code.
The steps are as follows:
*After editing the code, you will need to repeat the steps in Chapters 3 to 5.

Registering a button callback function
Execute Matter-related processes

Other customization feature implementation ideas

Display dimming level as a percentage
Press the "B2" button to change to a 5-level dimming loop (0%, 20%, 50%, 80%, 100%)

Summary

We introduced the steps to build a Matter device using a Matter-compatible evaluation board.

What do you think? It was easy to develop a Matter device from scratch using only Windows.
This time we only looked at the Matter Light cluster, but the code collection also includes sample apps for other clusters. Please check them out and try running them on the evaluation board.

Building your own Matter device is a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of IoT, smart homes, and Matter technology. If you have experience with circuit design or soldering, you can even use Matter communication to "invent" devices for other purposes.

If you would like to purchase the STM32WB5MM-DK used in this article or OTHERS STMicroelectronics products, please contact NEXTY Electronics Corporation.
As an authorized distributor of STMicroelectronics, we offer highly reliable products.

We also carry out in-house development and contract development (hardware and software development) using the products we handle.
We will propose the best solution to support your project, so please feel free to Inquiry!