element14 Launches Summer of FPGA Design Challenge with Digilent

 element14 is continuing its Summer of FPGA celebration with a fun design challenge to test and exhibit the skills community members gained over the summer.

We are so happy we were able to help educate members of our global community on the versatility of FPGAs in coding and device design through our Summer of FPGA program,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media for element14. “We see this design challenge as a great way for our community to showcase not only their design skills, but also their creativity when it comes to the expansive uses of FPGAs and how the technology will benefit future applications.”

To participate, community members must feature the Digilent Cmod S7 in their designs. The Cmod S7 is a small, 48‐pin DIP form factor board, built around the Xilinx Spartan 7 FPGA. Some example applications include:

·       Image recognition

·       Home scientific equipment

·       Signal processors

·       Proof of concept

·       Processor off-loading systems

Prizes awarded to both challengers and winners
Applications are now open to become one of the 30 sponsored challengers who will receive a free Digilent Cmod S7, a small, 48‐pin DIP form factor board, built around the Xilinx Spartan 7 FPGA. The sponsored challengers will be announced on October 1. Participants will have just over 10 weeks to complete their designs and submit 10 blog posts covering their development process. Entries will be judged on innovation, technical merit, and FPGA use.

Winners will be announced in December. The first prize winner will receive a Digilent Analog Discovery Pro AD3450 USB Oscilloscope and the runner up will receive a Digilent Analog Discovery Pro ADP 3250 and a Digilent Digital Discovery. All other challengers who complete this project by the December 3 submission deadline will receive a Multicomp Digital Multimeter.

Digilent is a subsidiary of NI and specializes in applications, tools, and information for FPGA and SoC based hardware-software systems. Their mission is to provide customizable and flexible products, while making their price point accessible to all customers.

To learn more about element14 and the “Summer of FPGA” design challenge, visit element14.com.