Skip to content

Bitstream Evolution (v2 pico2-ice)

This is the latest version of the Bitstream Evolution project, which has been ported to the pico2-ice FPGA development board. The pico2-ice offers improved performance and features compared to the original iCEstick, making it an ideal platform for evolving more complex FPGA designs.

Overview

  • Buy the hardware: Hardware Setup
    • pico2-ice development board
    • USB-C cable for programming
    • Optional: USB-C hub for multiple boards
  • Configure the hardware: Hardware Setup
    • Follow the assembly instructions to set up the pico2-ice board(s) and ensure they are ready for programming.
  • Set up the software: Software Setup
    • Install the Bitstream Evolution software stack on a Linux or macOS host machine.
    • Clone the toolkit from GitHub and follow the instructions to run example experiments.
    • variance maximization experiment, which serves as a "Hello World" for evolvable hardware.

Costs and Requirements

To create the simplest setup and run the example experiments, you will need: - A pico2-ice development board (available for purchase online for ~ $50 ) - A USB-C cable for programming the board - A Linux or macOS host machine to run the Bitstream Evolution software stack