The Arty board is one of the newest FPGA boards that Digilent sells. There are a few things about the Arty board that make it my favorite product out right now.
First off, just look at it. The color scheme gives off a futuristic vibe that’s so cool. But that’s not really what makes the Arty board awesome.
So, looks aside, why should we be excited about the Arty board?
| Callout | Description | Callout | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FPGA programming DONE LED | 11 | SPI header (Arduino/chipKIT compatible) |
| 2 | Shared USB JTAG / UART port | 12 | chipKIT processor reset jumper |
| 3 | Ethernet connector | 13 | FPGA programming mode (JTAG/ Flash) |
| 4 | Power select jumper (Ext. supply / USB) | 14 | chipKIT processor reset |
| 5 | Power jack (for optional ext. supply) | 15 | Pmod headers |
| 6 | Power good LED | 16 | FPGA programming reset button |
| 7 | User LEDs | 17 | SPI Flash |
| 8 | User slide switches | 18 | Artix FPGA |
| 9 | User pushbuttons | 19 | Micron DDR3 memory |
| 10 | Arduino/chipKIT shield connectors | 20 | Analog devices ADP 5052 power supply |
Here’s the call-out table. There are a couple of features that I want to look at specifically– the Pmod connectors (15) and the Arduino/chipKIT shield connectors.
Right now, the Arty board is the only FPGA board we sell that has a shield connector designed to be compatible with the Arduino/chipKIT shields. Right now, I’m helping test out a super cool prototype shield on the chipKIT WF32. The idea that I could add all that functionality to an FPGA board is pretty exciting.
Not only can I add an Arduino/chipKIT shield (which is already pretty cool), but the Arty-Board has four Pmod Connectors to get more functionality onto the Board.
So now we have an FPGA Board that has a lot of the cool functionality that microcontroller boards have, but with the power of FPGAs. Digilent is already assembling an array of guides to help users get started with the Arty-Board here.
