Path to Programmable 3

Table of contents

element14 and AMD invite all members to enroll in Path to Programmable III; a free training program that includes an FPGA-based SoC giveaway and a design/build phase where selected participants will have the opportunity to win up to $4000 in prizes.

Learn, Create, and Design with FPGA-based SoCs

What is Path to Programmable III?

Path III is the third session in the element14 Community’s structured FPGA-based SoC training. The first Path was held in 2018 and focused on programmable logic devices PLDs and featured the AVNET MiniZed development board, based on the AMD Zynq^™ 7000 SoC.

Path II convened in 2019 and offered more advanced learning opportunities and featured the AVNET Ultra96-V2 development board, based on the AMD Zynq^™ UltraScale+ MPSoC.

Path III will double the fun by offering structured trainings on both the MiniZed (2021.1) and Ultra96-V2 (2021.2) boards. Each training track will be followed by a design/build phase. To spice up the competition, we are offering up to $4000 in prizes and four different design paths.

What is a Design Path?

Every Path to Programmable training has a learning phase and a design/build phase. After participants complete the training modules (2021.1 & 2021.2) and receive a development board, they will design and build a project following one of four design paths:

The Vision Path

• Embedded/Machine Vision
• Face Recognition
• Accelerated AI Video
• Image/Video Streaming

The Core Technology Path

• AI/Machine Learning
• Connectivity
• DSP
• Ethernet

The Market Path

• Health
• Home
• Gaming
• Industrial

The Environmental Path

• Dirt & Plants
• Streets & Highways
• Pets & Critters
• Water & Oceans

The Kit

We are offering two different development kits that members can choose between on their application form. 

The 2 Sponsored Boards
Buy Now   Tech Specs	MiniZed - (50 available kits) The MiniZed training will teach you to develop a Zynq™ 7000 platform using AMD Software and Hardware tools within an Ubuntu OS running in a virtual machine, while learning the Zynq 7000 architecture. The training includes three modules: Software, Hardware, and PetaLinux. Training 2021
Buy Now   Tech Specs AES-ACC-U96-ME-SK Dev Kit , 96Boards Click Mezzanine Starter Kit AES-ACC-U96-JTAG AES-ACC-U96-4APWR  Power Supply	Ultra96-V2 - (20 available kits) The Ultra96-V2 training training will teach you how to get started with the AMD Zynq™ MPSoC. This series of three training modules will walk you through the three main elements of the design process: hardware design within Vivado, Embedded Software Design in Vitis and Embedded Linux development using Petalinux. Training 2021

The Prizes

Prize	Prize Category
Grand Prize Winner	Approximate Value $1900 USD* MP720025 US Digital Oscilloscope HP OMEN 17-ck1020nr 17.3" Gaming Laptop Computer
Runner Up	Approximate Value $1000 USD* MP720644 US CAL DU Oscilloscope
Third Prize	Approximate Value $600 USD* FLIR C3-X WIFI Thermal Imager
Fourth Prize	Approximate Value $400 USD* FLUKE-175 ESFP Handheld Digital Multimeter
Honorable Mentions	Approximate Value $134 USD* DIGILENT 410-376 Dev Board MP730651 Handheld Digital Multimeter
Finisher Prize** swag: t-shirts or any of the element14 branded items we already have. Pins, pens, shirts, etc.

The Dates

Eligibility

Any element14 member is eligible to enroll. If you are not a Community member please register here to join.

Application Tips

An important thing to remember is that you are also competing against others to become a participant in this program. Therefore, everything starts with the application.

The key to writing a winning application is to provide as much meaningful information about yourself as possible. Try answering each of the following questions in your application:

1. Describe your technical background.
2. Why are you interested in this training program?
3. What development board do you prefer: the MiniZed or the Ultra96-V2
4. What design path are you most interested in and why?
5. Have you participated in the element14 Community? If so, please provide some links to what you have done (forum posts, blogs, reviews, etc.). If you are a new member, answer "New Member."

All interested element14 members must submit an application entry form before the end of enrollment. See the The Dates above.

Technical Resources

Go here for the course documentation.

The Judges

element14 Community Staff
Top Member(s)

Awarding Points: We will award up to 40 points per training blog for up to 5 training blogs only. If you write a tutorial or how you solved a problem, you will earn more points than if you wrote a general update blog such as “I received the board” blog. The final project blog is worth up to 300 points, as determined by our judges. All training blogs and projects must be published in the Path to Programmable 3 group by the due date, see the deadline table.

The Challengers

You will be able to see how you compare to other participants via a tracking table here (Updated: Sept 27, 2023 by rscasny):

Where to Ask Questions?

For any general or technical questions about the competition, please post a comment on this page. It is monitored by element14.

Bookmarking this page is a good way to keep up-to-date with the competition.

The Terms

Please read the full terms and conditions attached below.