Field-programmable gate arrays, also called FPGAs are an interesting area to study today. FPGAs are able to mimic almost every digital circuit that allows you to program hardware features using a mix of multiplexers, logic gates and even lookup tables. All these pieces make for a very intriguing board that is an excellent next step if you feel you’ve grown too comfortable with microcontroller-based projects. But, FPGA boards are historically more expensive and less user-friendly than the closest competitor which is Arduino Uno. Arduino Uno. But don’t worry since this STEPFPGA Development Board is on sale right now, and you can begin your journey into this new ocean of knowledge!
The FPGA is extremely user-friendly without sacrificing any of the components making an FPGA an effective tool. With a Lattice MXO2-4000 FPGA, this board comes with integrated peripherals, which include two displays with 7 segments and 2 RGB LEDs with 8 red LEDs, four pushbuttons and four toggles that can be pulled up. In order to make it even faster, there’s cloud-based IDE to program the board as well as basic projects, like an electronic piano built using the board.
This development board comes part of EIM Technology, a Canadian tech company. They held an Kickstarter in June of 2022 for the board as well as the materials that support it Be sure to check the website to find out what plans EIM Technology has for the future! Their Tindie store is also packed with more refined workbench tools including this portable power source.
