The PicoNut project at the Augsburg University of Technology aims to
develop a minimal and at the same time flexibly expandable RISC-V processor
that works on common FPGA hardware and provides a complete simulator.
The processor is intended to be used in teaching and research, in order
to examine different computer architectures, the interaction between
hardware and operating systems (Linux, FreeRTOS) and the integration
of hardware accelerators, for example for AI applications.
PicoNut ...
- ... is a minimal, yet extendable RISC-V processor as an open source project.
- ... runs on inexpensive FPGA boards, e.g. OrangeCrab or ULX03S.
- ... is expandable with memory protection/MMU (Linux), AI acceleration, various RISC-V extensions.
- The hardware is modeled in SystemC (C++) in order to be able to build a powerful simulator from the same source code.
- Good software support is provided by RISC-V compatibility: GNU toolchain (GCC/GDB), newlib, FreeRTOS, Linux.
- Solid project management includes automated testing, project website and CI/CD techniques.
The project started at the beginning of 2024 and currently involves several enthusiastic students who are working on project work or theses.
PicoNut - Conceptual structure
Students Aware!
Would you like to be part of this exciting project? Or are you interested
in another way of participating in the project? We invite you to join us
and help shape the future of the PicoNut project - for example as part of
your thesis, project work or elective subjects.
