# Ep002: Curious Gadgets and the FPGA Brain Trust

- Show: [Hackaday Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast)
- Published: 2019-01-15
- Length: 1h 01m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust
- Listen: https://hackaday.libsyn.com/ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust

## Summary

Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss the Circuit Sculpture Contest winners, including Kelly Heaton’s resistor bird and Matt Sang’s Z80 wire computer, alongside hacks like a microcontroller-corrected barn door telescope mount. The episode features an interview with the OpenFPGA team—David, Clifford Wolf, Piotr Temski, and Temezzo—at 35C3, discussing the open-source FPGA ecosystem, tools like nextpnr and icestorm, and hardware such as the iCE40, ECP5, and icebreaker. They highlight the shift toward accessible FPGA development, mentioning projects like Tomu, Fumu, and the push for supporting Xilinx 7-series via Project X-Ray.

## Chapters

- [0:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=8) Introduction: Hackaday Editors and Episode Overview
- [0:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=56) Circuit Sculpture Contest Winners and Honorable Mentions
- [7:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=474) 3D Printed Gears Contest and Comment Section Highlights
- [11:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=661) Featured Hacks: Barn Door Mount and Power Grid Listener
- [16:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=968) Quick Hacks: STM32 VGA, Cereal Port Tetris, and 7-Segment Display
- [20:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=1220) Must Reads: Seymour Cray Bio and Scramjet Engines
- [27:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=1625) OpenFPGA Roundtable: Introduction and Tooling
- [35:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=2119) ECP5 Capabilities, Linux SoCs, and New Hardware
- [43:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=2584) Beginner Projects, IP Reuse, and Project X-Ray
- [56:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-01-15-ep002-curious-gadgets-and-the-fpga-brain-trust#t=3374) 2019 Resolutions and Future of Open Source FPGAs

## Topics

- [Fabrication & craft](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fabrication-and-craft)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Hackaday (company)
- OpenFPGA (other)
- 35C3 (other)
- iCE40 (chip)
- ECP5 (chip)
- nextpnr (tool)
- icestorm (tool)
- icebreaker (product)
- Tomu (product)
- Fumu (product)
- Project X-Ray (other)
- Spartan 6 (chip)
- ice studio (tool)
- SymbiFlow (other)
- VexRiscv (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Open FPGA Toolchains at 35c3](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-01-02-open-fpga-toolchains-at-35c3) (The Amp Hour)
- [Pulled From A Working Environment](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-07-01-pulled-from-a-working-environment) (The Amp Hour)
- [An Interview with Luke Valenty](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-06-04-an-interview-with-luke-valenty) (The Amp Hour)
- [Stories from Supercon 2019](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-11-18-stories-from-supercon-2019) (The Amp Hour)
- [100: Unintentional Radiator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2015-05-06-100-unintentional-radiator) (Embedded.fm)

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