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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/vedderb/bldc/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Before you can build VESC firmware, you need a few system tools and the ARM cross-compiler toolchain.

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System dependencies

Install the required packages with apt:
sudo apt install git build-essential libgl-dev libxcb-xinerama0 wget git-gui
The packages provide:
  • git — version control
  • build-essential — make and core build tools
  • libgl-dev — OpenGL development headers (required for Qt tools)
  • libxcb-xinerama0 — X11 multi-monitor support (required for Qt tools)
  • wget — used by the SDK installer
To use the STLink v2 programmer without root privileges, add the udev rules:
wget vedder.se/Temp/49-stlinkv2.rules
sudo mv 49-stlinkv2.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
sudo udevadm trigger

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Clone the repository

git clone http://github.com/vedderb/bldc.git
cd bldc
git checkout origin/master

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Install the ARM toolchain

The firmware requires the GNU ARM GCC cross-compiler. The Makefile includes an installer target that downloads and sets up the toolchain automatically: 
make arm_sdk_install
This installs the toolchain into the tools/ directory inside the repository. All build output is placed in the build/ directory.
You do not need to install arm-none-eabi-gcc globally. The make arm_sdk_install target manages a local copy so the build is self-contained.

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Python 3 and pip (IDE only)

If you plan to use the Qt Creator IDE integration, you also need Python 3 and pip. These are used by the make qt_install target.
Python 3 and pip are typically available or installable through your system package manager:
# Ubuntu
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip

# macOS (via Homebrew)
brew install python
See IDE setup for the full Qt Creator installation steps.

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