SparkFun Electronics and Alchitry Partner to Bring FPGA Hardware and Software to Electronics Enthusiasts

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Jul 31, 2020, 11:07 ET

BOULDER, Colo., July 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SparkFun Electronics and Alchitry are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership, combining SparkFun's logistics and hardware expertise with Alchitry's FPGA knowledge and experience.

The Alchitry Au features a Xilinx Artix 7 XC7A35T-1C FPGA with over 33,000 logic cells and 256MB of DDR3 RAM. The Au offers 102 3.3V logic level IO pins, 20 of which can be switched to 1.8V; Nine differential analog inputs; Eight general purpose LEDs; a 100MHz on-board clock that can be manipulated internally by the FPGA; a USB-C connector to configure and power the board; and a USB to serial interface for data transfer. For easy I2C integration, the Au also features a Qwiic connector.

SparkFun will manufacture and distribute Alchitry's line of FPGA boards, allowing Alchitry to focus on designing the next generation of FPGA hardware and software. The Alchitry Au and Cu boards will now come equipped with a SparkFun Qwiic connector, allowing users to easily interface with over 100 development boards, sensors and relays over an I2C connection. The addition of Qwiic to Alchitry's FPGA boards opens up the possibilities of designing with FPGA to near-limitless potentials.

"While FPGAs have been a niche component in the electronics industry for decades, the advent of FPGA-based solutions for machine learning and the ability of FPGAs to model CPU core designs is leading an expansion of FPGA use within the prototyping and research markets. Alchitry's products meet a market need with solid hardware engineering, complete software support and the necessary content needed for customer success. With this partnership, we will be able to combine SparkFun's market presence and manufacturing capabilities with Alchitry's FPGA knowledge and experience," stated Glenn Samala, SparkFun CEO.

"Alchitry was started with the goal of creating an FPGA board that was accessible to anyone with the motivation to learn digital design. As we evolved to include tutorials and the creation of software such as Alchitry Labs and Lucid, it became increasingly difficult to balance the manufacturing and production of existing products with the creation of new products, more tutorials, and better tools. With SparkFun's help in production, our focus can now shift back to what makes Alchitry special - tutorials, tools, and new hardware," stated Justin Rajewski, Alchitry Founder.

SparkFun Electronics
SparkFun Electronics was founded in 2003 to make electronics more accessible to consumers. Today, SparkFun manufactures more than 350 boards in house, and serves a wide audience of consumers, prototypers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Their Qwiic product line includes more than 100 boards and sensors.

Alchitry
Alchitry (formerly Embedded Micro) launched in 2013 with the goal of bringing FPGA to electronics enthusiasts at a low cost. Since then, the brand has expanded to include multiple FPGA boards, breakout boards, an easier to use hardware description language, a custom IDE and tutorials to help users get started with FPGA.

SOURCE SparkFun Electronics