Introduction
I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but there was a time, between 2018
and 2020, when LED cubes were a bit of thing in the world of hobby electronics.
On Twitter, I followed day-by-day the journey of kbob (aka Bob Miller)
as he tried to come up with the best possible 3D printed solution. The
end result was amazing.
He also wrote a blog post with
a history of LED cubes as well as some implementation details.
At the Hackaday Superconference 2019, Greg Davill
took things to the next level.
After first building something with off-the-shelve LED matrix panels, like kbob and everybody
ButterStick ECP5 FPGA-based development board
1:21 pm
The ButterStick is an ECP5 FPGA-based development board from Greg Davill (also the creator of the Orange Crab). Building from the previously released OrangeCrab, the ButterStick’s primary focus is exposing lots of fast I/O pins. To achieve this goal, the board makes use of the SYZYGY peripheral connector standard. It also features high-speed USB and gigabit Ethernet for high-speed input/output to a computer. Additionally, there is up to 1GB of onboard DDR3 memory.
“Finding a good FPGA development kit can be a tough proposition, especially with all of the different options out there. Some offer little in the way of fast I/O, and others lack small footprints, making them unwieldy. That’s where the ButterStick excels. It features an ECP5 FPGA at its core with some impressive connectivity in a relatively small form factor.”