5-22-2025 Update
A Top diagram is being developed for an ARM-based SoC. The ARM chip is from the late 90s. More details to follow.
04-22-2025:
"42 of such projects have been selected for funding in the October call of the NGI Zero Commons Fund."
"From solar powered motherboards to a new high performance filesystem
The selected projects all contribute, one way or another, to the mission of the Commons Fund: reclaiming the public nature of the internet. For example, there are people working on interesting open hardware projects such as the tablet MNT Reform Touch and the Solar FemtoTX motherboard — a collaborative effort to create an ultra-low power motherboard that can run on solar power. LLM2FPGA aims to enable running open source LLMs locally on programmable chips ("FPGAs") using a fully open-source toolchain. bcachefs readies itself as the next generation filesystem for Linux, improving performance, scalability and reliability when compared to legacy filesystems."
About
Low-power motherboard that can run on solar power.
# Solar FemtoTX motherboard
Solar FemtoTX motherboard is an open, collaborative effort towards designing an ultra-low power motherboard in a mobile device-sized form factor. It aims be seamlessly integrated into an open-source hardware laptop for easy repair/replacement/upgrade, and focuses on low power consumption, especially suitable for solar-powered devices and quick recharging.
Furthermore, the project aims to make the open-hardware framework extensible by supporting socket-based or embedded processors and peripheral devices that meet a defined size and TDP limit. This interoperability allows newer, ultra low power microprocessors to work within the FemtoTX specification, and is optimized for solar power. The current project focusses on the initial design and validation of a System-on-Chip to be used in this low-power single board computer.
Project Members:
Giovanni L.
Vedula S.
If you are interested in joining this project, e-mail Giovanni L. (via Contact tab).
Specialties sought:
Parallel SPI Display Controller Development
Ultra-low voltage EDA Design & 22nm <40nm PDKs
Double Super Twisted Nematic Display & Passive Matrix Screen development (DSTN) (ZBD LCDs)
Contact
giovanni.los@proton.me