The Icepi Zero is a compact Lattice ECP5 FPGA open-source hardware development board following the Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, and equipped with a microSD card slot, three USB-C ports, a GPDI mini connector for video output, and a 40-pin GPIO header.
I was confused at first, since Debashis wrote about the Pico2-ice board a few days ago, but it’s a different design with an RP2350B MCU and a Lattice ICE40U5K FPGA with 5.3K LUTs. Made by Icy Electronics, the Icepi Zero is a pure FPGA board with 24K LUTs, 32MB SRAM, and 16MB QSPI flash that can be used for retro gaming/computer and general FPGA gateware experimentation.
Icepi Zero specifications:
- FPGA – Lattice Semi ECP5U
- 24k LUTs
- 112 KiB of RAM
- 28x 18 x 18 Multipliers
- Memory – 256 Mbit (32 MB) of 166 MHz SDRAM
- Storage
- 128 Mbit (16 MB) of QSPI Flash
- microSD card slot
- Video Output – GPDI mini connector (mini HDMI)
- USB – 3x USB Type-C ports
- Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header with up to 28x GPIO pins
- Debugging – On-board USB to JTAG and UART converter
- Misc
- 50 MHz high precision MEMS oscillator
- 5x user LEDs
- 2x user buttons
- Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port
- Dimensions – 65 x 30 mm (Raspberry Pi Zero form factor)
- OSHWA certification – FR000026
The Lattice ECP5 FPGA can emulate many systems, from the Apple I and the Oberon to the Commodore 64, and users can also use it to make cycle-accurate replicas of their favorite systems or create their own. Compatibility with the Raspberry Pi Zero form factor eases integration with retro computing accessories without having to carry a bunch of adapters and dongles. This also allows the board to be used as a co-processor for the Raspberry Pi Zero SBC, offloading machine learning acceleration or video processing on the FPGA.
The Icepi Zero also works with open source FPGA development tools such as Icestudio (currently hosted in a fork) to make it easy to use for beginners wanting to deep into FPGA designs. You’ll find the KiCad hardware design files, firmware with Verilog examples (blinky, counter, uart, dvi, usb, and memtest), and documentation on GitHub.
It’s not the first Lattice ECP5 board we’ve covered, and other examples include the Radiona ULX3S board and the Feather-compatible OrangeCrab, both of which are also open-source hardware designs. Icy Electronics provided a comparison table pitting various Lattice ECP5 (and one iCE40UP5K) boards against each other.
The company launched the Icepi Zero on Crowd Supply with a $5,000 funding target. Rewards start at $69 for one board, and go up to a $249 bundle of 5 boards ($49.8 per unit). Shipping is free to the US and adds $12 to the rest of the world. You’ll have to be relatively patient, as rewards are only scheduled to ship by the end of February 2026.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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This reminds me a lot of the FleaFPGS Ohm from a few years ago. That board (of which I own two, one currently emulating an Amiga) was in the exact same Pi Zero size and also had three USB ports in place of the Pi Zero’s two, but it’s a few years old so it uses MicroUSB instead of USB C.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fleafpga-ohm-fpga-experimenter-board