Arduino

If you’ve ever tried to build a microprocessor from scratch, you know it’s a battlefield full of hazards, memory control, and instruction handling. A true digital mess. In the middle of that chaos, I came across a tool that completely changed the way I see FPGA development: LiteX. What is LiteX? LiteX is a framework for designing SoCs (System on Chip) on FPGA, transforming the process into something like assembling LEGO blocks: you pick a processor, add controllers, memory, peripherals, and done!...

Introduction to RISC-V and the 32I Instruction Set RISC-V is an open and free instruction set architecture (ISA) that has gained significant popularity in microprocessor design due to its flexibility and efficiency. Unlike proprietary architectures, RISC-V allows developers and researchers to create custom processors without licensing restrictions. What is RISC-V? RISC-V is an architecture based on the Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) principle, meaning it uses a simplified instruction set to improve hardware efficiency....

Selection of Hardware and Development Tools In this second article of the series, I will begin with the first steps in developing a RISC-V 32I-based microcontroller. For this, I have decided to use a Tang Nano 20K as the implementation platform. However, depending on resource usage, I might consider switching to a Tang Nano 9K if it meets the design requirements. Since the selected FPGA belongs to the Tang Nano family, this limits the development environment to compatible tools....

In this guide, you’ll learn how to interface a generic PS2 joystick with a Feather 32u4, so it works as a USB gamepad on Windows and Steam. We’ll cover the hardware, wiring, Arduino IDE firmware, and Steam setup. Motivation I left my Xbox 360 controller at home, but I have a PS2 joystick I bought years ago for a retro project. With a Feather 32u4 and a bit of code, we can turn it into a USB gamepad compatible with any PC....