The chaps and chappesses at Alorium have created a library of XBs ("Accelerator Blocks") that you can use to boost the capabilities and performance of the XLR8. Once you are satisfied that all is as it should be, you can begin to unveil the power the resides in the programmable fabric of the XLR8's FPGA. Well, the idea is that you can start by taking an existing Arduino Uno sketch and running it on an XLR8 and not be able to tell the difference. As our hero famously said in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by the late, great Douglas Adams: "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidæ on our hands.” In its default configuration, the XLR8 matches all of these specs (you can boost the XLR8's clock speed to 32 MHz officially, and to 64 MHz unofficially, but that's a story for another day). The Arduino Uno's ATmega328P 8-bit processor has a 16 MHz clock, 32 KB flash, 2 KB SRAM, 14 digital I/O pins (of which 6 provide PWM output), and 6 analog I/O pins. The FPGA-based XLR8 has the same footprint as an Arduino Uno (Image source: Alorium Technology) However, instead of the Arduino's 8-bit processor, the XLR8 boasts one of Intel's flash-based MAX 10 FPGAs, in which the processor is implemented as a soft core. The XLR8 has the same footprint as an Arduino Uno and, in its default configuration, it behaves exactly like an Arduino Uno. This all started a few years ago when the guys and gals at Alorium announced their XLR8, which is pronounced "X-ell-erate," which leads us to "Accelerate" (and they say engineers don’t have a sense of humor). I'll tell you all I know in a minute (it won’t take long), but first I need to ensure that we are all tapdancing to the same drum beat and that you understand exactly what it is that the folks at Alorium are famous for. At some stage in our conversation, Jason mentioned a forthcoming product called the Evo Compute Module, which really grabbed my attention. We bounced around from topic to topic with the agility of much younger men. I was just chatting with my chum Jason Pecor at Alorium Technology. The Evo Compute Module (small board) mounted on an EvoTray (larger board) (Image source: Alorium Technology)
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