Global Problems, Programmable Solutions
In partnership with DigiKey, Microchip Technology presents the PolarFire FPGA Design Contest 2026, a global platform for engineers, students, and innovators to turn their ideas into real hardware solutions.
Build at the intersection of AI acceleration, edge computing, robotics, and embedded intelligence using PolarFire FPGA platforms. Showcase your creativity, prove technical mastery, and compete globally for prizes and recognition as you help shape the future of intelligent systems.
Stay Tuned for Updates!
Problem Statement
Contest Tracks
Participants can choose one of the following tracks to implement their proposed solution.
Track 1: FPGA Explorer Track Using PolarFire® SoC Discovery kit
Focused on embedded FPGA design, RISC-V® applications, sensor interfacing, video processing and lightweight edge AI applications
Track 2: Edge Intelligence Track Using PolarFire SoC Icicle Kit
Focused on advanced edge computing, Linux® Operating System (OS)-based embedded systems, AI/ML acceleration, networking and intelligent real-time applications
Track 3: Acceleration Track Using PolarFire Splash Kit
Focused on high-performance FPGA acceleration, high-speed interfaces, video pipelines, compute acceleration and data-intensive applications
Awards
All finalists will receive a Certificate of Excellence in recognition of their outstanding innovation and technical skill.
Each track will have a Winner and Runner-Up, selected based on design quality, innovation, and performance metrics.
💰 Top Honors
Grand Winner: $2,000
Runner-Up: $1,000
Best overall innovation across all tracks: $1,000
Explore FPGA
PolarFire® SoC Discovery Kit
The PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit is a low-cost, open-source development kit powered by a quad-core, RISC-V application-class processor. This device supports Linux® and real-time applications, a rich set of peripherals and 95K low-power, high-performance FPGA logic elements.
PolarFire® SoC Icicle Kit
This low-cost development platform is an excellent solution for evaluating the five-core RISC-V microprocessor subsystem with its innovative Linux® OS support, real-time execution and low-power capabilities, along the rich set of peripherals available on the PolarFire SoC FPGA.
PolarFire® Splash Kit
This kit enables general-purpose evaluation and development for the PolarFire FPGA. The kit includes Gigabit Ethernet RJ45, PCIe®, USB and LPC FMC connectors and a PolarFire 300K LE FPGA with onboard DDR4 and SPI Flash memory.
Organized by
PolarFire FPGA Design Contest
PolarFire FPGA Design Contest
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| VSC8540RT IBIS Model - CQFP68 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8574RT IBIS Model - CQFP256 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SST38LF6401RT IBIS Model - CDFP48 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20 TFBGA625 Footprint | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8541ET IBIS Model - VQFN68 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| ATA6571RT IBIS Model - SOIC14 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707-EK_V2 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18 CQFP164 Footprint | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18 CQFP164 Schematic Symbol | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMV71Q21RT CQFP144 Footprint | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20-EK Schematics | Product Documents | Download | ||
| IBIS MODEL - SST26LF064RT - SM | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18C IBIS Models | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMV71Q21RT CQFP144 IBIS | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMV71Q21RT CQFP144 Schematic Symbol | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20E IBIS Models | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8540RT IBIS Model - VQFN68 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18-EK - Altium Project - V2 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8540ET IBIS Model - VQFN68 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8574RT IBIS Model - PBGA256 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SST38LF6401ET IBIS Model - TSOP48 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20 Evaluation Kit Schematics | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20 TFBGA625 EK Schematics | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20-EK - Altium Project | Product Documents | Download | ||
| IBIS MODEL - SST26LF064RT - HHB | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20 TFBGA625 Schematic Symbol | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707-EK | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18-EK - Altium Project | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707 TFBGA EK AltiumProject | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8541RT IBIS Model - CQFP68 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SST38LF6401RT IBIS Model - TSOP48 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20 TFBGA625 EK Altium Project | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20-EK - Altium Project | Product Documents | Download | ||
| VSC8541RT IBIS Model - VQFN68 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18 TFBGA Evaluation Kit Schematics | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18 TFBGA Symbol | Product Documents | Download | ||
| ATA6571RT IBIS Model - CDFP14 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH707F18 TFBGA Footprint | Product Documents | Download | ||
| IBIS MODEL - SAMRH71F20C | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20C CQFP256 Schematic Symbol | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMRH71F20C CQFP256 Footprint | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMD21RT Ibis Model - TQFP64 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| SAMD21RT Ibis Model - CQFP64 | Product Documents | Download | ||
| DSA504RT-ZXX CAD Models | Product Documents | Download | ||
| DSA504RT Evaluation Board Schematics - Plastic | Product Documents | Download |