SparkFun Starts Stocking Alchitry's Crowdfunded Au and Cu FPGA Development Boards
Offering a choice of Xilinx Artix 7 or Lattice Semiconductor iCE40 HX, Alchitry's FPGA dev boards are now available to buy from SparkFun.
SparkFun has announced it is stocking Alchitry's field-programmable gate array (FPGA) development boards, the Au and Cu, with immediate effect — including add-ons such as the Alchitry Io Element Board and Br Prototype Element Board.
Alchitry launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Au and Cu back in July 2018, following the success of a crowdfunding campaign for its earlier Mojo design in 2013. The designs proved popular, raising over $61,000 to fund production — though it wouldn't be until February 2019 that backers received their boards.
Now, both designs are available for immediate purchase at SparkFun. "The Alchitry Au is the 'gold' standard for FPGA development boards and it's possibly one of the strongest boards of its type on the market," the company claims of the Alchitry Au, which is powered by a Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA offering 33k cells and 256MB of DDR3 RAM alongside 102 I/O pins. "The Au continues the trend of more affordable and increasingly powerful FPGA boards arriving each year. This board is a fantastic starting point into the world of FPGAs and the heart of your next project.
"If you are not needing a lot of power to start your FPGA adventure, or are looking for a more economical option, the Alchitry Cu FPGA Development Board might be the perfect option for you," the company continues of Alchitry's lower-priced board variant, built around the Lattice Semiconductor iCE40 HX with 7,680 cells and 79 I/O pins.. "The Alchitry Cu (Copper) is a 'lighter' FPGA version than the Alchitry Au but still offers something completely unique."
The two boards are joined, as in the original Kickstarter launch, by two accessory boards: The Alchitry Io Element Board includes four seven-segment LEDs, five push-button switches, 24 basic LEDs, and 24 DIP switches; the Br Prototype Element Board, meanwhile, breaks out I/O signals from an Au or Cu board and offers a 2.54mm pitch prototyping space for custom circuits.
All boards are now available, priced at $99.95 for the Alchitry Au, $49.95 for the Cu, $24.95 for the Io Element, and $14.95 for the Br Prototype Element.