FPGA in a Arduino Mega Footprint

Hi all,

I am currently working on a project for myself and wonder if it might be of interest to anyone else.

My design is FPGA development board around a Arduino Mega footprint with a Spartan 6 LX9, possible LX16.

Here are some questions I have for the community:

1. Does anyone have an interest in a Product or project like this?

2. If I did a production run of this board for anyone to buy, would you still be interested at $179.99 for a 100 or so I/O board with an Spartan 6 LX9 and the 3.3V arduino mega footprint for compatibly shields?

3. If it sounds like a good idea, but would be interested in a different FPGA or CPLD, which would be of interest?

4. Well any other thoughts?

Thanks All

Scott

fustini over 13 years ago

Hi - I use Arduino's often but haven't worked with a FPGA since I was school a few years ago. I'd like to get back into it, but I probably wouldn't be interested above $100. There are other boards below that price would probably suit my needs which I saw in this review: http://www.element14.com/community/groups/fpga-group/blog/2011/12/20/fpga-dev-kits.

Thanks,
Drew
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
michaelkellett over 13 years ago in reply to fustini

It doesn't look very attractive compared with the Avnet Spartan6- LX9 MicroBoard - $89 gets you the FPGA, 64Mbytes of RAM, Ethernet etc.

So an extra $90 for Arduino-ness seems very steep.

Why so much - I think a $20 FPGA on a shield might be interesting if it cost no more than $75 complete. (But you can buy a Gameduino for $60 with a 200k gate Spartan 3A).

Michael Kellett
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
Former Member over 13 years ago in reply to fustini

Thanks for the input, I might have to rethink my current plans.

Thanks Again
Scott
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
Former Member over 13 years ago in reply to michaelkellett

Yes, I have had that nagging in the back of my mind, my price is purely the fact that finding funding to mass produce(1000 piece qty) is about the only way to get the price to that $89 dollar mark. But I love the shield idea, thanks. If I get funding to do this you'll be first on on my list to send one to.

Thanks
Scott
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
Former Member over 13 years ago

You might check out the UberShield (http://ubershield.com). It's a Spartan 3AN, not a 6, but it will get you an FPGA in a shield form-factor, with the ability to load bitstreams via the host (*duino) board, so no need for a JTAG cable.
--Ward
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel