2026-05-02
This full-length workshop recording walks through the fundamentals and practical implementation of a RISC-V processor on an FPGA, using the Indian-designed Son Papdi development board. It's the kind of content that universities charge tuition for, posted freely by a channel with just over a hundred subscribers.
RISC-V is the open-source instruction set architecture that has been steadily gaining traction in industry and academia alike. Understanding how to actually build a processor that implements it — not just program one — is a skill that sits at the intersection of computer architecture and digital design. This workshop covers that ground from the basics up, making it accessible to anyone with some familiarity with HDL and FPGA toolchains.
What makes this particularly valuable is the hands-on, workshop format. Rather than a theory-only lecture or a sped-up demo, this is a structured session meant to get viewers designing alongside the instructor. The use of the Son Papdi board also highlights the growing ecosystem of affordable, community-driven FPGA hardware — worth knowing about if you've only ever worked with the usual Xilinx and Intel dev kits.
If you've been curious about processor design but found textbook treatments too abstract, or if you want to deepen your FPGA skills beyond blinking LEDs and UART controllers, this is a strong starting point. Workshop recordings from small channels like this are rare finds — they tend to be dense with practical knowledge and light on filler.
