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What's Stopping You Building Your Next Project with an FPGA? (Please, Don't Blame the Cost!)

rscasny

The community does a ton of projects with MCUs. If they do the job for you, that's great. But the element14 community is about learning, experimenting and roadtesting. In this spirit, I am proposing that you should try building your next project with an FPGA (SoC), if it suits the application, of course. What's stopping you? Oh, some members have voiced the cost issue. Granted, some FPGAs do cost a lot. But chip manufacturers are rolling out economical chipsets that most makers, pro-makers or experienced hobbyists can afford. (If you can't, then apply to a RoadTest and if you win you can get a dev board for FREE.) I think FPGA / SoCs will move into a more important place for electronic designers, especially for IoT applications. Perhaps it's time to experiement with one. What's stopping you?

 

Here's a link to a current roadtest:Digilent ARTY S7 Dev Board (Xilinx Spartan 7)   Apply today!

 

Randall Scasny

RoadTest Program Manager

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  • Hi Randall, I have been thinking about getting started with FPGAs this year. I've got myself a "TinyFPGA". I've gone for the $12 A version which is based on the Lattice Mach XO2-256. That's it's about as simple as they get.

    image

    TinyFPGA A-Series User Guide

     

    The main reasons stopping me getting going.

     

    1) The need for a change of mindshift from sequential programming to logical building blocks.

    2) Learning a whole new toolset to get these things programmed.

    3) Killer app. Given that I can do most things I need using a microcontoller I've no need to swap to FPGAs.

     

    Most of the FPGA dev boards I've seen are of the sledge hammer style. They've got masses of processing power and are suited to things like processing video signals or SDR rather than the kind of things I normally do such as flashing a few LEDs and moving some servos.

     

    I have been looking at the Arty and Digilent tools and there do look to be some good examples and tutorials. I'll maybe be applying if I can thing of a suitable task to roadtest the board.

  • in reply to Workshopshed

    I agree. For me the reasons are the same as Andy's 1/2/3.

     

    To sum up: "Learning Curve"

     

    ps, Andy - what is the startup time for these things?

    I have a logic application (brake/signal light converter), but it needs to pretty much be instant on (so it can be powered by the brake/signal lights themselves).

     

    -Nico

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    That's a good question. I should be able to tell using the PicoScope test rig I built. I'll let you know.

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