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$100 Supercomputer – so close I can taste it!
Clive Maxfield
10/26/2012 10:49 AM EDT
Wow – things are really racing along with regard to the Parallella Supercomputer project on Kickstarter.
When I posted my first blog on this topic on Tuesday of this week, the project had raised only $439,565 of their $750,000 goal.
I just visited the project on Kickstarter – now they are up to $611,504, which means that $171,939 has been pledged in just three days!!!
But we still need to raise $138,496 for this Kickstarter project to go forward.
The deadline is Saturday, Oct. 27, at 6:00 p.m. EDT, so there are only about 30 hours to go at the time of this writing.
Why do I care? Well, several reasons, actually, not the least that I've made the $99 pledge myself, for which amount I shall receive my very own Parallella Supercomputer … but ONLY if the Kickstarter project reaches its goal.
But the main reason is that I really like Andreas and the folks at Adapteva – I remember a couple of years ago when Andreas left his job, disappeared down into his basement, and – fed (occasionally) on sandwiches prepared by his long-suffering wife -- single-handedly invented a new computer architecture, designed his own System-on-Chip (SoC) from the ground up – including learning how to use all of the EDA tools – then took the device all the way to working silicon and a packaged prototype (click here to see that epic tale).
The $100 Parallella Supercomputer is the next chapter in the story – the combination of Adapteva's Epiphany multicore processor chip and Xilinx's Zynq All Programmable SoC with its dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and traditional FPGA programmable fabric.
Block diagram of the Zynq-based Parallella personal supercomputer.
Oooooh, the things I will be able to do with this little beauty … BUT ONLY IF THE KICKSTARTER PROJECT REACHES ITS GOAL!!! (Sorry … I didn’t mean to shout).
So please help me spread the word – start pinging everyone you know on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so forth. This is a chance to make a difference – let's not blow this opportunity for the sake of only $138,496.
A Zynq development board with an Epiphany daughter card
If you found this article to be of interest, visit Programmable Logic Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to programmable logic devices of every flavor and size (FPGAs, CPLDs, CSSPs, PSoCs...).
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
When I posted my first blog on this topic on Tuesday of this week, the project had raised only $439,565 of their $750,000 goal.
I just visited the project on Kickstarter – now they are up to $611,504, which means that $171,939 has been pledged in just three days!!!
But we still need to raise $138,496 for this Kickstarter project to go forward.
The deadline is Saturday, Oct. 27, at 6:00 p.m. EDT, so there are only about 30 hours to go at the time of this writing.
Why do I care? Well, several reasons, actually, not the least that I've made the $99 pledge myself, for which amount I shall receive my very own Parallella Supercomputer … but ONLY if the Kickstarter project reaches its goal.
But the main reason is that I really like Andreas and the folks at Adapteva – I remember a couple of years ago when Andreas left his job, disappeared down into his basement, and – fed (occasionally) on sandwiches prepared by his long-suffering wife -- single-handedly invented a new computer architecture, designed his own System-on-Chip (SoC) from the ground up – including learning how to use all of the EDA tools – then took the device all the way to working silicon and a packaged prototype (click here to see that epic tale).
The $100 Parallella Supercomputer is the next chapter in the story – the combination of Adapteva's Epiphany multicore processor chip and Xilinx's Zynq All Programmable SoC with its dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and traditional FPGA programmable fabric.
Block diagram of the Zynq-based Parallella personal supercomputer.
Oooooh, the things I will be able to do with this little beauty … BUT ONLY IF THE KICKSTARTER PROJECT REACHES ITS GOAL!!! (Sorry … I didn’t mean to shout).
So please help me spread the word – start pinging everyone you know on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so forth. This is a chance to make a difference – let's not blow this opportunity for the sake of only $138,496.
A Zynq development board with an Epiphany daughter card
If you found this article to be of interest, visit Programmable Logic Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to programmable logic devices of every flavor and size (FPGAs, CPLDs, CSSPs, PSoCs...).
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
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Mineyes
10/26/2012 12:02 PM EDT
I am in too, as of Oct 25. The new product will be a boon to mankind.
My credit card limit is not enough to close the $138K gap, More participants needed.
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Max the Magnificent
10/26/2012 12:07 PM EDT
I don't know about a "boon to mankind", but I do think it will be something different and cool -- I love the open source nature of the project - -and for $100 I'm sure a really big and vibrant community will grow up around it.
There have been other multicore chips in the past, but not like the Epiphany -- and the cost has been prohibitive -- now getting a Zynq and an Epiphany on the same board for $100 is mind-blowing...
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twocs
10/26/2012 9:41 PM EDT
Don't worry so much. They hit $750K already, only around 10 hours after your article came out. Now the only thing to do would be wait, and also let others know about the opportunity to get one of these $99 boards.
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Max the Magnificent
10/27/2012 4:06 PM EDT
It's now Saturday and they are totally safe -- more than $120,000 past the minimum goal -- this really is wonderful -- I can't wait to see my Parallella :-)
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hsauro
10/30/2012 6:08 PM EDT
Back in the late 1970s, something called a microprocessor emerged and people were calling it a computer, what rubbish, they there nothing like computers compared the mainframe we were using at the time /s
I see the Epiphany chips in the same way I saw the first 4040, 8080 or Z80 chips. Primitive perhaps by modern standards but a start. In any case if one doesn't try one will never succeed.
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ost
11/1/2012 3:34 AM EDT
I assume you will come back to us with reports on some real working devices running some real working apps. This will be exiting :)
My head has been thinking what this rascal could do for my line of interests.
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