Getting a new development board is exciting, but figuring out what to do with it can be a different story. You can read a product description, look through a schematic, and still wonder where to begin. What software do you need? What should you try first? And once an example works, what did it actually teach you?

Those questions matter to us at Kavrous. In our earlier article about getting started with RPGA Feather, we talked about making FPGAs more accessible through integrated hardware and useful examples. The new Kavrous Learning Library is another step toward that goal: a dedicated home for hands-on guides about electronics, programmable logic, and code.

A place to start building

My goal with Kavrous has always included sharing the knowledge that makes our hardware useful. A board can have plenty of interesting features, but those features become much more valuable when you have a practical way to explore them. Learning material is part of supporting a product, and it deserves a home that is easy to find and browse.

The Learning Library gives that material its own space. Our blog will continue to cover company updates, development work, and the thinking behind what we build. The library is where you can pick a project and work through it, whether you are learning to control your first LED or exploring a processor running inside an FPGA.

You can browse guides by category, including Programming, FPGA, and Networking. Each guide lists a difficulty level and an estimated completion time, helping you choose something that fits your experience and the time you have available. You can follow a guide from beginning to end or return to a particular section when you need a refresher.

Three guides to get you going

The library is starting with three beginner guides. They cover different entry points into the same broader idea: understanding hardware by making it do something you can observe.

From code to a blinking LED

From code to a blinking LED introduces programming and digital logic through a button-controlled light built with CircuitPython. The guide lists an estimated completion time of 45 minutes.

A blinking LED might sound simple, but there is a reason it is such a common first project. It gives you visible feedback from your code. Adding a button introduces an input, giving you a small system where the program responds to something you do. That relationship between inputs, logic, and outputs carries forward into much more complicated projects.

Getting started with OASIS and DungV

Getting started with OASIS and DungV takes a different path. In this guide, you build a small processor in RPGA Feather's FPGA and give it a program to control the onboard RGB LED. The estimated completion time is 60 minutes.

If you have read our OASIS overview, this is a practical way to take that interest further. A processor can seem like something that only exists inside a chip someone else designed. Working with a soft core lets you explore a processor implemented in programmable logic, bringing the connection between hardware and software a little closer to home.

Simple networking with RPGA Feather

Simple networking with RPGA Feather shows how to send an address request and a ping from CircuitPython to an FPGA, all on one RPGA Feather. The estimated completion time is 45 minutes.

This is one of the things I find interesting about pairing the RP2040 with an FPGA. You can use CircuitPython to interact with logic running alongside the microcontroller and see the two parts of the board working together. It gives the networking example we discussed in our earlier RPGA Feather article a dedicated learning guide of its own.

Making the next experiment easier

You don't have to work through these guides in a particular order. If programming is new to you, the LED project is a useful place to begin. If you already have RPGA Feather and want to explore its FPGA, the DungV and networking guides offer two different directions.

Before starting, read through your chosen guide and check its hardware and software requirements. The time estimates are there to help you plan; taking longer to understand a step or try a variation is part of learning, too. Getting an example working is satisfying, but understanding enough to change it is where the next project begins.

That is also why the library fits naturally alongside our open-hardware work. Sharing a design gives people the opportunity to inspect and modify it. Sharing an explanation helps them make use of that opportunity. We want the documentation, examples, and tools around our boards to make experimentation more approachable.

In our recent Graphical Circuits article, I wrote about building a tool to make wiring diagrams for learning material. The library is the kind of work that motivated that effort. Clear explanations and useful diagrams are part of making a project easier to follow, and creating those resources is an ongoing part of developing Kavrous.

Come take a look

The Learning Library is starting small, with three guides you can explore today. It gives us a foundation for sharing more of the practical knowledge behind our products as Kavrous develops.

Visit the Kavrous Learning Library and find a project that interests you. If you are looking for hardware for your next build, you can also browse the official Kavrous store.

If there is a topic you would like us to explain, or a step in a guide that could be clearer, email me your feedback. Knowing where people get stuck helps us understand where better learning material can make a difference.

Seth Kerr

Founder and CEO

Kavrous Technologies