Hello everyone - we have quite a few new products to talk about today and it all starts with two new Alchitry FPGA boards. The Alchitry Au+ and Ft Element add new options for those of you wanting to get started with FPGA or collect a more powerful option if you feel comfortable with the platform. Also, we have a new line of upgraded, flexible Qwiic cables. We do plan to transition to these cables in the future so make sure to check those out! We end the day with a new 10A battery pack. Let's jump in and take a closer look!
What's better than Gold? Gold Plus!
The Alchitry Au+ is the "gold" standard for FPGA development boards and it's possibly one of the strongest boards of its type on the market. The Au+ substitutes a more robust and scalable FPGA chip (Xilinx XC7A100T) that allows for more complex application circuits. The number of configurable logic blocks (LABs/CLBs), Logic Elements, and total RAM bits are all nearly three times those of the standard Au; see "Features" for more details.
The Alchitry Ft Element is equipped with four 50-pin board-to-board connectors on the underside and top of the board that snap to the Alchitry Au and Au+ boards. It also adds a USB 3.0 200 MB/s high speed interface to your Alchitry board stack via the USB-C connector.
These are our new Flexible Qwiic Cables, designed to connect Qwiic enabled components together but able to be used for other applications as well. The cable insulation is made from silicon, making it more flexible than our original cables, particularly in tight spaces or enclosures. We currently offer these cables in a 4-pin female terminated jumper as well as Qwiic-to-Qwiic terminated connectors in 50 mm, 100 mm, 200 mm, and 500 mm lengths.
This is the same 10Ah battery pack that provides power to the SparkFun Jetbot! The multiple USB options for charging and discharging, along with a simple capacity indicator and power button, make this a great option for mobile USB power on your next project.
That's it for this week! As always, we can't wait to see what you make! Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to see what projects you’ve made! Please be safe out there, be kind to one another, and we'll see you next week!
